I have been this young poet. I have experienced the frustration that descends when topic choice is not offered and you are writing merely to please the teacher. This was me in Grade 5. In the interest of honest disclosure, this poem has autobiogrpahical underpinnings. It is a poem for all those quiet subversives. Names have been changed, withheld to protect people, ants and cats...
This poem is for all those young writers who want ownership, need ownership, in order to write with a sense of authenticity and voice.
I Don’t Want to Write A Poem About Cats
Our teacher
Ms Hydracklu
Has insisted we write a poem about cats.
Ms Hydracklu loves cats
But they’re not exactly my favourite animal, or topic
Since my sister’s cat –Princess Alice
Peed in my track shoes.
I sit in class
Chomping on my pencil
And staring at the floor under my seat
It seems inspiration has run away to hide
It’s turning into a –catastrophe…
Suddenly, Ms Hydracklu announces-
It doesn’t have to rhyme!
I haven’t got a single cat word
Let alone two that might rhyme.
Looking down again I see two ants on the classroom floor
Rushing about in all directions
Crashing into one another like dodge-um cars at a carnival
Backtracking
Walking in circles- busy, dizzy ants
They appear confused in their rush and nervous haste
Briefly stopping to talk
Flapping their feelers
Chatting like long lost friends
Then off they scurry across the floor
In search of sandwich crumbs, no doubt
At the end of this writing lesson
I certainly won’t have a cat poem completed
I haven’t got so much as a fur ball!
However,
If Ms Hydracklu
Is at all interested in ants
She should talk to me…
Alan j Wright
Good reminder… both humorous and poignant. Prompts don’t always inspire.
ReplyDeleteThanks Diane. I concur regarding prompts.
DeleteI didn't often give prompts, and usually, within a group already in a group that wanted to write more poetry, but your poem makes me wish I could share this with students, and let them respond, with a poem? I can hear the wonderings now - He did respond already! Fun to read and ponder, Alan! Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. We pause to reflect. Wishing you an equally enjoyable weekend.
DeleteAlan, wow. I love this poem. It's perfect for encouraging voice.
ReplyDelete"If Ms Hydracklu
Is at all interested in ants
She should talk to me…"
is a perfect ending. I feel like teachers should read this as much as students. By the way, thanks again for the trinet inspiration on my post today.
Thank you for your considered remarks, Denise. I'm making a B line for your Trinet poems after this...
DeleteLove this Alan! The ants were so clearly engaging.
ReplyDeleteIt had to be antsl, Rose. As a child I was fascinated by them.
DeleteBrilliant Alan! This made me laugh out loud but at the same time is a wonderful reminder of the constraints writers feel when given very specific parameters.
ReplyDeleteVery kind of you, Sally. Your response sustains me and encourages me to persist. I recently submitted this poem to an Australian Children's magazine and it was quicky rejected. I suspect it may have been viewed as uncomfortably honest.
DeleteMy favorite comedy is that which has a tinge of sadness mixed in--this is it! Oh, those assignments that confined us. I pray I don't do that to students today.
ReplyDeleteThe tragi-comedy it is, Linda. I have always committed to choice in writing, given my own experience in those formative years. We write best about those matter we care most about. Those tihngs closest to our hearts. I recall Donald Graves stating similar thoughts back in the 1980's.
DeleteAww,... Alan this poem is why I love Sharon Creech's 'LOVE THAT DOG'... I love the heart of a fifth grade boy!
ReplyDeleteI hold that book close to my heart as well, Patricia. Some powerful messages. Glad you saw this connection when you read my poem. I feel quite honoured.
DeleteI feel your pain, Alan! Even editing one’s work to fit within the parameters required by others can induce a bit of dread. Hear, hear to focusing on the ants that inspire you!
ReplyDeleteIt was indeed pain, Tracey. It's porbably why I have retained such memories all these years. I vowed way back then that if I became a teacher I would not teach writing in this way. I can only hope my ex students recall the choices I gave them regarding topic and genre. I always wanted them to have the same choices I had as an adult writer. Ants still fascinate me...
DeleteThe twist and tone change in the final stanza is so fun Alan! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah. Glad you enjoyed the poem and its final twist.
DeleteRight there with you, Alan! I usually hated writing prompts, and whenever I do school visits I never teach rhyme - I always focus on helping students to understand their subject using free verse.
ReplyDeleteI like your approach very much Matt. I'm with you all the way .
DeleteSome folks need a little structure and flail around if they don't have a prompt, and some folks are imprisoned by them. Enjoyed your poem, Alan! I wonder if Ms. Hydracklu would like a poem about an ant named Cat?
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the need for structure Tabatha. Some writers do need such scaffolding/support, but I see that as separate to prompts. I like your ant /cat contention...
DeleteThis poem is so spot on. I have seen those children who go off in a different direction. I love the name Ms Hydracula.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jone. I should have called her that. It would have added some extra bite...
DeleteI love this, Alan. As a homeschooling mom and a writer, I usually avoided prompts with my girls, unless they asked for one (and then they got their pick of prompts.) :) I love the pov in this poem and I wish that fifth-grade boy had been allowed to write about ants. :)
ReplyDeleteGl;ad you like this Karen. Choice is such a critical consideration in writing development, particularly with regard to attitude and confidence. That fifth grade boy has written about ants. He has even had ant poems published...
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