You are an ocean wave
tossing and blowing.
You crest in the sunlight,
your white foam showing.
You give lift to surfers,
seals love your break.
You are my sunshine
in the joy that you make.
You carry sea turtles
give growth for the krill.
Your sea weed is waving
and I love you still.
You're the salt on my tongue
and the breeze of a kiss.
You always act young
my favorite dear sis.
O, I had a great time at the Tucson Festival for the Book today. I attended two workshops presented by children's poet Janet Wong. For a poetry exercise, she had us write a tribute poem to a relative (mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandparent, babysitter, nanny, care-giver, someone you care about) and compare them to a concrete object.
So, I decided to write a poem about my sister and she has been painting a beautiful sea scape recently. I got to go with her to her painting class when I visited recently. This is the poem I wrote. This was a quick and fun exercise. Wouldn't you like to try it?
I'd love to see your poems.
And just think the festival continues tomorrow. Oh, I'm so lucky and this is so much fun. I hope you are having a great weekend, too.
Joy, What a fun tribute to your sister! I have five sisters each one has traits that mimic something concrete. Great excercise. And I'm having a great weekend - it's sunny!
ReplyDeleteJoy,
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific gift and one shared with the world. Lucky sis!
I'm so glad that you enjoyed the session, Joy! There was great energy in the room, wasn't there? I think you need to emphasize that this poem about your sister (or a similar draft of it) was written in 5 minutes. That is one of the best things about the workshop: because of the way it's broken into easy-to-digest pre-writing parts--examples, thinking, sharing, and usually drawing (though we didn't have time to do that)--writers (K-adult) are ready to let loose when the 5 minutes of writing begins. I hope that you're able to use this exercise successfully in your own work as a poet in the schools, and I hope that our paths cross again soon!
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