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This is my playground for poetry written for children with ideas and inspiration for writing your own poems. Come on in. Sit for a spell, have a cup of words to swirl around and make your own cup of poetry. I'm so glad you are here. I hope you'll find the Kingdom of Poetry a fun place to be.

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Words

"Do not hold it against me, O speech, that I borrow weighty words,
and then labor to make them light."  Wislawa Szymborska

fly overhead, stuffed
like cartoon bubbles
balloons I rope in
they burst,
so much
hot air


    The quote at the beginning of the poem is called an epigraph.  Can you write your own poem today that uses an epigraph at the beginning, a quote that adds meaning to your poem?  The quote or phrase doesn't have to be from a famous person, it could be something your dad, mom or teacher says.  Like "History is my favorite subject."  Then your poem could be about something historical, or other things your teacher says. "Look at that." my dad.  The poem could be about things you notice, or something you've seen.  You can also look in the newspaper or magazines for epigraphs.  be sure to remember to let the reader know where you got the information, or who said your epigraph.  The title of this poem leads into the first line.
    Do you know who Wislawa Szymborska was?  Can you find her poetry on the web? 


 

3 comments:

  1. I like the explanation, Joy & the way your poem has a little tongue-in-cheek at the end. Nice to think of the words bursting out!

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  2. Thanks Linda,
    The form of this one ended up very spare and I wasn't sure the meaning would come through. I appreciate your letting me know that you got it.

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  3. love this one too! Not sure I quite got what you were doing--but I liked the word bubble idea!

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