The Floor

Suppose the floor had just been born
on a cold and dusky morn.
He finds the dirt you try to hide
perhaps it hurts the young floor's pride.
With many things to learn and do,
would the new floor walk over you?
If then you open up his doors
you'll find out what the floor abhors.

   This is just a bit of silliness.  What do you think the floor would tell you if you had a conversation?  What would your bed say?  The trash can?  The refrigerator?  Take an object and write a poem about it today.
   I know when I was in second grade and I tried to cut my own bangs on the day before school pictures, the silver scissors I held in my left hand were screaming, "Stop, stop!"  That's why my bangs ended up uneven.
   I used a mentor poem to write my poem, written by my birthday poet Theodore Roethke. His is titled The Ceiling.

Children's poems can start you wondering. 

Spooky Party

 

copyright 2014, Joy Acey

1, 2, 3, 4
spooky ghosts
float through the door.
5, 6, 7, 8
they're rushing in
can't be late.
9,10, then 10 again.
They're laughing
loud and hardy
20 ghosts
having a
Halloween party.

    Here is your challenge for today-- make a list of all the Halloween related words you can think of.  My list had 22 words.  Now I'm going to try to write poems using those words.  Have fun making your list.  Can you write a list poem using your words?  Happy writing.

My Dog

My dog is outside.
He's barking again.
He needs me to know
he wants to come in.

So I stand up
and open the door
I don't want to hear
his barking any more.

But the moment he's in
my dog starts to pout.
Now he needs me to know
he wants to go out.


     I have an ageing Welsh Springer Spaniel and every evening when I sit to watch television, he immediately wants me to get up and put him outside.  Then after about a minute, he's barking to come in.  But then as soon as he comes in, and he doesn't even wait for the next commercial break before he wants to go out again.  He's such a silly dog.  Do you have a dog or cat?  Does the pet do anything funny or strange?  I had a dog once who had to push his kibble out of the bowl before he would eat it.  Can you write a poem about your pet?

OPEN THE DOOR

Open the door.
Come on in.
The fun is about
to begin.

On the other side
is opportunity.
You get to decide
what that will be.


     Now is a great time to think about what you want on the other side of that door.  What doors would you like to work at opening this year? The choices are all up to you.  Have fun thinking about what you'd like to see, and then try writing your own poem about the opportunities that are waiting for you.  Enjoy!

A GHOST AT THE DOOR?

The wind is whistling.
The door rattles a lot.
Is there a ghost there?
I surely hope NOT.


 I had so much fun writing about a ghost yesterday, I thought I'd try again today.  Where else can I place the ghost?  

The noise scares my dog.
She runs for her bed
then uses her paws
to cover her head.

    Can you write a poem today about something that might scare you?

Ring, ring
the doorbell rings.
I rush to open the door.

Ring, ring
who can it be
standing at my door?

It might be the sitter 
'cause Mom and Dad
are going out.

I hope she is a fun one
and not too overly stout.
I hope she will play with me
and doesn't suffer gout.

And as I stand here waiting
she's pushing on the bell.
Perhaps she'll just go away
and I won't have to tell.


     I like doors.  Do you?  How many doors are there in your house?  Are all the doors the same or different? 
Do you have a favorite sitter?  What do you do when the sitter comes?  Can you write a poem about a sitter, or babysitting?  Have a happy Saturday.

Grasshopper

A grasshopper in the lantana

all yellow and black and green

was a big hopper in the lantana

the biggest that I've ever seen.

The grasshopper in the lantana

was looking hungry and mean.

That grasshopper in my lantana

was eating my leafy greens.

     Can you guess what I saw this morning when I was watering the plants?  Can you write your own poem about something you saw this morning?


Let's see if I can do this

Forty pairs of school shoes
sat on the school bus floor
trying to be quiet
'til we opened up the door.

Then forty pairs of school shoes
marched out the school bus door
then the bus is quiet 'til 
they're back to ride some more.