Another Apology with picture

       If you can't read this poem, here it is and tomorrow I'll just try the picture.

Written Apology

To my teacher, Mrs. Cavitt,

I'm sorry, my homework,

I don't have it.

I really wanted to hand it in

but my dog ate it, once again.

Your student

Benjamin Babbit

Apology Poem #4

     OK, today I'm trying something new.  I'm trying to add pictures I've drawn to the poems.  I'm not so sure how well this works, but I thought it was worth a try.  Would you like to try making a picture to illustrate your poem today?  Go ahead, give it a try.  Stick figures are quite alright.  Just have fun.

Here is the poem:




Apology IV

To my teacher, Mr. Muldoon,

I'm sorry I was smoking

in the boys' bathroom.

Smoking really isn't so hot.

I'm sorry that I got caught.

Try it again, I will NOT.

Your student,

David Scott.

And I guess I should apologize to my friend David Scott for using his name.  He definitely is not a smoker. He's a highly respected research scientist.  (Sorry David, but I did have fun writing this one.)

Philip Hunkapillar

Here is another one of those character poems.

Philip Hunkapillar

loved his caterpillar.

He gave it kisses and little hugs.

then put it to bed with the rest of his bugs.

He'd hug each bug 

and hold it tight

then tuck up the covers

and wish it, "Good Night."

     I'm going to have to do some more work on this poem.  Somehow it seems like it needs to have the word snug in here some place.  Have you ever written a poem, just so you could use a special word?  This poem I actually wrote because I liked saying, "Hunkapillar."  It feels really good in my mouth.  Open your dictionary or any magazine to a random page, put your finger down and see what word is under your finger.  Can you write a poem using that word?  Let me know what you come up with.

HUG DAY

Today I feel so happy
I'll give a hug to you.
Then you can hug me back, my friend
and feel so happy too.

I'll hug my mom,
I'll hug my dad,
I'll hug my brother, too.

I want to hug
the whole wide world
that's just what I will do.

I hug the cat,
I hug my dog,
and he gives me
a sloppy kiss.

I'm hugging
everywhere I go
and no one
will I miss.

I like the feel of hugging
I hope that you do too.
And here is another hug
I'm sending just for you.

     Did you know that there is a National Hug Day?  I just discovered this.  It is on January 21.  Plus there is a hug your cat day and a hug your dog day.  What would be the strangest thing you could hug?  I'm sure porcupines are missing out on hugs, I wonder how mom porcupines show their love?  Anyway, here is the challenge for today:  Can you write your own poem about one specific hug?  Be sure to include how the hug makes you feel.  The world definitely needs more hugs.

SPOT, My Dog

My dog sleeps
on the smooth
tile floor

his body stretches
over four
squares in comfort

without thought
he lifts
his front paw

scratches
the spot behind
his flap ear

that pit
where the flea
resides.


     Can you write a poem about your pet?  Or watch your sibling carefully and write a poem about the movements.

A FAIRY TALE

ROBIN: A FAIRY TALE

The red-haired farm mistress

could have no children.

So she nurtured the soil and

the cows, and cats,

the horses, and hogs,

chickens, ducks, and goats.

She created an Eden to watch

each fruitful multiplication,

and wept her sorrow

under a dead wisteria tree

by the rusty stillwater pond.

From the marmalade cat's mouth

she rescued a wounded robin

to set broken leg and wing.

Five weeks she nursed the bird

with midnight feedings

of ground crickets and

barn spiders;

then set the fledgling free.

She discovered this an uncommon bird

who promised to grant

one wish in one week

for her kindness--

as all good fairy tales do.

But when she returned

in seven days

to whisper her wish

on his wings,

lo, there was no bird.

She wailed a cry of woe,

neglected her chores,

wintered her heart.

But still she strung strips

of orange and apple

on bright bits of yarn she tied

to the limbs of the withered wisteria tree,

hoping to hear

the bird's whispery song.

Come spring

when the tree

bloomed with scented blossoms

in pale profusion

the woman bloomed too.

She welcomed her red headed child--

Robin.

     Do you like to read fairy tales and folk lore?  Can you make up your own story?  Can you make up a story for how whipped cream was first invented, or what happened to the princess who liked too many bubbles in her bath?  Can you make the story into a poem?  

I Like My Sky Blue

I'm standing under

a sky so blue.

I'm standing here

thinking of you.

I'm listening to 

this sky that's blue

tell me stories

that may be true.

This sky has many

stories to tell,

and each of them ends

wishing us well.

So may your skies 

all be blue

and may the day

go well for you.

     What does the sky look like above you today?  If the sky were to tell you a story, what do you think it would say?  Does looking up into the vast sky make you feel very small?  If you were floating up in the sky, what would you see?  Hear?  Can you write a poem about the sky?