Thursday, October 20, 2011

twenty-four doors



Maybe it's a teacher thing, or maybe it's just me:  I am inordinately excited by the arrival of a new rug for my classroom.  (We've made do with unsatisfactory ruglike arrangements for two months.)  Our meeting area--where so much talking and listening, teaching and learning go on--is defined by The Carpet, so how the carpet looks and feels is important.

Isn't my new rug beautiful?  It's so beautiful I had to write a poem about it.

Twenty-Four Doors

The new rug in my room
is one inch deep,
a layer of soil
made of snowflake and moon.
I lie down by a river
of lightning and leaves.
My arms span a sky
like a mine full of gold;
turtles in treetops nibble my toes.
A cloudburst of apples
showers my head.
I tickle sharks
at the rainbow’s end,
feed the bluebird of gravity
acorns and sun.
They can keep me inside,
but the rug on my floor has
twenty-four doors that lead
into the wild.

Heidi Mordhorst 2011
all rights reserved


Head to Jama's Alphabet Soup for the usual smorgasbord of poetry dishes, autumn edition, and don't forget to stop by again on Tuesday evening if you'd like a poetry challenge!

11 comments:

  1. What a beautiful rug and the loveliest of poems to go with it. I want one, too. :)

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  2. It's just a beautiful rug, and poem. They both invite one into the wonderful world your classroom must be. I like that ending, "twenty-four doors that lead into the wild" and "turtles in treetops nibble my toes".

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  3. I love your rug! And I want to kiss the "bluebird of gravity." Congratulations on your new cozy spot, and I hope you'll post some photos of it holding you all close. Such joyful words about something so small, yet so big. A.

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  4. Beautiful poem, Heidi. You've woven a magnificent magic carpet of imaginary images from your adorable new doorfull rug!

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  5. Wow. I wish I had a teacher like you when I was younger. Your students are mighty lucky. :) Couldn't help but sigh as I was reading through your beautiful lines.
    My favorites though are the following:
    "A cloudburst of apples
    showers my head.
    I tickle sharks
    at the rainbow’s end,
    feed the bluebird of gravity
    acorns and sun."

    Breathtaking. If a classroom carpet can inspire you to write something as lovely as this, then ... wow. :)

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  6. If I were in your class, I would want to sit on a different spot each time we came to the meeting area! LOVE that the doors "lead into the wild."

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  7. Wow - such an important thing for five- and six-year-olds, and a delight for grown-ups! I want to hang out on it, too. The poem is wonderful - I echo appreciation for the bluebird line: "feed the bluebird of gravity
    acorns and sun" - mmmmmm.

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  8. I know just exactly where to put a beautiful rug like this in my house -- in my study, by my desk overlooking the garden, surrounded by with my favorite "quiet" books.

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  9. How beautiful! I wish I could sit on your rug!

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  10. were i of a certain age, i would lay with my face against the run, drawing lines around the world with my finger making up friends and languages as i crossed the waters.

    great rug, equally fitting poem.

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  11. Your excitement is not inordinate! The Navajos and many other cultures know that the physical beauty of the room helps us learn.

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Thanks for joining in the wild rumpus!