As always, Amy's poem was for a child audience, and I'll get there too...but on the first pass I've ended up with something half-as*ed and half-answered, for adults:
But Amy's poem really is--it is her gift--charming and immediate and real, everything opposite the slippery speechification of us adults, and so I will go on and use it as a mentor poem. Thanks, Amy, and thanks, Molly!
I know you didn't ask directly, but here's where you can see the other Inklings' answers...
Mary Lee Hahn @ A(nother) Year of Reading
Molly Hogan @ Nix the Comfort Zone
Linda Mitchell @ A Word Edgewise
Margaret Simon @ Reflections on the Teche
Our host today is none other than Inkling Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core. Do check in with her for her unasked question poem, and with all our poetry pals, each one guaranteed to brighten your darkening, shortening days if not to answer all your questions!
I love both of your responses, Heidi! How clever of you to string together phrases we so often hear when we have no answers to create a poem for which there is no specific question! I also love that the speaker "Absent" doesn't leave their feet on the ground! Who wouldn't want to shine all day with the sun?
ReplyDeleteSuch very different responses. Your first is clever. But your second is golden. I love this precocious child's voice!
ReplyDeleteLove the line starting with "we giggled", Heidi, and though it is true for students off in their own dreamland, it touches the other one so full of whispers behind the hand. You've written answers I want to discuss!
ReplyDeleteThe second poem, Heidi, is totally charming, and I smiled picturing the "I" of the poem riding with the sun and visiting classmates, giggling at how hard they were working. The first it so clever, melding together so many phrases we use when something has happened. "Who would have guessed" and "at least for a while." Brilliant, both.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, both! You're such a versatile poet, Heidi. What a gift. xo
ReplyDeleteLove the voice and imagination of that second poem, Heidi--you're inside a kiddo's brain, under the sun, Ms Solunder.
ReplyDeleteWow - riding the sky with the sun! I love how you became "we" and how you spoke to the rest of your class as though you were besties.
ReplyDeleteLove both of these, Heidi, and perhaps all the more so because of their juxtaposition. I was especially intrigued by the first one. It felt like I was moving through a crowd listening to tidbits of conversation, trying to pick up the thread. The second captures that sense of whimsy that so delighted me with Amy's poem.
ReplyDelete"skirting the fading stars!" Wonderful...that's what I used to feel on my bike when I was a kid...the rush of skirting. This poem makes me smile.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, what a delight to read your "slippery speechification" poem. I think it actually could work as a poem for children. I'd love to share it with my students and see what they do with it. But then there's the shining sun and all the magic of imagining skipping a day of school to be with the sun. A wonderful response poem to Amy's.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, poem #2 caught my attention immediately. I think children will enjoy the imaginative adventure. Using Amy's poem as a mentor text was a great idea. Your poem sparks with interest as does the first one.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Molly -- your first poem seems very much overheard in a crowd. And your second is so fun! I'm glad your speaker was able to keep the poor lonely sun company. :-)
ReplyDeleteI loved the first one…those lines that can be so common. And the second one is so playful.
ReplyDeleteI like those, Heidi! In the first, I enjoy the "overheard in a crowd," as Mary Lee says, nature of the lines, and of course am thinking, "Whaaat? Whaaat happened?" That could be the response poem!
ReplyDeleteHeidi, I love each of these, for different reasons, of course. :) The first? Oh, how sadly true. And the second sparks pure delight. Thanks for these!
ReplyDeleteHeidi! Your "Absent" poem makes me want to play hooky from my work and ride off toward the sun.
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