Eating Poetry

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Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.
Mark Strand

Two things happened recently that reinforced the correctness of my choice, at the age of 65, to become a full-time poet. One was my annual hosting of a haiku retreat for a group of poets and soon-to-be poets. The second was the reading of two books concerned with teaching poetry to students.

The first book, Love That Dog, a Newberry Award winner, is described as a novel. It is the kind of book that parents, grandparents and teachers love. It has heart, purpose and a happy ending, but I wondered how kids responded to this delicious tale of how a young boy comes to realize poetry isn’t just for girls. I asked around a bit and found kids also gave it thumbs up. It is recommended for 8-12 year olds and the inside front jacket summarizes the plot in this way:

This is the story of Jack
who finds his voice
with the help of
paper
pencil
teacher
and
dog

I can’t recommend it enough. The author, Sharon Creech, does not guarantee it will produce future Poet Laureates, but that’s not the aim of the story. The aim is that a connection is made with the child, and the child’s true voice by the use of poetry. This connection not only validates the student but is an enormous boost to his or her self-esteem.

The second book reaches out to a diametrically opposite group of students. It is Jill Solnicki’s true story of teaching at a “special” school. Jill comes from a privileged background of first-class education and a girlhood of culture, horse-back riding and other activities of middle-class children. Her students come from problem homes, are racist and uneducated. On a Monday morning when Ms Solnicki asks what they have done this week-end, it is likely to be encounters with the police or a haze of drugs, sex and alcohol.

Against all odds Ms Solnicki perseveres with her creative writing class, and the students’ poems at the end of the book are heart-breaking. This is a rough, tough book, but if those are the kind of students you are working with, The Real Me Is Gonna Be A Shock is the book for you.

In both books poetry is the medium to open communication. In Love that Dog the poems the teacher explores (and Jack comments on) are presented one by one as the class studies them, and the story progresses. In The Real Me Is Gonna Be A Shock, blank verse is the key to opening the floodgates of the strong emotions of these sadly abused, neglected, and low self-esteem students.

Poetry is condensed life and can resonate with the readers’ own lives to release emotions. So the key to getting students to write poetry is to read them lots of poetry that is relevant to their lives. Once the students are caught, my advice is to not start analyzing and explaining the poems. As Billy Collins advises, don’t tie the poems up and torture them for their meanings, just choose ones that make students laugh and cry and be angry or become very calm and peaceful. Then, without telling them how difficult it is to write a good poem, just tell them to write...and write they will. The line breaks, word choice and other such matters can be left until later.

Engrossed by these two books, my own choice of poetry as a way of life seemed supported by every page. Poetry has power; it empowers the poet and it empowers the reader. As Maya Angelou so beautifully says, “Poetry can tell us what human beings are. It can tell us why we stumble and fall and how, miraculously, we can stand up.” And Jane Hirshfield adds, “The activity of poetry is to tell us we must change our lives. It does this by posing again and again a question that cannot be answered except with our whole being—body, speech, and mind. What is the nature of this moment?”

And the summer haiku meeting? How does that fit in? Participants opened to each other by sharing the words of their haiku which describe exactly the “here and now,” for nothing is more of the moment than a haiku which tells exactly in three brief lines (and sometimes less than three), what is happening, and when it is happening and where. For it is in the moment that we lose ourselves and find ourselves at the same time. And this is exactly what we motley crew of house-cleaners, teachers, artists and business folk did for two days this summer.

Whether I am hosting poetry workshops, teaching, coaching, reading or writing, poetry is the focus, poetry is the release and poetry is the joy. Read those two books (I’m sure you could add others also as inspirational), and see if you don’t agree.
. . .
Love that Dog, Sharon Creech, Joanna Cotler Books, NY, 2001

The Real Me Is Gonna Be A Shock, Jill Solnicki, Lester Publishing Co., Toronto, 1992

Naomi Beth Wakan has written/compiled over 30 books including the American Library Association selection Haiku - one breath poetry. Her most recent title is Segues (Wolsak and Wynn, 2005). When she is not writing or reading poetry, Naomi coaches poetry writing one-on-one. www.naomiwakan.com