Monday, October 29, 2007

PTSW : Some People

Hear me children, this poem has truth in it.




Some People

Isn't it strange some people make
You feel so tired inside,
Your thoughts begin to shrivel up
Like leaves all brown and dried!

But when you're with some other ones,
It's stranger still to find
Your thoughts as thick as fireflies
All shiny in your mind!
— by Rachel Field


Brown leaf. Brittle. Pouting. Complaining. Put-upon continually by everyday hurdles and stumbling blocks. Dreams squelched by unfair imperfect reality. How tiresome. Keep dreams in such a presence and you, my child, are a firefly.

You know the firefly. A light from within, illuminating the challenges and opportunities in those hurdles and blocks. Building with the same tools at hand, never wasting precious time in misery over that beyond control, but ever striving, building the real and imperfect into dream.

Child, do not be defined by disabilities. Take charge. Be a dream builder. Be the one who spurs those swarms of firefly thoughts.
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The series of posts, A Poem to Start the Week, is my little anthology of poetry, many of which I have used with my students in elementary schools during 27 years of teaching.



Previous Poems to Start the Week:
Some People • Custard the DragonStatistics 101The Spider and the Fly
Back to School
The Inchcape RockOgden NashTrash
Hearts, Like DoorsCasey at the BatAlways a RoseHome at Last
Bag of ToolsCarpe DiemPoems About PoetryMan's Best Friend
Spelling is Tough Stough!
Blue MarbleTacks, Splinters, Apples and Stars
Oh, Captain, My Captain!MetaphorIntroducion to Poetry
Loveliest of TreesFlax-Golden TalesThe Dinosaurs Are Not All Dead
Owl PelletsMummy Slept LateJust My Size
The Kindest Things I KnowMiles to GoLove that Brother
Oh, Frabjous Day!

Other Posts about Children's Literature:

The Lion's Paw top kid's OOP book!
Harry
Aslan is Dead!
Multiplying People, Rice, and Readers
A Teacher's Life

You can read some of my own efforts at poetry here.
And then there's Alien Invasion.

A weblog dedicated to Poetry for Children.
Watch Sonja Cole's reviews of children's books at Bookwink.com.
The PBS series Favorite Poem Project

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