Friday, September 23, 2016

Poetry Friday

Michelle H. Barns has a wonderful interview of Jane Yolen on her blog Today's Little Ditty.  Michelle also hosts a monthly poetry challenge inspired by the poet she interviews.

This month, Ms. Yolen challenged us to write a septercet....a form she invented. A septercet has seven syllables per line in a three line stanza.

My contribution to the challenge is my contribution for Poetry Friday. Thank you to Reading to the Core for hosting today's Poetry Friday roundup.

New Girl Literacies

We shared a computer desk
side by side, first day of school
I asked her, what is your name?

Shiny braids shook back and forth.
Oh, I see. Where are you from?
Left and right the braids – no, no.

Español? Or, Arabic?
Her hair now quite talkative
All the words quite clearly, NO.

I clicked on a map, her eyes
swept right, then she clicked a spot.
The braids at rest. Oh, Nepal!


© Linda Mitchell

13 comments:

  1. Wow! Your poetry challenge turned out well, Linda! I really like how you have used the gestures and dialogue together. Nicely done!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sweet poem, held my interest all the way through and I love the uplifting ending. There's more than one way to communicate. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I loved this when I read it on Michelle's post, too, Linda. It gets into the 'heart' of things beautifully!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I could read this again and again, Linda! And such a clever approach to the challenge, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What I didn't say....and don't really need to because the poem is for the reader.....is that the other new girl was me two weeks ago with a student. She and I are buddies now.

      Delete
    2. I wondered if this was based on a true story. How wonderful!

      Delete
  5. I love the "hair quite talkative." What a lovely approach to welcoming a newcomer.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well done, Linda! As Violet said, I love the talkative hair!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those braids can say so much. Lovely poem.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm glad the new girl reached out to share that important piece of information with the narrator! Great septercet, Linda :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. One of my favorites on the septercet list.

    ReplyDelete

Friendly, positive comments and feedback are always welcome here. Please let me know I'm not just whistling in the dark!