Slice of Life: I Don't Like Poetry!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, Anna, Kathleen, and Deb

                   for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives

First of all, let me make one thing perfectly clear.

I am not the "I" in the title of this post!

It was Tuesday afternoon of the week before spring break

and time for Books, Brownies, and Beyond.  

I wheeled in a cart of poetry books, 

ready to begin our prep for Poem in Your Pocket Day. 

I was surprised when one young man, 

an enthusiastic participant in our book club,

eyed me with a rather sour expression,

followed by the words,

"I don't like poetry!"

Unfazed by this proclamation, 

I scanned the cart for a winning title

and promptly handed him this book.

Another student was less than enthusiastic and so

I asked him, "What's your favorite thing?"  

When he replied, "Food," I reached for this title.

It wasn't long until the room was quiet,
 as everyone plunged into poetry,

enticed by the words and illustrations to discover poems 

they might choose to tuck into a pocket,

to fill a basket of poems for lunchtime sharing,

 or to mark for copying for our school-wide blitz when we blanket

the hallway bulletin boards with poetic goodness. 

I smiled as I noticed this book filled with sticky notes,

a personal favorite that I'm happy for students to discover.  

Before we knew it, our hour together was almost over.

We saved a few minutes for everyone to share a poem. 

And that young man who didn't like poetry?

He begged to share a second poem with the group!