Hello! I’m Liz Brownlee, National Poetry Day Ambassador! What’s on the poetry roundabout? We have had a series of funny poems to help give a little laugh to those in isolation, with or without children home from school. There are also empathy poems, poetry videos and of course, crafty poetry projects! On the wider site there are interviews with poets and poetry-writing ideas. Thank you so much to @mrs_darl teacher for the window to pop us in, and @chriswhitepoet for my little cartoon me and Lola! Welcome!
Interview with Joshua Seigal in Books for Keeps
If you’d like to read my interview with lovely Joshua Seigal in the wonderful Books for Keeps Magazine, it is here:
https://content.yudu.com/web/1mjdv/0A1mjdx/BfKNo243July2020/html/index.html?page=8&origin=reader
National Poetry Day – Vision, and a Firework Poetry Craft Idea
This year’s National Poetry Day word is VISION! If you are a school you can sign up to the NPD Newsletter so you can be first to hear about all the amazing lesson plans, poems, a schools toolkit to plan your National Poetry Day, and all sorts of give-aways such as posters and badges, and exciting opportunities.
Here is my first VISION poem. It is about fireworks – I don’t like fireworks that bang as they scare birds and horses and other farm animals, our cat used to be terrified every firework night, and my assistance dog also trembles all evening. I’m a big fan of SILENT fireworks which all VISION and no violence, so that is what my poem is about!
Read my poem, and then you can follow the instructions to write your own firework poem and decorate it with some crafty-firework fun!
A Silent Vision
Shooting to space in the freezing night air
we wait in suspense as they fly
then in a splash of colour and light
they burst into being in the sky
a theatre of sparkles and spangles they flash
reflected as stars in our eyes
we marvel and wonder, we ooh and we aaah
as we turn up our faces and sigh
there are streamers and twinkles and lingering sprinkles
a sky full of flare and surprise
and then they’re just ghosts in a cloud of white smoke
which melts into darkness – goodbye!
Liz Brownlee
So would you like to write a firework poem? My poem above rhymes – but this poem is not going to rhyme. YOU are going to be the firework – you will write the poem from a firework’s point of view.
Your first line will describe what you can hear as you wait. Think of what is happening – a bonfire, people watching, sparklers, toffee apples for sale, people trying to keep themselves warm, chatting etc. This is my first line:
The bonfire flames lick and spit through wood
Your second line describes the anticipation and excitement; you will use a simile – you feel ‘as excited as’, or ‘excited like’. This is my second line:
I’m as excited as a shaken fizzy drink
Your third line uses another simile to describe your flight through the air. This is my third line:
until I whizz through dark like a shut umbrella
Your fourth line describes what happens next – this is my fourth line.
and open into the sky as a thousand glittering stars!
You have finished your poem! Here is mine, written out:
Firework
The bonfire flames lick and spit through wood
I’m as excited as a shaken fizzy drink
until I whizz through dark like a shut umbrella
and open into the sky as a thousand glittering stars!
Liz Brownlee
You can write your poem on a piece of paper, and draw fireworks, or you can make some fireworks from coloured paper like this – read all the instructions first so you have everything you need and someone handy to help:
Get a square of coloured paper and fold it so it is a triangle:
Fold that triangle in half so it is a smaller triangle:
Then you have to fold this triangle in from both sides so that it folds into thirds, like this – you may need help at this stage:
When you have done that the triangle has two little sticky-out bits:
On one side there is a straight line – cut a straight line across that line so the sticky-out bits come off.
Now you are left with another triangle:
Hold your triangle so the open end is at the top:
And cut into the near edge to make curved triangle shapes making sure you do not cut too near the tip of the triangle on the left there or go TOO near the opposite edge. Cut into a point at the top. You can draw in pencil to plan where to cut if you like – I did. This can be hard if the paper is thick – I used origami paper. Get someone to help if it is hard, as the cutting has to be quite precise.
Then very carefully open up your paper. It should look a bit like a firework opening in the sky.
You can leave it like that or, like I did, you can carefully cut through where the pattern joins, except in the middle, to make it look more firework-like.
I then did it all again using a smaller square of contrasting colour.
You now have fireworks to put on your poem paper:
Draw four pencil lines with a ruler as shown on a piece of paper and write your words along them in pencil – try to keep the poem in the bottom half of the paper.
Then write over the poem in ink, rub out the lines, and staple or glue your ‘fireworks’ on the top – turn your paper up the other way, and voila, your firework poem is complete!
Covid10 Poetry Competition Winners!
Congratulations to the winners of the Covid19 Poetry competition, shortlisted by me, and judged by the wonderful Roger Stevens of PoetryZone!
As usual the standard was very high!
The three main first prizes of hardback poetry books go to:
Abhinaya Bahirathan, aged 10, for her wonderful poem The School of Emptiness, containing sighing corridors and weeping stationery. Fabulous Abhinaya!
The School of Emptiness
In the school of emptiness I can see
Stationery weeping for children to use them
The books on the shelves stare uncomfortably at the ground
In the school of emptiness I can hear
The loneliness of the corridors sigh sadly
The head teacher’s office looks unhappily at the door
In the school of emptiness I can feel
The walls crying softly for their children
The trays in the lunch hall waiting patiently for delicious food
In the school of emptiness I can smell
The emptiness of the playground
The vast emptiness of the assembly hall
In the school of emptiness I can taste
The sadness of the certificates that have not been given out
The unhappiness of the school closure
© Abhinaya Bahirathan
Samuel Arthur, aged 10, for his excellent Covid19 Abecedarious Poem. It is much harder than it looks to write one of these! Congratulations, Arthur.
Covid19 Abecedarious Poem
About three months ago the world changed
Because of the
Corona Virus, which has
Damaged lives, families and companies, affecting
Everyone, and restricting all of our movements.
Friends can only meet up online or on the phone. We’ll be
Glad to properly say
“Hello!”
I miss my friends and sports, it’s no
Joke though, as people are dying.
“Keep safe!” they say,
“Look after yourself and your family, and
Make the most of every moment.”
No one is safe
On this planet.
People can enjoy spending time with their family in
Quarantine without
Rushing about like normal.
So stay inside and be safe.
Take the time you have together and
Understand the dangers in this
Very scary time.
Wash your hands especially well and use
eXtra soap to get rid of the germs.
You need to keep safe in your own
Zone.
© Samuel Arthur
And lastly Jacob Nicholas, 10, with his lovely poem The Rainbow and his skilful use of rhyming – never using a forced rhyme. Well done, Jacob.
The Rainbow
School is shut and I miss my family and friends,
I am bored, I am lost, will this ever end?
“We have so much to be grateful for,”
Says my mum one sunny day.
“We live amongst beautiful countryside,
And have a garden in which to play.”
We go for a walk, to get some fresh air,
But I’m not in the mood, I don’t want to be there.
My sister is chattering and she is really annoying me,
“But you love me dearly!” she says cheekily.
The road is still and quiet. The sky is too.
There are no cars or planes. How can we go to where we want to?
There is no school, there are no day trips or holidays,
I’m just at home doing schoolwork and there is too much time to sit and laze.
We walk past my school and it stands still and empty,
When I suddenly spy a rabbit and it looks at me gently.
Our walk carries on, it shows no sign of ending,
But then I spot a rainbow sign, a message of hope it is sending.
I stop for a moment, I need to stop and think,
Is my mum really right? I look up and blink.
The sky is bright blue, the sun is shining brightly,
The flowers are in bloom and the lambs are dancing lightly.
I then turn to mum and I quietly say,
“How lucky we are to be safe and well today.”
© Jacob Nicholas
And seven second prizes go to:
Lilly Nolan, 10, with her thoughtful poem. Lovely description, ‘delirious blue’, Lilly.
The Small Things
Before all this, I could
Lay upon golden grains of sand,
Glide along the deep, delirious blue,
Climb across limpet-spread rocks.
Before all this, I could have
A warm, comforting hug
From my old, loving grandad.
Before all this, I could
Laugh with my friends, while
Swinging in the playground, while
Dawdling, waiting for the school bus –
During lockdown
The only way to see a loved one
Is on a screen.
Before all this,
I think I took
The small things
For granted.
© Lilly Nolan, 10
And Iestyn Preddy, 11, for these wonderful descriptive images such as ‘casting dandelion clocks’ .
Things I Didn’t Know I Loved
I didn’t know that I loved the turn of a page
Whilst sat on an uncomfortable plastic chair
Neither did I know I adore the satisfaction of disrupting nature,
Casting dandelion clocks with their parachute-like seeds,
Floating through the air.
I never thought I’d miss the lessons of art,
Even though I can’t make a page explode with colour,
Explode with imagination, explode with detail.
I never, ever thought I’d miss even my family,
Even though we talk all the time,
I still feel a longing.
I thought I would miss the weekly games of football,
But it turns out I don’t, I miss other things.
I definitely thought that I would long for a proper maths lesson,
But it turns out I don’t, I miss other things.
But the most important thing I miss is
SCHOOL
© Iestyn Preddy, 11
Summer Janssens – well done Summer, we loved this detailed description of the sounds and sights in your school life, they really brought your poem alive!
School Life Before Covid19
Listening to the scribbling sound when we do our work,
Listening to the tweeting of the birds in our playground,
Listening to the munching noise when children eat apples at break,
Listening to the lovely voice of Miss Welch when she is teaching.
Missing my school, my teachers and my friends,
Missing my school life before Covid-19.
Playing basketball with my friends during PE lessons,
Playing fun games with Miss Harris at Sunshine Club,
Playing Hangman with a bunch of friends at golden time,
Playing Hide and Seek without getting lost in the playground.
Missing my school, my teachers and my friends,
Missing my school life before Convid-19.
Looking at the sugary doughnuts afterschool in Krispy Kreme,
Looking at the beautiful butterflies fluttering in the Prayer Garden,
Looking at the colourful posters hanging in up in the corridors,
Looking at the shimmering trophies on the shelves,
Missing my school, my teachers and my friends,
Missing my school life before Covid-19.
© Summer Janssens, 7
Euan Cameron-Mitchell – excellent use of smell to conjure a place, well done.
Quarantine
I didn’t know I’d miss the warm food smells of the school canteen
and the comfy pillow like the smell of the car on a long journey.
I didn’t know I’d miss the taste of my fresh packed lunch and a
warm Waitrose chocolate chip cookie.
I didn’t know I’d miss the sound of Fizz playing with her doggy friends
and the screams of school playtime.
I didn’t know I’d miss the sight of cars flying by on a busy road
and my friends’ friendly faces.
I didn’t know I’d miss the touch of the metal chain ropes when sitting on a swing
and my grandparents’ hugs.
© Euan Cameron-Mitchell, 9
Carys Davies, 10 – a wonderful wistfulness in this poem, Carys, and spare description such as ‘the splash on rocks at Angle’. We all know you mean the sea, it doesn’t have to be mentioned.
One Day
I didn’t know I’d miss the shouting at dinner time,
The deafening squeal of children.
I didn’t know I loved the boiling hot sand on the beaches,
Trembling across the shining gold, burning my feet.
Who knew that I’d long to sit by granny,
Chatting about my day?
I never thought I’d miss begging for ice cream,
Listening for the ringing of the ice cream van.
But I don’t miss the sudden shout, calling
WAKE UP!!! at seven in the morning.
And I don’t miss the many cars,
Rumbling up and down the road.
Nor do I miss the trudge around Tesco,
On a rainy afternoon.
Oh, one day
I will hear the splash on rocks at Angle,
I will smell a juicy burger heading my way,
I will stroke the fur of Rocky,
The new poodle.
I will taste fresh raspberries from the hedgerow,
And I will see my cousins once again…
One day.
© Carys Davies, 10
Ria Burton, 11 – very nice feeling of the freedom that is still there, waiting, in the culminating lines of this poem, Ria – ‘the gannets will keep on diving’.
Things I Long For
I didn’t know I loved the sound of lunch time bickering,
The little bits of chat catching in my ears.
I didn’t know I loved the taste of chlorine in my mouth,
Lingering long after lessons at the pool.
I never thought I’d miss the endless maths session,
The numbers speaking to me in a weird language.
I never thought I’d miss the lumbering school bus,
Its suspension always seemingly broken.
Who knew that I’d long for the ringing of the raspy bell,
Signalling the end of break?
But as I long to set eyes upon my friends,
I know the clouds will blow past
The gannets will keep on diving
and we’ll have these moments again.
© Ria Burton, 11
Arthur Davies – great close attention to the detail of a school day in your poem, Arthur – ‘The clunking of chairs and tables colliding’. Something we don’t really notice, let alone as something to be missed!
Things I Didn’t Know I Loved
I didn’t know I loved looking for a café in a small country town,
The comforting texture of fish and chips.
I didn’t know I’d miss the sound of pastries at dinner time,
And the cheering sound of lunchboxes opening.
I never thought I’d miss the annoying talking at the back of the class,
The clunking of chairs and tables colliding.
I didn’t know I loved sitting on benches,
with sparrows chirping in my ear.
I never knew I loved sitting on Granny’s old, patched couch,
With Pixie laying on my knee.
Although I miss hugging Granny,
I know that the benches will stay
And so will the fish and chips.
One day we will have them
Once again.
© Arthur Davies, 11
Huge congratulations to all our winners! Your books should soon be on their way.
Coral Rumble performs her poem, Dancing Bear.
It’s getting closer to the date when Coral Rumble‘s new book, Riding a Lion (Troika) will be out; it will be excellent, and you can pre-order it here.
Leafy Sea Dragon: Poem Video
On International Poetry Day I produced a video of films about animals for a school – here’s one of the poems from that!
Writing a Moon Poem and Hanging it on a 3D Moon!
Today I’m going to guide you to write a poem about the moon – this can be written out onto paper or a disc of card and hung up, or written onto a 3D moon to hang as a mobile!
This is a circular poem – the first line is the same as the last line, and on the mobile it IS the same line. If you write it correctly, it doesn’t matter where you start in the poem, it will still make sense.
Start every line with a capital letter. Do not use rhyme.
You will be writing your poem from what is known as ‘the first person’ perspective. That just means you are writing as if you ARE the moon. You only use words like ‘I’ and ‘My’ and ‘Me’. Your first line (and last line!) is:
Because I am the moon
Your second line starts ‘I am the colour’ – try and think of interesting, unusual, or surprising things that are the same colour as the moon. My second line is:
I am the colour of cobwebs and smoke
Your third line begins ‘My mountains’. This line will be a lie. The mountains will do something that mountains cannot really do. My third line is:
My mountains tell me stories
Your fourth line begins ‘My secrets can be found’. This line is also a lie. Try and think of the most wonderful, unusual, exciting, amazing place the moon’s secrets might be found. My fourth line is:
My secrets can be found in silver coins
Your fifth line starts ‘I wish’. What ambition might the moon have? Think about what might be exciting to you if you were the moon.
I wish I was a shooting star
Your sixth line begins ‘I’m sad’ – the moon might be lonely all on its own in space. It has no air, no water, no plants or animals. Because there is no air, there is no sound, because sound waves use air to travel though. Think about being the moon, and decide what you would miss the most. This is my sixth line:
I’m sad I cannot hear Earth’s songs
Your seventh line starts ‘I dream’. What would the moon dream about? Perhaps another of those things she does not possess? Maybe there is something she would like to do, or try, or someone/something she would like to meet? My seventh line is:
I dream of being kissed with clouds
Your eighth line begins with ‘My seas of dust hide’. What extraordinary thing might the moon’s dust hide? Creatures? Jewels? Words? Magic? Tunnels to another place? My eighth line is:
My seas of dust hide night time lullabies
The last line after this is ‘Because I am the moon’ – the same as the first line. BUT unless you are writing this poem out on a piece of paper, you will not write this onto your 3D shape – because it shares a place with the first line. You will see what I mean when you make your shape!
Here is my poem written out:
Because I am the moon
I am the colour of cobwebs and smoke
My mountains tell me stories
My secrets can be found in silver coins
I wish I was a shooting star
I’m sad I cannot hear your songs
I dream of being kissed with clouds
My seas of dust hide night time lullabies
Because I am the moon
Here is how to write your poem onto a moon!
First you need four pieces of A4 paper. Fold them all in half. Then, either use a pair of compasses to draw a circle or find a saucer or something round that is just smaller than the width of the folded paper to draw round.
Then cut the circle through the 4 layers. Or, if you are unsure of doing it this way, draw your circle onto each folded piece of paper and cut each folded piece out separately. You will end up with 8 paper circles. Fold them in half and open them up again.
Write one line of your poem on each of the circles. Remember, you only need one ‘Because I am the moon’.
If you want to illustrate your poem or colour in the circles, it is best done now – it becomes harder later! Then stack the circles with your poem in order, first line at the top- ‘Because I am the moon’.
Then take the top circle and fold it in half, so the right side folds onto the left side.
Glue this half.
Take the second circle with the second line of your poem on and stick the left hand side of this circle onto the other glued half circle. Make sure the fold matches the fold in the other circle. Be as accurate as you can.
Then fold this second circle in half and glue the side facing you.
And add the next circle on top – again, making sure the folds are all lined up.
Do this with all of the circles, until you have none left. Then turn the circles over so you have half of the first circle on your right and half the last circle on your left.
Take a long piece of hanging string, embroidery thread or wool and stick it in the crack in the middle of the half circles. Use sticky tape to keep it in place.
Then glue the left-hand circle side and stick it to the right-hand half circle. The shape is now 3D and will open up into your 3D moon poem.
Can you see that now the first and last line of your poem is ‘Because I am the Moon’? In fact, because of the way it is written, any line can be the first line, so it doesn’t matter if the moon is not facing the right way when you begin to read it. It still makes sense. You are ready to hang up your moon poem!
Quicky Poetry Ideas for Teachers: Similes – what colour is your heart?
Here’s a quickie simile poem idea.
The poem is a description of the person writing it, they should describe each part in the most surprising, and positive way they can. They must be as complimentary as possible about themselves. Each colour should be true, the description of the colour can be as vivid as they like.
Line one describes their hair colour, line two describes that colour further with a simile
Line three describes their eye colour, line four describes that colour with a simile.
Line five describes their skin colour, and line six further describes that colour with a simile.
Line 7 describes the colour of their hearts. This can be ANY colour. Line eight will be a simile again, and can be of anything, but animals work very well.
The colours of me!
My hair is brown
like conkers in the sun
my eyes are brown
as autumn nuts
my skin is paler pink
than summer buds
and my heart
is dappled
like the leopard
that hides in the grasses.
Have fun! This poem can be done with many variations.
Covid Poetry Competition!
There are only THREE more days to enter this poetry competition! Get your idea down and send me something – there are lots of poem-writing ideas and prompts in the poetry craft blogs under this entry. Why not try one of those, with covid, any aspect of it, as your subject?
Please read the RULES before sending your entry off!
The poems can be in any style, rhyming or non-rhyming, funny or serious.
You could write about Covid19 in metaphorical terms – as a tiger prowling the streets, perhaps.
Maybe you want to express how Covid19 makes you feel; what would you like to say to it?
How would you banish it, and where?
Maybe you’d like to write about how your days have changed, what you have been up to during your time with your family, the good things that have happened, things you have enjoyed about being home for an extended time. Think of the little details.
Your poems can be about anything to do with life as it is now.
RULES
Please read carefully!
PLEASE STATE YOUR:
NAME,
AGE,
EMAIL,
SCHOOL
and ADDRESS
on your entry which should all TYPED, no photos of poems, on ONE Word document, NOT in the body of the mail.
Do NOT send photos of written poems or Google documents or anything other than a Word or Pages document.
Send them in by June 15th, midnight, to poetliz @ mac.com (remove the gaps form the address if you copy this!).
Do not post your poems online.
The wonderful Roger Stevens of PoetryZone is going to judge!
There are no age-brackets – the competition is open to young people in the UK up to the age of 13, and there will be book prizes, including the following:
Huge thanks to the most generous and lovely publishers that we have here in the UK – in alphabetical order, Bloomsbury, Hachette, Macmillan, Otter-Barry, and Troika who have donated the books.
In the first picture, Apes to Zebras, by me, Sue Hardy-Dawson and Roger Stevens (Bloomsbury), Be the Change, The Same Inside by me, Matt Goodfellow and Roger Stevens, Reaching the Stars by me, Jan Dean and Michaela Morgan (all Macmillan), and A Kid in my Class by Rachel Rooney (Otter-Barry). In the second picture, If I Were Other Than Myself, by Sue Hardy-Dawson, This Rock, That Rock by Dom Conlon (both Troika), and Poems from a Green and Blue Planet, Edited by Sabrina Mahfouz (Hachette).
Quickie Poetry Ideas for Teachers
Wanting a quick idea to practise using nouns, verbs, and adjectives?
the grass
glitters
its forest
Carol Bevitt, Susan Eames, Helen Laycock
I call these tribbles. Ask your class to write a noun, a nature word, on the top of a piece of paper.
Ask them to pass that paper to the child behind them, or at a suitable distance.
The new child then adds an action on the next line. You can, if you wish, have a pool of verbs for them to draw from on the whiteboard, so obvious verbs are not chosen. This can also be achieved if the first child folds their paper so the noun is not visible.
Then the paper is passed on again to another child who writes the conclusion, based on the first two words. Ask them to use a noun or an adjective and a noun in the last line, and to keep it as short as possible.
Show them these examples to give them the idea:
The Volcano
belched
behind a hand of smoke
Susan Eames, Helen Laycock, Liz Brownlee
Tadpoles
wriggle
into frogs
Sherri Turner, Carol Bevitt, Helen Laycock
A bee
fuzzbuzzes its way
up the lupins
Liz Brownlee, Sherri Turner, Liz Brownlee
Then get them to pass the poems on again to be read out. These little poems give a great feeling of achievement, don’t take long and usually yield excellent results – hope you enjoy them! They can be displayed in many ways and if you choose connected initial nouns can be put together to make into longer poems.
#Empathy Poem – A Child Speaks
Aged 9, Severn Suzuki founded the Children’s Environmental Organisation. In 1992, long before Greta Thunberg, aged 12, she and three friends raised the money to travel from Canada to speak at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit, to fight for their future and give a young person’s perspective on environmental issues. In 1993, she was honoured in the United Nation’s Environment Programme’s Global 500 Roll of Honour. Sill fighting for the environment, she is now also a speaker, television host and author.
A Child Speaks
Butterflies
are disappearing
like my breath on a windowpane
you would think
this clear view
would help them see
but no
maybe the last, gentle orangutan?
no
perhaps the ocean
lapping with plastic bottles?
no
possibly the last bee?
no
we save the rights
of those with a voice
but we are the undefended
the last tiger walking
and all the adults do is talk
about talking
© Liz Brownlee
#EmpathyPoem – Feeding the World
Another #EmpathyDay poem – again from Be the Change, Poems to Help You Save the World, written with Matt Goodfellow and Roger Stevens, Macmillan.
9-year old Katie Stagliano brought home a tiny cabbage seedling as part of a school project, and tended it so well it became an enormous 40lb cabbage! She donated it to a soup kitchen where it fed 275 people. Katie decided to start vegetable gardens so that she could donate the produce to help people in need. Katie’s Krops now has 100 gardens across the US, helping feed people in need.
Feeding the World
One cabbage seedling,
with small stems bowed
and pale leaves furled,
given food and water
and love can grow
a heart to feed the world.
© Liz Brownlee
Image from Bayer CropScience UK by creative commons license and changed by removing the background.
Snow – #EmpathyPoem
I’m posting lots of empathy poems today! Here is one about snow, and small gifts. This poem is in Be the Change, Poems to Help You Save the World, written with Matt Goodfellow and Roger Stevens, Macmillan.
Snow
Swirling slowly
in lilting flight,
as cold as stars,
the soundless white
of drifting feathers
spreading wings,
to sing the songs
that snowflakes sing,
of how small gifts
of peace and light
can change the world
in just one night.
© Liz Brownlee
Image by Bert Reimer on Flikr by creative commons license.
#EmpathyDay – Refugee Poem
This poem is in The Same Inside, Poems about Empathy and Friendship by me, Matt Goodfellow and Roger Stevens, Macmillan
Refugee
After the bombing
and all are lost
and gone
I walk
I can carry only
my father’s pride
my mother’s longing
my brother’s blood
my sister’s hope
and my dreams
but my father’s pride
cannot be carried
as a refugee
so I lay it down
and walk
when I sleep
my mother’s longing
is too painful to hold
so I lay it down
and walk
until my shoes
fall off my feet
and I leave
my brother’s blood
and my own
on the road
as if it is worthless
and I walk
so far and
sleep so little
I cannot remember
my dreams
so I lay them down
I can carry only
my sister’s hope
which is light
in my heart
© Liz Brownlee
Kindness Poem for #EmpathyDay 2020
Another poem for EmpathyDay! I have permission to post another poem from our forthcoming collection of mental health poems for primary school age – Being Me, Poems about Thoughts, Worries and Feelings, Otter-Barry Books, by me, Matt Goodfellow and Laura Mucha.
#Empathy Day: Anne Sullivan – Teacher to Helen Keller
It’s empathy day! Here’s another poem about empathy. This is from Reach the Stars, Poems about Extraordinary Women and Girls, by me, Jan Dean and Michaela Morgan, Macmillan.
Helen Keller lost both her sight and hearing as a baby. She became very frustrated as a child, living in silence and darkness until her family employed Anne Sullivan. Despite being partially blind herself, she cleverly found ways to help Helen communicate. Anne was Helen’s teacher, support and companion for the next 49 years until she died – by then, she had enabled Helen get to college, learn to type, speak, get married, tackle social and political issues, including women’s suffrage, and write a book.
Anne Sullivan, Teacher to Helen Keller
I started with the word for ‘doll’,
finger-spelling on her hand.
This child could neither hear, nor see –
how could I help her understand?
To fill the space for song and bird,
all that sound and light explain;
out of reach did not exist
and dark and silence had no name.
Until I spelled into her hand
under a pump – though deaf and blind,
the word for water and the water
flowed together in her mind.
That living word grew in her hands,
gave her ways to hear and see,
let in hope and joy and love
with words that set her free.
© Liz Brownlee
