On this day before vacation, I am thinking about traveling and the journeys we all take, both literally and figuratively; knowing that we do not have to actually leave the confines of our classrooms or homes to travel or continue on our journey. So, whether you are actually physically going somewhere during vacation or not, I wish you wonderful travels and many opportunities to journey this coming week.
Two poems by Naomi Shihab Nye.
Full Day
The pilot on the plane says:
In one minute and fifty seconds
We're going as far
as the covered wagon went
in a full day.
We look down
on clouds,
mountains of froth and foam.
We eat a neat
and subdivided lunch.
How was it for the people in
the covered wagon?
They bumped and jostled.
Their wheels broke.
Their biscuits were tough.
They got hot and cold and old.
Their shirts tore on the branches
they passed.
But they saw the pebbles
and the long grass
and the sweet shine of evening
settling on the fields.
They knew the ruts and the rocks.
They threw their furniture out
to make the wagons lighter.
They carried their treasures
in a crooked box.
(from Come with Me: Poems for a Journey)
(from Come with Me: Poems for a Journey)
This is a video of Naomi reading a "found poem." The poem is composed of things said by her son when he was very young. (One Boy Told Me : Poetry Everywhere : Video). This might be a great project in a classroom or library, where the students could write a line (or lines) or a sentence on a strip and then small groups could make poems from them. The lines could be ones they have overheard at school or in life in general. I am wondering if there could be themes such as: things adults tell you to do, i.e., listen, brush your teeth...).
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