Poem of the Day: No Images (by Waring Cuney)

Today is Day 4 of my week of school visits in southwestern Minnesota, and today I get to spend ALL day at one school. It’s a luxury!

One thing I love to emphasize with kids is the fun of reading poetry aloud. Check out Marilyn Singer’s recent article that talks about this for School Library Journal. I’m a huge fan of the book/CD Poetry Speaks to Children (aren’t you?), and now the people at Sourcebooks have a terrific new anthology out. Poetry Speaks Who I Am: Poems of Discovery, Inspiration, Independence, and Everything Else… was edited by the terrific Elise Paschen and is geared toward young teens. Like the other entries in the Poetry Speaks… series, this volume features a wide variety of styles and moods and poets, from Poe to Plath, from Nye to Nelson. All the poems were chosen to touch on some of the issues teens deal with, from self-identity to friendship to bra shopping to parents to love and the meaning of life. You’re sure to find something you like here. Probably lots of somethings! And you can listen to many poets read their own work. Here’s one poem I love:

No Images

She does not know
her beauty,
she thinks her brown body
has no glory.

If she could dance
naked
under palm trees
and see her image in the river,
she would know.

But there are no palm trees
on the street,
and dish water gives back
no images.

–Waring Cuney, all rights reserved