Happy Poetry Friday! Welcome, everyone! (Wondering what Poetry Friday is? Click here.)
Well, it has been a chaotic, joyful, and sad summer so far. So when this month’s Poetry Princess challenge was a poem in the style of Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty,” I just couldn’t still my mind long enough to write something all that formal. Instead, I took Byron’s poem and, using the same meter and rhyme scheme, and a few borrowed words and phrases, transformed it into an ode to elementary educators. So I present you with…“She Walks in Glitter.”
This poem was brainstormed over the weekend, then written largely at a drum corps show on Monday night. There’s something I like about writing poetry in busy public places (like theme parks!).
Don’t miss the wonderful poems written by my Poetry Sisters!
Kelly (“She Walks on Eggshells” — The story behind the original poem:>)
Liz (“Mother Liberty” — perfect for this week, and for always)
Sara (“Crede Byron (Trust Byron)” — Sara’s not buying into the Byron family motto at all!)
Tanita — (“Diogenes’s Daughters” and “Ma’at” — Tanita searches for truth and weighs in on faithfulness/grace)
Tricia (untitled — brace yourself for this poem on grief)
Non-poetry demands are keeping Andi away this month, but she’ll return.
Click here to see all our previous Poetry Princesses collaborations.
Next week, in honor of National Macaroni and Cheese Day on July 14, the PF roundup at The Opposite of Indifference with have an optional Mac-N-Cheese theme! (That is my favorite food, so I’m currently trying to narrow down my mac and cheese obsession to a single mac and cheese topic!)
This week, Carol at Beyond Literacy Link is rounding us all up in the Poetry Friday Roundup today. Check it out!
28 Responses
Laura, your Lord Bryon style poem is delightful. I am sure elementary teachers will be charmed by the descriptions, like lemon marker perfume and her teeth as white as Elmer’s glue. The last two lines are the heart throb ones though.
Thanks, Carol!
I love all the sensory words. This is a cool mentor project.
Thanks! My teacher friends on Facebook helped me out with some sensory details:>)
I never thought my teeth would be as white as Elmer’s glue, but it works, Laura! What a great teacher poem, just right that all those things even now as retired mean a lot. That’s me, and all the other colleagues I’ve worked with. I do love “Her laugh that finds you where you are.” I will share!
Thanks, Linda. I am so glad it connected!
As much as I smiled and laughed through the poem.…I was thinking wow.….she really nailed it! I mean how could you have known about my miss-matched shoes? Fun and funny and great echo of Lord Byron.…who’s poetry is not the first I turn to. Great sense of humor and great love for the teachers.
I only taught two years, but I wore mismatched shoes one day. Maybe two. My 8th-graders never let me hear the end of it:>) Glad you enjoyed the poem!
I am sending this to my teacher-sister, Laura. It’s delightful — and the Elmer’s glue line is my favorite!!
I’m honored, Liz!
Such a fun, clever poem, Laura. You had me from the first line. “She walks in glitter, like the sun…” Love it!
Thank you, Molly!
Riding shotgun on the A/V cart. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Thank you for celebrating these shiny folks, Laura. I, too, sometimes like writing in public spaces… for me, it’s a way to escape… xo
Thanks, Irene! And it’s always fun to give teachers a little glory, isn’t it? I am so angry this morning about a drum corps show I’m going to Saturday. It’s in a college stadium, and, basically, you can’t bring ANYthing in. Not even sure where I’ll put my wallet, let alone my notebook and pen!
I’m swooning and giggling over your “riding shotgun on the A/V cart” and “teeth as white as Elmer’s glue”—somehow you managed to both praise her and yet not put her in an untouchable box, which Byron (ahem) cannot seem to do. Walk on in glitter!
Well, Byron’s sort of a jerk, as you beautifully established:>) Thanks, Sara!
I’m so impressed that you could whip that off at a drum corps show. The poem manages to be fun, clever, and heart warming all at once.
Since my little sister and I have a running glitter joke, this is even funnier. Some of us walk in glitter as a life choice! All hail the librarian, queen of the summer programs using glitter. ☺
This is about as fun as they come–A/V cart, cubby heart; teeth as white as Elmer’s glue/ inky hands, in mismatched shoes!! So grounded in a teacher’s world. I think should send this one to a teacher’s magazine.
Oh glitter! You had my heart at that first line! Most of us who with children have a love/hate relationship with glitter — it fills our hearts and those of our young charges with so much joy, but our custodians are typically much less enthused…! 😉
Oh that lemon marker! I can smell it!
I adore this poem — it is funny and poignant and honors teachers all at the same time!
I am in love with this poem. I know this teacher. I see her dedicated caring as I walk by her in the hallway. So many lines to love! Her cubby heart. The teeth that shine like Elmer’s glue. Oh, I want to hug this line, “Where acts and caring–not just facts– make students and bright poppies bloom.”
I adore the last two lines of the poem, but also took great joy in the second stanza describing this teacher with comparisons to school supplies and other classroom items. My teacher poem drafts don’t even come close to this.
Thank you for sharing and for making me smile.
I am so in love with this poem. Primary grade teachers are rockstars.
I just knew this was about me when I read the title! LOL! Just kidding! But truly, you captured much of my — and all my colleagues — years teaching the little ones! Love the Elmer’s Glue white teeth — AND especially the mismatched shoes, which I’ve done both on purpose and by accident!
I wonder if wearing mismatched shoes is a rite of passage for teachers? As everyone else has said, your wonderful poem is spot-on. Here’s to teachers who “make students…bloom” everywhere!
I love this! Sending this along to my favorite teacher friends. Brilliant (and so funny and sweet and true)!