The first class was a disaster. I didn't prepare interactive enough activities, I didn't set up "poetry" and what it means in an accessible way, and the age gap between my kids (ranging from an 8-year-old girl through to a 14-year-old boy) was too great for the kids to form a connection.
But things since then have gotten much better. Kids love words, and they know how to stretch them and manipulate them and couple them. They even know how to keep from using them. As we've gone through the weeks, the kids have written for me amazing poems about the feeling colors produce, the movement of animals, the sounds of cars and crowded classrooms. I wish I still had them so I could recite them to you, but I've given them back to their authors. What I find most fascinating is how each child has his or her own style. One girl, age 9, is extremely lyrical, long lines draw out shy feelings wrapped in detailed descriptions. Another girl is punchy, with vivid imagery couplets that take you by surprise. The boys show meticulousness, choosing their words carefully in short lines that leave the reader wanting to solve the mystery of their descriptions. One boy, paints vignettes with his words, little word-pictures you see clearly as they flash through your mind in his economy of language.
Kenneth Koch was right. Kids are perfectly able to write mature modern poetry. I am glad I believed him enough to take on seven kids, between the ages of eight and fourteen, even though my experience was severely lacking and my self-esteem through the basement floor.
I'd do it all over again. Heck, I just might.
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