Seeing the Blue Between and Class Dismissed!

     Seeing the Blue Between is a neat collection of poetry and advice letters from established poets to young writers.  I was drawn to Kalli Dakos's words of encouragement about finding joy in ordinary moments.  All too often in our hectic days, we never stop to really look at what is moving (or not moving) around us.  Dakos made me chuckle with her observation of watching to see if a dog jumped in a river after a ball.  The dog's hesitation made her think "...at least he doesn't have to worry about a bathing suit", which prompted the title of her next poem, "Dogs Don't Have to Wear Bathing Suits" (Dakos, p. 11-12).  Her poem, "I'd Mark with the Sunshine", was a lovely commentary on why marking with a red pen could be seen as detrimental to a student's ego.  She longs to be rid of the red pen "...because red reminds me of blood that oozes out of cuts...And STOP signs that warn you of danger" (Dakos, p. 13).  Her solution to "mark with the sunshine itself!" signals that she believes in encouraging her students and wants to focus on the positive in their work and not the negative.  

     A few years back, I used Sharon Creech's Love That Dog as a read aloud with my sixth grade class. The books is written in free-verse and the students enjoyed learning about concrete poetry, poetry that takes the shape of its topic.  Douglas Florian's "Bad Poem" and "Whirligig Beetles" fall into that category, with the last line of "Bad Poem" constructed in such a way that the words look like they are falling off a cliff (or in the author's words, "fall off the page") (Florian, p. 28).  "Whirligig Beetles" is written in a circle to show the circuitous motion made by revelers enjoying a skate on a frozen lake or refreshing swim in the summer.  Students like to write without restrictions and seeing examples of concrete poetry can encourage them to take freedom with their written expressions.

     Jack Prelutsky is well-known for incorporating humor into his poems.  He offers excellent advice on creating humorous poems through 4 tips - exaggerate, make the ordinary special, come up with an absurd conclusion, and incorporate a sense of rhythm (Prelutsky, p. 94-96).  "Euphonica Jane" incorporates those pointers to create a comical poem about a girl with a horrible singing voice.  He takes an ordinary singing voice and makes it special by making it "bizarre".  Exaggeration is shown by personifying mannequins so that they "moan with dismay".  The ending is unreal as fish wish they could drown themselves and a tornado begins as Euphonica Jane begins to sing (Prelutsky, p. 97).  Middle school students would still be receptive to silly word play and situations and I can see my students enjoying Prelutsky's work.  Overall, I think Seeing the Blue Between would be a useful book to use in conducting a poetry unit.

     While I did enjoy Class Dismissed!, the situations and themes were a little too old for my middle school students, and I would categorize it more as a book for high school students.  Similar to Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?, the book is structured so that each page represents a high school student's name and his or her thoughts are revealed in free-verse.  I liked the pattern that emerged between some poems that would connect either the poem before it or after it.  For example, in the poem called "Brenda Stewart", I learned that Brenda is arrested for shoplifting.  The next poem, titled "Rosemarie Stewart" is about Brenda's sister.  Rosemarie recounts how even though she is the good girl in the family, "A girl scout without the uniform" (Glenn, p. 51), it is still Brenda who reaps the attention.  "You would think all that is enough to win my parents' love.  But in the theater of our house Brenda holds center stage" (Glenn, p. 51).  Another poem that caught my eye because of its imagery was "Carl Immerman".   He creates a strong metaphor by substituting a wire fence for braces and incorporates humor by wondering, "Ever try to kiss a girl through a wire fence?" (Glenn, p. 79).  While some of the high school poems are dark, covering issues like parent alcoholism, teen pregnancy, and physical abuse, Carl's poem takes a lighthearted look at an issue that affects a lot of teenagers:  braces.  He even uses a tip that Jack Prelutsky discussed in Seeing the Blue Between, which is to use exaggeration.  On the day Carl has his braces removed, he invokes the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. by exclaiming, "Today I am liberated, Free at last, free at last, Great God I'm free at last" (Glenn, p. 79).  In my reflection on Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?, I referred to Carol Clark's idea that poetry can invoke intense memories of the heart with its topics of identity and discovery.  "Sheila Franklin" touched me if for no other reason than it made me recall my own best friend in middle school and how she had a boyfriend before me.  I remember calling her numerous times to talk, only to hear a busy signal at the other end (in the days before call waiting).  Like Sheila in the poem, I too, "...discovered that the time between phone calls lengthened" (Glenn, p. 57).  My friend and I were like Sheila and Shari.  We shared clothes, sandwiches, and paperbacks.  Yet, when the boys came calling after her and not me, I was left holding the memories of times we spent together to fill in the empty space where she once was.  (Note:  That time was temporary and eventually my friend realized that a dependable girlfriend beats a cute boy anyday.  We are still best friends today.  I didn't want to end this reflection on a downer.)   I would keep this book in my classroom library to use selected poems as supplements for a poetry unit, since I think its topics are more age appropriate for a high school audience.