Can I say that kids are amazing? They are really quite capable of doing more than we give them credit for.

This morning I attended the 2011 Poetry Cafe held by my son’s class. Each of the students worked in a group of 2 to 5 kids to perform an established work and then each student individually read an original work. As in the tradition of Poetry Cafes of the 60s, we snapped in appreciation instead of clapping after each performance. Very cool and hip.

By the way, the poetry created by these kids was really, really good (they are 10 & 11 yrs old!) and they deserved all of the snaps!

The following work is an original poem by Jack.  He did not perform this particular work this morning, but it is my favorite from his poetry book (see above) that he has been keeping since 4th Grade (all of the students in his class do this).

Self Poem

by Jack / Sep 22, 2010

My skin is like a ghost, pale and drifting.

My eyes are like the ocean, calm, blue and green.

My eyelashes are thick and ink black like a crow’s feathers.

My smile is like a daisy, it brightens people up.

My heart holds a happiness that burns inside me like a roaring fire.

I live in a steakhouse and eat everything. 

**SNAP-SNAP-SNAP**

I don’t remember doing cool stuff like this when I was in grade school! Do you?

I’m really glad I was able to attend this morning. It was a real treat.