"Getting" Poetry

I have been having a great time with my kids lately working on a poetry unit.  This is technically happening in Literature class, but my teaching counterpart (henceforth Mr. S!) does not teach poem writing in his English course, so we are reading AND writing poems.

My kids have really been getting into poems!  I'm not sure they realize it, but they are actually feeling some emotional connection with many of the poems, which is amazing me every day.  Some of them are really turning out fantastic poems, themselves, as well.

They had a STRONG response to this poem today.

Traveling through the Dark – William Stafford

Traveling through the dark I found a deer

dead on the edge of the Wilson River road.

It is usually best to roll them into the canyon:

that road is narrow; to swerve might make more dead.

By glow of the tail-light I stumbled back of the car  

and stood by the heap, a doe, a recent killing;  

she had stiffened already, almost cold.

I dragged her off; she was large in the belly.

My fingers touching her side brought me the reason—

her side was warm; her fawn lay there waiting,  

alive, still, never to be born.

Beside that mountain road I hesitated.

The car aimed ahead its lowered parking lights;  

under the hood purred the steady engine.

I stood in the glare of the warm exhaust turning red;  

around our group I could hear the wilderness listen.

I thought hard for us all—my only swerving—,  

then pushed her over the edge into the river.

We were able to talk about the parallalels between the beginning and the end, as well as the imagery and how it led to an emotional tone. 

I can't seem to gush enough about some of my kids' poems!  I may add some examples to the blog after tomorrow - I should really ask their permission to publish their poetry online.