Our poetry lesson...

We are studying poetry in our summer session of homeschool.

Today's was so good; I just had to share.

Of Mere Being

The palm at the end of the mind,

Beyond the last thought, rises

In the bronze distance.

A gold-feathered bird

Sings in the palm, without human meaning,

Without human feeling, a foreign song.

You know then that it is not the reason

That makes us happy or unhapy.

The bird sings. Its feathers shine.

The palm stands on the edge of space.

The wind moves slowly in the branches.

The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

--Wallace Stevens

We took this poem to be about the anticipation of the imagination. It's about reality and finding our own happiness. We imagined that perhaps he was imagining heaven. I'm sure there are probably a lot of much deeper thoughts and ideas found in this poem, however this is what our little minds thought.

The assignment was to write short, declarative sentences. These sentences were to be about their own beyond; their own heaven. The kids wrote their own poem about what they believe their own heaven will be like.

I think they did a pretty good job.

Steve

The garden at the end of the world,

Beyond the last breath, begin

The streets of gold.

A sunshine-maned lion named Steve,

Waves and says hello.

Native tongues speak; all ears understand.

A gentle breeze, neither hot nor cold,

Perfect fragrance of flowers.

The lions full mane envelops us all.

We are happy.

--The Ellerbee Kids

This is Steve.