Loud and Clear

Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers for more slices of life.

The afternoon of my day with Rose Cappelli and Lynne Dorfman was devoted to poetry. They highlighted three types of poems:

• Walk around in the author’s syntax. Here you are immersed in the writer’s world. Here is an example they shared.

February by Charlotte Otten

February turns everything to gray:

gray lakes, gray fog, gray sun.

Gray squirrels lose their bearings

hunting for acorns buried 

beneath thick gray snow.

• List poems, these are so fun to create. Think of a topic and create a list. One of my favorites is below.

Bad Beds    by Doug Florian

Bench in a park

Mouth of a shark

Garbage pails

Bed of nails

Elephant’s trunk

In range of a skunk

Underneath birds

Near stampeding herds

Of course there is a poem called Good Beds too, but I will let you discover that one.

• Narrative poem was the third type Rose and Lynne presented. These poems tell a story. Usually they are a slice of life caught in the poetic web.

The challenge was to create a poem that fits one of the types we’d been studying.

I’ve had a story rolling around in my head for several years, just waiting for the right format to tell it. I found it with the narrative poem.

Loud and Clear

“The only place

to stop

is McDonald’s,”

my husband announced.

With a I’d-rather-eat-nothing attitude

I stroll into

the crowded eatery.

Joining an endless line

we snaked our way 

to the register.

Glancing around reveals 

a boisterous bunch in a booth.

Kids shove, smack, shout.

Dad’s last nerve frazzled,

he lashes out,

“Sit down!

Behave!

We are in a restaurant

for goodness sake!”

Bodies stilled,

startled eyes with

what-are-you-talking-about looks

turn to dad.

A hush falls over the dining room,

a small voice pipes up,

loud and clear,

“No we’re not,

we are at McDonald’s”