A Good Experience With Poetry

     Poetry has always been the part of English class that I looked forward to. This is because it is a way to express many feelings that could not have been otherwise. Also, grammar is not applicable, which is another thing that makes life easier. Third grade was when I had a teacher named Ms. Ayre, who loved poetry and tried to make us feel the same. At the time I was just a nerdy little kid (still am) that just wanted to read Junie B. Jones all day, so poetry did not sit well with me. She made us make an entire book full of it inspired by nature. Digging the book out today I read one of them titled "Moon":

Moon

The moon is cheese

that mice nibble away

day after day.

The cheese grows

after the mice have eaten

it all away. 

     At the time the only poetry I actually enjoyed was by Shel Silverstein not only because I liked looking at the words that were arranged in shapes like apples and houses, but also because it was a thick book of poetry and I wanted to seem knowledgeable carrying it around.

     Middle school was a different story. Instead of reading poetry shaped like apples, we started analyzing it. Poets such as E. E. Cummings and Elizabeth Coatsworth started filling the lesson plan. This allowed me to see what poets do to make their works so incredible and fun to read. One particular poem stuck to my memory. It is titled "Shelter" by R.S. Jones. I liked it because it told a story that was very touching in a way that writing a five paragraph essay couldn't. 

     Throughout my years of going to school, my experiences with poetry have developed so that I understand so much more. When I think of poetry today, I don't believe that it's just another English project, but something that I have the freedom to convey feelings with. Reading poetry is also something that I enjoy. Seeing what other poets do to make their writing stick out inspires me to do the same. My attempts at writing poems have also improved (or so I think) to the point of not writing about moon and mice. Instead, I will now write about sun and salamanders. 

     Just kidding.