Friday, August 23, 2013

Sunny's Summer


A high school English teacher had her students make cold-weather-word-pictures after reading this from John Updike's "January"




"The days are short
The sun a spark
Hung thin between the dark and dark
The river is
A frozen place
Held still beneath
The trees' black lace

Cute idea. Some of their responses were good enough to share. 
For Rondi Aastrup's students, is this assignment even fair?
Should I try it with Korean students next time they see me there? 

Meanwhile, here in August's desert heat,
To remember winter's quite a feat
The image of those words I'm heeding
(from a longer poem-much worth reading) 

Those good old frozen river walks
When from the bridge while dropping rocks,
We could not even break the ice!
And, tho this was not very nice,
We almost hit the river rat
..hoarding greens..Who gave him that??

That was months ago and more away.
So, for now, I'd have to say
Here's how it really was today

The days are long
The sun is bright
Severely hung
Throughout harsh light

The river is a splashing place
With beaver, fish, and baby duck
Perhaps away they want to  race
From fisherfolk (who have no luck)

Come on now all good facebookers-
You're as good as the tenth-graders!
These verses need a few more lines.
So, in the comments, try some rhymes.

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