This Poem is a Nest by Irene Latham

Bibliography

Latham, I., & Wright, J. (2020). This poem is a nest. New York, NY: Wordsong, an imprint of Boyds Mills & Kane. ISBN 1684373638

Summary

What poems can be found inside other poems? Irene Latham explores this in her book of “nesting” poems. From the words in the first poem, Nest, Latham creates 161 new poems with art by Johanna Wright. 

Analysis

On the blue and green cover of This Poem is a Nest can be found a cute illustration of a bird’s nest with speckled blue eggs, and upon closer inspection inside the nest you’ll see a bumble bee, a sailboat, an anchor, and music notes. It artfully represents Irene Latham’s book of nesting poems, poems that are found within other texts. First, readers will see an introduction from the author explaining what “nest” poems are. Next, a table of contents makes it easy to find specific poems. Latham’s first poem is called Nest and is the source poem for the other 161 poems in her book. It is a four part poem, each part being one season. The source and nesting poems have themes of nature, seasons, colors, animas, and more. Most nesting poems are short. They are full of poetic elements such as the onomatopoeia and alliteration that create the distinct sound of these poems. Words such as “buzz” and phrases like “frost-footed”, “turtle-tucked”, “song sways”, and “choir of crickets” are good examples of some of these elements. Because of her attention to sound elements, the poems are perfect for reading aloud and savoring each word. Along with the poems, Johannah Wright has contributed small illustrations to go with the poems. One such illustration paired with the poem Heartbroken is of a simple, sketched person looking sad holding a heart with twigs sticking out. The illustrations are simple, like the poem, and represent the poems well visually. At the end of the book, Latham gives four steps for readers to create their own nesting poems, making this a great book for reading and writing connection. 

Sample Poems

What Hope Is

a cup

of stars

Faith

ancient heartbeat

of hope

Activity Ideas

Share the source poem with students. Let students respond with observations and thoughts. Then explain “nest” poetry. Read the sample poems as examples of poems that came from the source poems. Let students find where the words came from in the original poem. Let students create their own poems from Latham’s short poems or another poem of their choice. Point students to the directions on how to create nesting poems in the back of the book. The selected poems are good examples of metaphors for emotions. Let students come up with their own metaphors for feelings. 

Cast Away: poems for our time by Naomi Shihab Nye

Bibliography

Nye, N. S. (2020). Cast away: Poems for our time. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins. ISBN 0062907700

Summary

Cast Away: poems for our time is a collection of eighty-four poems by Naomi Shihab Nye that use the topic of things thrown away. It is humorous, heart felt, and a call to action. 

Analysis

The cover of Naomi Shihab Nye’s book features colorful silhouettes of found trash. There are mittens, plastic soda can rings, shoes, cracked mugs, straws, and even a dog. After opening the book, readers pass the dedication and find a table of contents, making it easy to search for specific poems. Poems are separated into “routes” with names like Sweepings, Titters & Tatters, and Odds & Ends. The first poem seen in the book, before Shihab Nye’s introduction to the reader, is a poem called Taking Out the Trash by Kamilah Aisha Moon. It’s a beautiful reflective poem about the mundane task of taking out the trash. This is the first indication that although this book is marketed to young people, there are many poems with subjects that younger audiences might not understand. However, there are still plenty of poems to share with them, and the beauty of the writing will shine through even if some topics are unfamiliar. 

The poems in this collection include short, punchy poems like Look at Me, Look at Me about old political signs, as well as long, lyrical poems like Leavings. The first line of this poems is a good example of how even though her poems are about trash, she also makes a point to say that certain things that are “cast away” are not trash. The poem reads, “People were never trash./ Under the highway bridge/ in a bombed city, encamped under tarps/ people were still sons, teachers/ teenagers who wanted better clothes/”. Many other poems are about immigration and refugees. In all her poems, Shihab Nye’s poems have momentum, pushing the reader forward through her thoughts. In particular, Dear August A. Busch is a good example of this, “you’s curl up on snowy nights/ giant horses tied in a stable outside/  I think I love you  anyone kooky enough/ to build a windmill/ I’m sorry you suffered so much illness/ and such a round end/ By now your treasured landmark/ has been many restaurants”. Her poems are full of imagery like “with a giant fragrance, Star of Bethlehem flowers/ popping after rain/ pointed pink and white heads on skinny stalks” and “cocoons of syllables knitted into the air”. Her word choice is genius as seen with phrases like “pain constellation” to describe scattered pain medication on the ground. Naomi Shihab Nye is a gifted writer, and the poems in Cast Away: poems for our time are no exception.

Sample Poem

Separated

Band-Aid printed with green turtles

crumpled b the road

at Ingleside on the Bay, Texas

I think I know

which little boy lost that

He’ll fret when he sees it is missing

A few hundred miles from here

thousands of traumatized kids 

huddle in cages

abandoned Walmarts

missing their mamas y papas

Who can believe this?

Land of the Free!

What can we know

of their stories, tears,

the fear their parents carried,

what you might have to drop

if you were walking across Mexico

or the actual moment

someone big seized the child

and told the parents to go?

How big was the wailing?

I cannot believe 

what people do.

Later, could the border patrol agent

sleep easily?

His own kids in the bedroom next to his?

When I was seven, I read “The Hangman at Home”

by Carl Sandburg.

“Anything is easy for a hangman, I guess.”

I had to ask, “What is a hangman?”

No one would tell me.

Our favorite Republican pal writes a note saying,

“At least the kids will be having regular meals

and recreational activities now,”

but I want to lie down

and cover my head with a pillow

as my father did

the day his own family

became refugees

so long ago. 

Activity Ideas

Introduce the book and it’s concept to students. Show them to cover and ask them to make some predictions about what sorts of poems might be in the book. Read the selected poem. Allow students to share their reactions and connections to the poem. Pair the poem with this article from Newsela: https://newsela.com/read/ela-writers-migrant-journeys/id/55514/?_flash_query_param_1=339?collection_id=339. Guide students in a discussion about what impact writers have on current issues. Draw a connection between written works they know about in history. 

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

Bibliography

Reynolds, J. (2020). Long way down. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 1481438263

Summary

When his older brother, Shawn, is shot and murdered, Will knows that “the rules” means he must take revenge. In sixty seconds, he must make the decision of whether or not to become a killer too. 

Analysis

On the cover of Long Way Down is an illustration of a beat up row of elevator buttons. This image represents the place where much of Will’s unbelievable story takes place. According to his story, after deciding he needs to seek revenge for the death of his brother, Will is making his way down the elevator of his apartment complex when he meets person after person in his life who have been killed by gun violence. The book, a novel in verse by author Jason Reynolds, explores this cycle of violence, and how “the rules'' have led to the deaths of many men. As Will contemplates continuing the cycle, the ghosts of violence past make him question if “the rules” really are the rules. This comes to a head in the poem THE RULES ARE THE RULES which consists of the question “right?” over and over again in the shape of a question mark. This shape poem is just one example of the many poetry types seen in Jason Reynolds’ novel in verse. Poems take on many shapes and placement of them on the page varies from poem to poem like scattered, conflicting thoughts. Some poems are long conversations between Will and the other riders in the elevator like his uncle and childhood friend. Others are single lines to emphasize the tragic events described like on page four where only the words “and killed.” are written. There is much variety in poetic elements as well. For example, repetition is often used like on page eight where Will is repeating “Shawn’s dead.” as he is in disbelief about what has happened. Reynolds also uses metaphor often to make the deep emotions behind these events more tangible. One example of this is in the poem The Sadness in which Reynolds compares the loss of Will’s brother Shawn to a tooth being removed and running your tongue over the gaping hole left behind. Reynolds poems are free verse, but rhythmic. This book is heavy, but for many, violence in loss are familiar topics and Reynolds writes about it beautifully. 

Sample Poem

THE SADNESS

Is just so hard

to explain.

Imagine waking up

and someone,

a stranger,

got you strapped down, 

got pliers shoved

into your mouth,

gripping a tooth

somewhere in the back,

one of the big

important ones,

and rips it out.

Imagine the knocking

in your head,

the pressure pushing

through your ears,

the blood pooling.

But the worst part,

the absolute worst part,

is the constant slipping

of your tongue 

into the new empty space,

where you know

a tooth supposed to be 

but ain’t no more. 

Activity Ideas

Introduce the book to students. Introduce students to Jason Reynolds. This is a great video to use: https://youtu.be/cuXNsJvNaFs. Read the selected poem to students. It’s a good introduction to the type of writing students will see in the book. In the video, Reynolds describes the book as “boys in the hood meets the Christmas Carol”. This could be a good conversation about how writing can build on other stories and use ideas in them for inspiration. Let students spend time using Reynolds poem which compares loss of a loved one to loss of a tooth to write their own poem using extended metaphor. This book is great for a class read aloud, so don’t stop at reading the one poem, but read the whole book or listen to the audio book with students. 

Friends and Foes: Poems About us All by Douglas Florian

Bibliography

Florian, Douglas. Friends and Foes: Poems about Us All. New York, NY: Beach Lane Books, 2018. ISBN 144248795X

Summary

A light, playful book of rhyming poems about “friends and foes”. Full of friendship lost, imaginary friends, and bullies, these twenty-five poems will delight young readers. 

Analysis

Friends and Foes is full of the silly, rhyming poetry of Douglas Florian, as well as his colorful, humorous, illustrations. On the cover of this bright, yellow book, is a giant drawing of a bird in flight with all sorts of friends atop. Some friends are holding onto each other, one is flying a kite, and another is down below looking up at the bird. It’s imaginative and silly, like the poems inside. Inside, there is a table of contents displaying the titles of all twenty-five poems, so readers can easily find a specific poem. Some poems, like What Friends Are For and I like You are two page spreads. The illustrations add to the understanding of the poems, specifically in one of my personal favorites, Billy the Bully, where the illustration of a large, angry “Clarisse” makes clear the meaning of the last two lines. Poems are easily accessible and literal, but they also touch on topics like friends lost in Moved and We Used To Be Friends, and complicated feelings like in Jealous. The consistent rhyme scheme makes the poems fun to read aloud and good for choral readings too. Though simple, poems include colorful vocabulary too, and reading the poems aloud will introduce children to words such as “atrocious”, “spiteful”, “ferocious”, and “wreak havoc” from Billy the Bully. This is a fun book that you won’t want to miss. 

Sample Poem

Old Friends

We’re old friends. That’s what we are.

We’re old friends. We go back far.

We’re old friends. We’re friends true and true.

We’re old friends. But just like new.

We’re old friends. I don’t want to jinx it--

but I know what she thinks before she even thinks it!

Activity Ideas

Have two students read the poem together, each saying one set of lines. It’s an easy, fun example of a two voice poem. Then, let students pair up, recite the poem, and write their own two voice poem to share with the class. 

Another poem that would be really fun to share from the book is Billy the Bully. It starts pretty much as expected describing a bully, but there is a surprising twist at the end when the reader realizes that someone else is bigger than Billy. Read this aloud to students, wait for them to wonder a bit about what has happened at the end of the poem, then show them the hilarious drawing. Talk about how funny the unexpected can be, and let them try ways to create “unexpected endings” in their own poems. 

A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson

Bibliography

Nelson, Marilyn, and Philippe Lardy. A Wreath for Emmett Till. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2014. ISBN 0547076363

Summary

In profound and haunting sonnet, Marilyn Nelson tells the story about the 1955 murderous lynching of Emmett Till, the fourteen year old African American boy killed in Mississippi. 

Analysis

An illustration of a young, smiling Emmett Till with a flower and blood red tree roots greets readers on the cover of A Wreath for Emmett Till. The large red font of his name leaves no room for confusion on who this book is about. The fifteen poems inside are sonnets of fourteen lines. They are unique because they are a crown of sonnets, fourteen sonnets with each last line the first of the next poem. The fifteenth poem is made up of the first lines of the previous fourteen poems. In an introduction by the author, Nelson explains how this particular poetic structure served as a way of protecting herself “from the intense pain of the subject matter”. After all, these poems are about the brutal murderous lynching of a fourteen year old boy. Along with the introductory note is a short biography of Emmett Till’s life and death and a section of sonnet notes explaining the meaning and background of each poem. This allows the reader the unique experience of listening and feeling the poems as well as learning the historical information behind each poem. 

As described in the sonnet notes, many of Nelson’s poems are allusions to other works of poetry like in the first sonnet which alludes to Shakespeare’s Hamlet in which flowers are used symbolically. Emmett Till’s wreath, according to the poem, would include “...heliotrope, for justice shall be done./ Daisies and white lilacs, for Innocence./ Then mandrake: Horror (wearing a white hood,/  or bare-faced, laughing). For grief, more than one”. The poems are beautifully melodious and rich in their language while at the same time tragic, full of grief and horror. It is a truly remarkable book. 

Sample Poem

Rosemary for remembrance, Shakespeare wrote.

If I could forget, believe me, I would.

Pierced by the screams of a shortened childhood,

Emmett Till’s name still catches in my throat.

Mamie’s one child, a body thrown to bloat,

Mutilated boy martyr. If I could

Erase the memory of Emmett’s victimhood,

The memory of monsters…That bleak thought

Tears through the patchwork drapery of dreams.

Let me gather spring flowers for a wreath:

Trillium, apple blossoms, Queen Anne’s lace,

Indian pipe, bloodroot, white as moonbeams,

Like the full moon, which smiled calmly on his death,

Like his gouged eye, which watched boots kick his face. 

Activity Idea

Many students may not be familiar with the story of Emmett Till. Read the poem once and let students share their initial reactions and thoughts. Read the “Who was Emmett Till?” section with students. This video is also good for sharing with students the story of Emmett Till as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ojlufrQj2w . Read the poem again, and ask students again to share their reactions and thoughts. Since this is such a tragic and heavy story, they may need to process their feelings after hearing the story. 

This book has a very unique style, and depending on your students it might be appropriate to share it with students and allow them to try a version out where they write a poem, switch with a partner, and use the last line of their partner’s poem as the first line of a new poem. Because of the topic, I would focus on that first and then move on to other elements of the poem as you see fit. 

They Call Me Guero: A Border Kid's Poems by David Bowles

Bibliography

Bowles, David. They Call Me Güero: a Border Kid's Poems. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press, 2018. ISBN 1947627074

Summary

Mexican-American, red-headed, freckled, kind, and poetic “Güero” is a twelve year old living near the border. Güero and his friends, “Los Bobbys”, are seventh graders finding their place as “derds”, diverse nerds. They have bullies, first crushes, school assignments,  Along with “Los Bobbys”, Güero has his close Mexican-American family to help him cope with the challenges of being a border kid. 

Analysis

On the cover of They Call Me Güero: a Border Kid's Poems is an orange and blue illustration of Güero running through the desert with his Feathered Coyote mask. It is the perfect cover for this culturally rich, coming of age story. It captures this richness and youthful spirit of this novel in verse. The book includes a table of contents, making it easy to locate specific poems and preview the titles of the poems in the book. There is also a glossary at the back of the book with a list of the spanish words used in the book and their definitions, making it accessible and an opportunity to learn more about the language and culture. 

Inside, there is a story of Güero, a twelve year old Mexican-American boy who finds his people, “los Bobbys”, a tough as nails girlfriend, Joanna Padilla, and his place in the world as a pale-skinned, Mexican-American border kid all told through beautiful verse. The poems are a mix of free verse and rhyming poems. They often use spanish words and phrases, like the poem Lullaby where a song is shown in both Spanish and English side by side. Sometimes the poems have repetition to emphasize like in Pulga Pantoum where lines are repeated as Güero reflects on going to the pulga (market) with his mother. The poet, David Bowles, used beautiful descriptions through similes such as “like grains of sugar on a chile pepper” and “like a Monterrey oak gone from acorn to tall and broad and shady tree”. As the main character discovers his own passion for poetry, new types of poems appear in the book such as the eight haikus in Food for Each Season. This poem is an incredibly fun read that students might find themselves represented in whether they identify as Mexican-American or not. 

Sample Poem

TRICKSTER

Mr. Gil, our social studies teacher,

announces a “thematic unit” one day.

He and Ms. Wong are teaming up

to teach us about...masks. 

People make masks around the world,

but we focus on Mexico and Korea. 

We learn about ancient rituals, 

plays, dances--and how newer traditions

blended with the old ways

and made different masks.

We read and write and reflect.

To me, the best thing that masks

can either hide or reveal your identity.

You can pretend to be something else--

a god, a monster, a princess, a priest--

or you can show your true self,

your animal soul,

your skeleton.

For our final project, Ms. Wong

invites to class her friend, a Mexican artist

named Celeste de Maíz, expert mask-maker.

She shows us her work: crazy, awesome

faces carved from mesquite,

painted in wild colors.

Then she shows us how to make our own

from papier-mâché. I think long and hard.

Should I pretend or reveal? What’s inside me?

Mr. Gil looks up my birth date. He tells me

that in the Aztec and Maya calendar

the day is 11 Dog. Any canine, he says,

might be my animal soul.

Right away, I know. The Feathered Coyote.

Aztec Trickster. God of music and mischief, 

wisdom and story-telling. All decked out

with orange and gold feathers 

to echo my own copper hair.

The mask is straight fire!

And los Bobbys have made some, too:

Handy’s is a bright blue skull

lined with silver flowers.

Lee makes an old Korean monk

with rainbow streaks down his nose.

But Delgado blows us all away--

a carnival mask with a duckbill

and feathery horns! Savage!

That weekend, we can’t resist.

These masks can’t just go on our walls.

We walk out to the desert at the city’s edge

wearing shorts and sneakers.

Then we strap on our masks

and run through the chaparral

chasing lizards and spiders,

playing out our secret selves

to earth and sky. 

Activity 

Explain the summary of the novel to students and share that you will be reading a poem from the book. Read the poem aloud once. Ask students to share what they visualized when reading the poem. Read the poem a second time. Let students choose to create a visual to go with the poem or sketch out their own mask. Let students share what they created and show student’s the book cover.