Poetry Friday.
April showers bring May flowers.
RAIN
Rain
Fell on the roof
Dripped steadily from eaves
Ran in crooked courses
Splattered against windows
Came gushing out downspouts
Upset plans
© 2015 Alice Nine
Writing about my writing.
Living in the northwest, I have developed a particular fondness for rain. Perhaps that is why I am drawn to a descriptive “rain passage” in Charlotte’s Web. It is in that passage that I found my poem “Rain.”
I’ve included the passage here; words and phrases used in my poem are in bold italic.
The next day was rainy and dark. Rain fell on the roof of the barn and dripped steadily from the eaves. Rain fell in the barnyard and ran in crooked courses down into the lane where thistles and pigweed grew. Rain splattered against Mrs. Zuckerman’s kitchen windows and came gushing out of the downspouts. Rain fell on the backs of sheep as they grazed in the meadow. When the sheep tired of standing in the rain, they walked slowly up the lane and into the fold.
Rain upset Wilbur’s plans  . . .
-E. B. White, Charlotte’s Web.
Writing A Found Poem
In my classroom
__________
From TeachingChannel
Creating Found Poems, Sarah Brown Wessling
Are you familiar with TeachingChannel? If you not, you really should check it out some Saturday morning. Just fix yourself a cup of coffee or hot tea and get ready for some great PD. Well, anyway, a couple weeks ago, I happened upon Wessling’s video about writing found poems in a high school English class. I love the way she uses the creation of a found poem to analyzing theme.
Even If your not a high school teacher, I think you will still learn a lot by watching Wessling’s short video — less than six minutes.
__________
WRITE Â & SHARE your found poemÂ
If you have written a found poem, share a link to your poem on your blog in the “comments” space below.
Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference is hosting
the Poetry Friday Roundup today.
Join us there! Thank you, Tabatha!
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Alice, finding a poem in a text is such an interesting prospect and yours came out quite nicely. Unfortunately, rain does upset some outdoor plans. I think it is great that crooked courses came from sensory reactions, how it felt and how it sounded as it swirled in your mouth.
Thank you so much, Carol. Have a wonderful week!
Alice, your found poem speaks to me. The photo is great and this combination needs a place in the Springsations’ Gallery. What do you say about offering this (with your location for all to see)?
So much to love about the original and the found. I love found poems!
Oops. I may have just fallen down a very big hole … aka ‘Teaching Channel’. I can only get sound for the ‘found poem’ video – no visual, but meanwhile, I’ve just discovered a video about the classroom poetry open mic, and am about to go back and delve further. Thank-you so much for sharing!
Yes, TCh is a very big hole… but a wonderful one! I wonder why you didn’t get visual… try a different browser..? maybe you need an update on some player software. You really do want to see the video clips cause there’s always classroom shots. Please share the link to what you just discovered about poetry open mic.
I’m pleased to say the video worked next time I tried it, Alice. I’ve shared it around. The open mic video link is here; https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/poetry-lesson-plan.
LOVE this! And especially your process notes!!
Thanks! And so glad you came by.
I find found poems difficult to write, yet your poem is so profound, Alice. (Who knew I could use so many iterations of ‘found’ in one comment: find, found, profound). =)
Usually the “found poem” finds me. 🙂 I love your iterations! 🙂
Lovely found poem — like the passage too — you captured part of White’s lyricism with your words. Rain feels cleansing and cozy when you don’t have to go anywhere.
Yes, White made it easy to do 🙂 I like that idea of “cleansing.” After a dry spell in the summer, we are always wanting rain to wash the air and the leaves on the trees. I love the clean feel we have from all the rain.
Enjoyed seeing the differences in your poem and Brenda’s poem from the same bit of text! You picked a wonderful passage, very evocative. As you say, making found poetry really does stimulate “insightful reading and creative thinking.”
Thank you, Tabatha. I loved what Brenda did. I played around with the text again and got another poem out of it.
“splattered” and “gushing” these vivid verbs fit perfectly with this poem. Love, love it!
I think the verbs are what first attracted me to this passage for a found poem..
Interesting! I would say that living in the Pacific Northwest I have developed a particular dislike for rain! 30 years of this stuff, I’m ready to stop feeling like I’m growing mildew… 😉
Awww, but just think, Jane, you won’t have leathery skin when you get old. 🙂 We do have a lot of moss growing this year.
I love the rain, too, especially on this rainy Friday…
Thanks for stopping by, Tara! 🙂
I am totally sharing this with my son, who also adores rain! Beautiful poem. Thank you!
Oh, I hope he enjoys it, Irene! Have a lovely week.
I like your inclusion of the passage, and I like the poem, too. Here is one using a different part:
Rain fell
on the backs of sheep
in the meadow.
When the sheep
tired, tired
of rain, rain, rain,
they walked
slowly up the lane
into the
fold.
It almost makes the sheep shape, on its side.
Wonderful, Brenda! And you made a shape poem.
It was fun. I like yours better, though.
We had rain yesterday, hurrah! There’s nothing more lovely than a found poem from E.B. White, Alice. It’s beautifully done, wonderful with the picture, too.
Thanks, Linda! I love that passage about rain. And it’s a great mentor text for repetition and parallelism.
Raining here is Massachusetts, too. And I just happened to write a found poem for today based on my SOL post from Tuesday. I’m looking forward to trying it with a kid lit passage, too. Who doesn’t love Charlotte’s Web? Adored your poem. Best — Christie @ https://wonderingandwondering.wordpress.com/blog/
Thanks, Christie! Finding poems gets kids into the text and thinking about words they might not have paid any attention to. Have a fabulous week!
We had rain like that last night, but they didn’t disrupt my plans to read and enjoy a mug of hot cocoa! I enjoy writing found poetry, too.
A mug of hot cocoa with rain sounds delightful! Have you posted any of your found poems? I’d love to read them.
It’s raining here in NH today, so your poem is timely! I want to check out Teaching Channel even though I’m not any kind of teacher! Thanks for the link.
Thanks for coming by! And enjoy your rain. 🙂
I love rain. I come from the tropics, so we either have sun or rain, but rain I’m in love with and this poem was just wonderful. i couldn’t believe you put it all together from those phrases from Charlotte’s web. I especially liked the first three lines..so vivid and makes me wish for rain right now.
-iphigene
Ah… you have the warm rains. Ours can be chilly and sometimes downright cold. 🙂 Thanks for coming by.
Fantastic! And, the image is wonderful as well. I especially love crooked courses…..I just want to say that over and over and over. Thanks for the teaching resource and thoughts about building a poem. You are a very sharing educator!
Oh, I love “crooked courses” too, Linda. I liked it first because of the way it felt in my mouth… then for its sound…. and finally because it creates a scene of a dirt lane rather than a grassy lane without telling me that specific information. A great mentor text for descriptive word choice.