Poetry Unit Wrap-up

Introduction to Poetry

Billy Collins

I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide

or press an ear against its hive.

I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,

or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.

I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.

But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.

They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.

Classwork:

1. Finish revising your concrete poem and copy onto a clean sheet of paper.

2. Finish poetry unit evaluation form and hand in at my desk.

3. Use writing prompts to get ideas. Write quietly on your own until everyone is finished.

4. Last 15 minutes of class: read concrete poems aloud. Hand in.

Homework: None! Enjoy your fall break.