Poetry Tea Time in a Pandemic

We did some poetry tea time today. I got the idea from Julie Bogart at Brave Writer, whose writing helped me shift our homeschooling into something I enjoy. Joy is the best teacher. although admittedly joy has been hard to summon this week. We have had some significant disruptions in our schedule and are definitely just trying to get used to all being together all the time. I have learned a lot about learning this year and know better than to jam it through. When kids (or you) are stressed, back off. Make sure everybody is exercising and sleeping first. Read every day. Pay attention to each other. Play cards. Stare at the clouds. Once you feel ok in your skin again you can add more stuff in. If your kids are in elementary school, this will not set them back in the least, I promise. 

We skipped a lot of school this week, but I did have a book of poetry from the library, which we get to keep indefinitely I guess. I grabbed the book, our candle and some cookies and milk. It is so simple. Dim the lights, light a candle, give everybody a treat and read. It might only last five minutes at first, and this is fine. I have two fluent readers now, so we passed the book around and everybody read a poem, even Max. (I did whisper reading with him.) The poetry collection was all about small things, so when we were done, I sent everyone off to find a small thing. I told them I would write a poem about each of their objects. Old me would have asked my kids to write a poem about a small object, and they would have groaned and it would have gone terribly. But now I know to try the things I want my kids to do. Anyway, they came back with a horse figurine, a pokemon card and a piece of a jade plant that fell onto the floor. I'm not even going to ask them to write poems yet, I'll just leave out a dish of small objects and we'll see what happens. 

Anyway, here are my poems....

Laurel’s Object: Horse Figurine

The first time I saw her on a horse

It was like I saw her for the very first time

Focused eyes, soft mouth

Moving in tandem with a giant animal

And looking like she had been there always.

You never tire of watching your child as 

The best version of herself.

So if I step on a horse figurine in the night

I will still curse, until my fingers reach down

Curl around the plastic body, feel the trotting legs

Tail and mane flowing, molded to show movement

And then I will smile and think of her.

Marko’s Object: Jade branch fallen from the houseplant

Even in the best of times

A houseplant can be a burdensome ward

If you travel far and close your blinds

If you move it onto the radiator to dust the shelf

And it gets too hot

If you forget you have watered it

And water too soon

Or the other way, both are bad.

It’s a lot to keep track of.

But in the worst of times

A houseplant is a reminder of the way things

Used to be.

When your to-do list said something else.

Max’s Object: Pokemon Card

Stack of cards

Lay them straight

Flip them over

Count to eight

Who will be

The best in all?

Wait and see

Until I call.