The Wind-up Dancer
She spins and spins
as sunlight
fades away
in the night
her arms move
and she dances
slow
the music is softer
with bells
footsteps move
her
dress
waves like ocean
waves
In the night
the quiet
night it stops
Amy Pang is a third grade student at the Hannah G. Solomon Elementary School, a neighborhood school located north of the Loop that serves 400 students and participates in the Poetry Center of Chicago’s Hands on Stanzas program. This week, as part of National Poetry Month, we’re featuring student work from Hands on Stanzas on Chicago Publishes.
The poet in residence at Hannah G. Solomon is Larry O. Dean. Larry was born and raised in Flint, Michigan. He attended the University of Michigan, during which time he won three Hopwood Awards in Creative Writing. He is author of numerous chapbooks and is a singer-songwriter. Dean was a 2004 recipient of the Hands on Stanzas Gwendolyn Brooks Award.
Hands on Stanzas is an educational program that enhances literacy through poetry. The program places Chicago poets in public school classrooms for 20-week sessions. On a weekly basis these poets guide students in reading and discussing the work of published poets, and in writing and presenting their own poetry. Instructors maintain a weekly blog which provides information about classroom activities and presents student work. This year 1000 Chicago public school students throughout the city are receiving poetry instruction through the Hands on Stanzas program. This week, as part of National Poetry Month, we’re featuring student work, plus short interviews, with students from Hands on Stanzas on Chicago Publishes.
Keep reading for an interview with Amy and more of her poetry! For more on Hands on Stanzas, visit www.poetrycenter.org.
How to Be a Sundae
Gather your things.
What things? Ice cream,
chocolate, and juice.
Jump into the blender,
spin, twist, blend yourself.
Fly with the ice cubes,
spin with the juice.
Dance with the chocolate.
Change colors, swim
out onto the serving bowl.
Put me with lemon slices,
I want more juice,
add in more ice cream.
Drink me,
here I go in your
mouth.
Q: If you had to teach someone else something important about writing poetry, what would you share with them that you learned in class this year?
“You have to put your imagination and feelings into the poem.”
Q: You’ve written some great poems! What do you think about when you’re writing?
“I picture what I am thinking. I put creative imagination in the poems.”
Q: What do you think is the best way to share your writing with other people? Would you like it to appear in a book, on a website, or do you have another idea?
“I think the best way to share my writing with other people is to put it in a book. A book can be kept for a long time. Not on a website because if you don’t have internet you can’t see it.”
Q: Imagine a world where poetry is the way that everyone communicates with each other. What would the world be like if the president, people on television, and your family all spoke and wrote to each other in poetry? Describe what the world would be like if this was true.
“I think the world would be a great place because everyone would describe things better with poems. They would also use their imagination in their poems.”
