Shelf
Brown and dusty,
long, and rusty
and piled with junk.
Only the things that
shine beautifully are
the flowers that
droop like a rainy day that
poured too much.
Wiggly and wobbly.
So old, it falls.
Natalie Zaya is a fifth 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.
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 Natalie and more of her poetry! For more on Hands on Stanzas, visit www.poetrycenter.org.
How to Write This How to Poem
Get a paper as clean as snow.
Get a pen or pencil like an artist.
Write a word as simple as a word in Chinese.
Give to Mr. Dean so he can enjoy!
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?
“I would teach them that poetry isn’t a story and it doesn’t have to rhyme.”
Q: You’ve written some great poems! What do you think about when you’re writing?
“I think about anything that comes to my mind first.”
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 a book or website. I don’t know–anything.”
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. (You can write a poem if you like.)
“I think it would it would be awkward and weird, but then again poetry shows how you feel. Kind of.”
