There are Lots of Types of Pockets for Poem in Your Pocket Day
By Riley, ACE Poetry Contest Mascot, assisted by Martha Sessums, ACE President, who laughed when Riley licked her keyboard to clean it. What else could she do?
Lucy’s got the pockets and I, Riley, have the poems.
Riley and Lucy here. She’s got the pockets and I have the poems. Welcome to Poem in Your Pocket Day.
There are lots of types of pockets that carry poems. Not just the little ones on Lucy’s black and white pants, but ones on the pants and skirts worn by the wide diversity of cultures that grace the schools that the ACE Learning Centers support. You students are from around the world and the poems in your pockets should be from around the world too.
Okay, I’m a dog and I know best about doggerel poems. But like you, I’ve read a lot of different poets this National Poetry Month and found quite a few great ones.
Martha first, since she was so kind to let me share her keyboard. Here’s a blend of math and poetry.
Problems
Piet Hein, Danish mathematician and poet
Problems worthy
of attack
prove their worth
by hitting back.
Here’s one of Lucy’s favorite poems. She’s into Girl Power, and this says it nicely.
A Poem in Jest
Deng Bang, Chinese poet during the Ming dynasty
In this world the rich and powerful are hooligans,
Everywhere locking up good flowers behind red doors.
But women’s dreams are difficult to control.
They can travel at will to the edge of the sky.
Here’s my poem that Lucy carries in her pocket. I like it because I can relate to hair problems. I’m cool with shaggy.
Hair
By Elizabeth Acevedo, Dominican-American National Poetry Slam Champion
My mother tells me to fix my hair. And by “fix” she means straighten. She means whiten . . . My mother tells me to fix my hair, and so many words remain unspoken. Because all I can reply is, you can’t fix what was never broken.
Earcat, Yowlercat and Fatcat here. We love to catbomb Riley.
Catbomb time. Hi, the Poetry Cats are here – Earcat, Yowlercat and Fatcat. We decided it’s necessary to join Riley and Lucy for Poem in Your Pocket Day because cats are the deciders. Here’s one we all relate to. We’re always trying to switch the story when we’ve knocked that vase from the window sill onto the floor and it’s now in lots of pieces. It’s actually a long poem, but we love this part.
Heritage Emissary
By Threa Almontaser, Yemeni American poet, winner of 2020 Walt Whitman Award, Academy of American Poets
Turn, She daydreams during
lessons, into, Qaluu, I pay attention to detail. Turn
She’s suspended for fighting into I’m such a good student
they gave me a day off. Each rephrasing lengthens my nose.
I’m out of breath from so much code-switching, crunching
the sand it leaves between my teeth.
Riley back. We had to include a traditional Haiku. This one is about how we look at our homes now. Or how we should look at our homes. We’re there all the time, except maybe for short walks, but we cats and dogs realize that the people that love us are in our homes (and homes can be anywhere – not just where we live) and that is everything.
Haiku Poem
By Sodo
In my house this spring,
true, there is nothing,
that is,
there is everything!
Okay, we’re out of pockets and poems, but stay tuned for poems from the winners of the ACE Poetry Contest from each of the ACE Learning Center schools.
Arf, Arf. Meow too. Thanks for joining us for National Poetry Month. And remember, keep washing your hands and treat yourself to a poem.