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Sunday, March 15, 2009

My Poem for Peace - A Soldier's Kid

I was up most of last night worrying over a sick guinea pig. (Silly, I know, but I have an 8-year old who will be heartbroken if his new pet dies.) I spent some time grading papers, worked on my super secret poetry project for National Poetry Month, and wrote some poems.

I've been working on a series of peace poems ever since Laura Purdie Salas wrote about the Peace Project on her blog. In my sleeplessness last night I wrote this one while trying to dream up the poetry stretch for this week. I now have a poem and a stretch idea.
A Soldier’s Kid
Picture me happy when Dad comes home
Picture us hugging and not letting go

Picture me angry when he gets new orders
Picture him proudly protecting our borders

Picture me tearfully helping him pack
Picture me worried he’ll never come back

Picture me waving goodbye once again
Picture me writing the letters I’ll send

Picture me praying for all war to cease
Picture a world that knows nothing but peace.
I'm going to keep writing and submit my best poem to the project. The deadline for submitting poems, quotations, or short prose pieces is March 30th, so there's still plenty of time if you want to participate.

9 comments:

  1. Stunningly poignant. Really very strong. Thanks for sharing -- there's so much to be said for the power of poetry.
    Also, caring for a small creature is never silly, it's necessary.

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  2. Oh, wow.
    This is really something. I am still trying to come up with something -- it's a great opportunity.

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  3. What a beautiful poem. Thanks for sharing. I hope your guinea pig gets better! We just got two- they're cute little buggers! :)

    All the best,
    Lori
    www.loricalabrese.com

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  4. Tricia,

    I like your use of repetition in the poem. Well done!

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  5. You know, if you make this longer, you could have a gorgeous picture book.

    Jane

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  6. Great voice, Tricia--love this!

    (And hope your guinea pig gets better. We've been through 2 gp deaths, and, yes, heartbreaking each time.)

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  7. I love the repetition and am going to suggest to my poetry students tomorrow. We will see what happens. Thanks for the stretch.

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  8. I agree with Jane.

    Also, I hope the guinea pig is okay.

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  9. I agree with Jane. It would make a very powerful picture book like Bunting's The Wall. Wonderful work.

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