I'm taking a page from Kathi Appelt's poetry starters today. One of her poetry starters includes a poem about flip-flops and some suggestions for writing your own poems. Here's one I think could be a lot of fun.
If you need a little inspiration, here's one of my favorite poems from the book Shoe Magic by Nikki Grimes.
Shoes make great subjects for writing. Pick a shoe, any shoe, and it will tell you a story. It may want to tell you about a special event--a wedding, a prom, a soccer game. It may want to tell you about how it hid from the other shoe? It may want to tell you about a previous owner. If a shoe has traveled many miles, it will have many stories.So, that's the challenge for today. Write a poem about shoes, or an event where the shoes figure prominently, or a pair you wanted by couldn't have, or .... there's just so much to choose from!
If you need a little inspiration, here's one of my favorite poems from the book Shoe Magic by Nikki Grimes.
SlippersLeave me a note about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.
Rest your soles.
Spread your toes.
Curl, breathe deep.
There now, Dreamer,
Hush . . .
Sleep.
Poem ©Nikki Grimes. All rights reserved.
HEELS OF HERMES
ReplyDeleteBy Steven Withrow
I want flight feet,
twin sandals feather-soled,
like Perseus who fought the hag
Medusa, winged talaria,
my steps cloud steps, mercurial.
I’d like my ankles girded tight
in earth-defying wires, toes
clawed for grasping eagle outcrops,
shoes unglued from ground, my
socks Mars rockets!
Prints on top of my shoes
ReplyDeleteremind me of Elvis
and his blue suedes.
The King sang songs from the heart,
and that's where we start.
Because I always dreamed
of dancing with my daughter,
slow and steadily
with a smile on our faces.
But I haven't had her in my arms
since she was four years old.
The last time we danced,
she had to stand on my feet.
I can't have them shined,
so they'll be there to remind
me of what got left behind.
Prints on the tops of my shoes,
are giving me the blues,
but that's just old news.
by stu pidasso
19April2010
Stu Pidasso? Really? Why would someone who writes poetry and puts it on this website want to have a pen name like that?
ReplyDeleteJane
A Shoe Spiritual
ReplyDeleteClick my heels.
Leap my soles.
Darn my heart--
My socks have holes.
Insteps dance.
Laces sing.
And I can make
The floorboards ring.
Tongues call out
To Peter’s gate.
I will not have
Too long to wait.
Click my heels,
Tap my toes.
Where these shoes go,
Heaven knows.
©2010 Jane Yolen, all rights reserved
Old Sneakers
ReplyDeleteWhen I opened the box
you were bright white,
gleaming like TV teeth.
Not anymore. Now
you look kind of gray,
like two old men—
your skin covered
with wrinkles and spots,
weathered leather.
Yeah, you remind me
of my grandfather's hugs,
good old sneakers.
--Kate Coombs, 2010, all rights reserved
Tap Shoe Jive
ReplyDeleteby Nicole Marie Schreiber
Clickety clap,
Tippity tap,
Hearing myself,
Go snappity snap.
Always moving,
Always grooving.
Rhythm and rhyme,
Steppin’ in time.
www.nicolemarieschreiber.com
Bernie loves
ReplyDeletehis Birkenstocks -
not the knock offs.
Only real.
Falls for a girl
in chic stilettos -
(red kid leather,
5-inch heel.)
Bernie woos her,
shoes and all,
(B. doesn't let a
stiletto stop him.)
Starts to like
the spiky things,
tries them on...
Girl is gone.
Riding Boots
ReplyDeleteWe're riding boots.
We don't wear out.
We rarely touch the ground.
In the ring
On forest trails
We mostly hang around.
Riding rhythms of each horse
Walk
Trot
Canter
Gallop
Leather stirrups hold us in.
We feel our rider on our soles.
Who knew that feet could grin?
© Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
Tricia,
ReplyDeleteHere's a poem from the "underlife" of shoes:
SOLE SONG
We’re the well-worn soles of shoes
reading all the sidewalk news.
As we go along our way
we broadcast headlines of the day:
intermittent
dots of rain
wad of bubblegum
bright stain
of cherry popsicle
that bled
its sticky sweetness
cool and red
concrete cracked
by root of tree
telltale clue
of injured knee
ghost of ant
whose remnants lie
flattened from a passerby
OH NO!
PEW!
Our bugaboo!
We just stepped in doggy do!
Here's mine:
ReplyDeletehttp://deowriter.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/2010-napowrimo-day-20/
These are terrific. Especially the humor in Elaine's. I can see that becoming a childhood favorite.
ReplyDeleteJane