Friday, January 09, 2015

Poetry Friday - Jigsaw Puzzle

Did you know that January is National Puzzle Month? In honor of this month-long celebration I'm sharing a wonderful poem by Russell Hoban. You can find it in A New Treasury of Children's Poetry, selected by Joanna Cole (p. 210).
Jigsaw Puzzle
by Russell Hoban
My beautiful picture of pirates and treasure
is spoiled, and almost I don't want to start
to put it together; I've lost all the pleasure
I used to find in it: there's one missing part. 
I know there's one missing -- they lost it, the others,
the last time they played with my puzzle -- and maybe
there's more than one missing: along with the brothers
and sisters who borrow my toys there's the baby. 
There's a hole in the ship or the sea that it sails on,
and I said to my father, "Well, what shall I do?
It isn't the same now that some of it's gone."
He said, "Put it together; the world's like that too."
Now that you've read it, see and hear the poem in this amazing little video by Michael Sporn Animation.

We're big puzzle fans in my house. Here's a closeup of the puzzle we completed on New Year's eve to help bring in 2015. It's a Liberty Puzzle of a Blue Whale. Liberty Puzzles are wooden puzzles in which every piece is a different shape and many of the shapes feature whimsical items. This one included a sailboat, octopus, seahorse, scuba diver, and more.

I do hope you'll take some time to check out all the wonderful poetic things being shared and collected today by Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference. Happy poetry Friday friends!

12 comments:

  1. I could just sit and look at that Liberty Puzzle! How cool. I've liked that poem by Russell Hoban for a long time. Good choice for puzzle month!

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  2. Wasn't prepared for the ending in that poem. Love it. And what a beautiful puzzle!

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  3. That is an amazingly beautiful puzzle - so intricate. Like Jama, I loved the surprise at the poem's end.

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  4. Gorgeous puzzle! What a great family activity! I have a friend who loves putting together those big thousand piece puzzles. She frames them when she finishes. I admire the patience it takes to do that.
    I love the line "Put it together; the world's like that too." Enjoy National Poetry Month!

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  5. I can sure relate to that kid -- It irritates me when all the pieces aren't in place. Luckily, I have a voice just like that father's inside my head!

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  6. Will be sharing this with my puzzle-girl--sage advice from Russell and a new source for interesting puzzles! Thanks, Tricia!

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  7. My sister is a puzzle gal and I'm definitely going to share this with her! Also going to share the Liberty puzzles, not sure she knows about those! Some big truth in this little poem!

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  8. Wise dad, but I wouldn't have wanted to put this together as a kid either! Thanks for sharing this one and your beautiful blue whale.

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  9. Your liberty puzzle is beautiful, Tricia, and so is the poem! I don't know it, but will save it for my class. Once in a while I get out a puzzle & there are those puzzle-crazy kids who won't stop until it's done. It is a disappointment to find a missing piece at the end. That used to happen a long time ago when we had a dog who ate many kinds of things, including puzzle pieces! You've brought back a funny memory!

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  10. Now that's one difficult and beautiful puzzle Tricia! Hope 2015 brings you more vibrant and complex puzzle pieces to put together. :)

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  11. Oh, I love this poem! So true!

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  12. Love the puzzle. Love the poem. Love TRICIA POWER!

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