Poetry

Don't stop reading.

From my vast experience, convincing anyone to read a poem is a drag. Honestly, if you send me a poem of your own to read, chances are I'll glance at the first line. Good poetry is hard to come by. I was recently told by a former 8th grade Literature teacher that she never taught poetry since she was given the option to avoid it.

My opinion: you're reading the wrong stuff. Poetry is nice and short, and can range from heavy to light topics. Unfortunately the majority of modern poetry is congested with words only found in the thesaurus about god only knows what.

For those of you not too scared to try something new and not too political or scandalous, try Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman. I have read these duets with all ages, and have even discussed the poems with a group of 8th grade girls. Having done a bit of background, I found out that many religious schools use this as a springboard into different subjects. This surprised me since the book has no religious connotations (with exception to the title). It is a children's book, but has depth. It's no Shakespeare, but a good start.

Try it, and let me know what you think!