{"id":138,"date":"2013-06-11T00:46:24","date_gmt":"2013-06-11T00:46:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fb14ddea-0351-4845-90c3-0bca9c7c3572"},"modified":"2013-06-11T00:46:24","modified_gmt":"2013-06-11T00:46:24","slug":"write-from-your-love-the-art-of-writing-birthday-verses-and-poems-for-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/?p=138","title":{"rendered":"Write From Your Love: the Art of Writing Birthday Verses and Poems for Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

Write From Your Love:<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

the Art of Writing Birthday Verses and Poems for Children <\/font><\/p>\n

By Joseph Anthony<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/font><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

There is a
\ntradition in some Waldorf Schools for class teachers to write \u201cbirthday verses\u201d
\nfor their students\u2014poems in honor of their students\u2019 birthdays.  Some teachers write a new one for their
\nstudents every year (in Waldorf Schools teachers travel up through the grades
\nwith the same group of students); other teachers select a passage from one of
\ntheir favorite poets and suit it to their particular students (that\u2019s also a
\ngood way to introduce students to wonderful poets they might not otherwise know
\nof).  Some teachers have their students
\nmemorize their birthday verse and recite it to the class; others simply give
\nthe poems as gifts.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

I have
\nwritten hundreds of poems for children over my 17 years teaching thus far.  Birthday poems, graduation poems,
\nstudents-leaving poems, etc.  It\u2019s one of
\nthe funnest parts of my vocation actually. 
\nNot only do their birthdays and other milestones afford me opportunities
\nto write poetry, I love writing poems that I know will mean something to them
\nin that moment and hopefully, for years to come. Today I am offering a small selection
\nof some recent poems I wrote for my first graders.  <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Now some of
\nyou might be thinking, \u201cI can\u2019t write poems.\u201d 
\nTo that I say: Yes you can.  You
\ncan write poems or stories, you can sing, you can draw, you can dance.  You can do anything you want to.  Leave go the old, limiting voices.  It doesn\u2019t matter if the poem rhymes.  The only thing that matters is that you think
\nabout, pray for, and imagine the child you\u2019re writing for; write from your love
\nfor that child; write from your hopes for that child; what you would love to
\nsee that child do, become, or be; write what you would love to say to that
\nchild\u2014words they will treasure (imagine words you would have loved to hear from
\nsomeone that meant something to you and then write those).  Envision that child in the light and write
\nthat vision, write FROM that vision.  Write
\nto heal, write to instruct and guide, write to entertain, write to enlighten. You
\ncan write with themes from the curriculum, from nature, from your own
\nrelationship with your students. There is no right or wrong.  Write from the heart.  Most of all have fun.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

All that
\nsaid, here are a few poems for young children. In another post I\u2019ll share ones
\nI wrote for teenagers. <\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Peace,
\nJoseph<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Little
\nPoems for First Graders<\/o:p><\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/b><\/p>\n

The
\nfledgling owl looked into the night,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And saw
\nthat it was filled with light,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

She drifted
\nlike silence born with wings,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And touched
\nthe heart of everything.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

She knew
\nhow to laugh and she knew how to care,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Her kindness
\nblessed the evening air,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

She glided,
\ndreaming through the woods,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And made
\nit her mission to share the good.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

********<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Running
\nwith the wind, my heart is free and strong.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Playing
\nwith the forest creatures, joining them in song.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Exploring
\npaths of dappled wonder, breathing in the light,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

I am
\npeaceful in myself, my thinking clear and bright.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

***********<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Said
\nthe oak to the seed, \u201cDear one, dear star,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Treasure
\nthis truth: you are loved as you are,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

You
\nshine and you thrive, perfectly you,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Breathe
\neasy in knowing this wonderful truth.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

****************<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Poised
\nbetween running and dancing,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

The
\nrabbit stopped to talk with the sun,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

He
\nlearned to breathe, and that all was well,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

And
\nthen he played until the day was done.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

*************<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYou
\nare taken care of,\u201d said the earth to the seed,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

\u201cYou
\nhave all of the warmth and light you will need,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

It
\ncomes from the world and it comes from your heart,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Breathe
\neasy in knowing this right from the start.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

You
\nwill blossom and grow so please do not worry,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

Just
\nbe who are and try not to hurry.<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

You
\nare held dear one in the arms of the Light,<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

So
\nrest now and dream through the long winter night.\u201d<\/o:p><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font>\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\"\"
\n<\/form>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Copyright Joseph Anthony of the Wonder Child Blog<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Write From Your Love: the Art of Writing Birthday Verses and Poems for Children  By Joseph Anthony   There is a tradition in some Waldorf Schools for class teachers to write \u201cbirthday verses\u201d for their students\u2014poems in honor of their students\u2019 birthdays.  Some teachers write a new one for their students every year (in Waldorf […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[19,20,12,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewonderchildblog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}