Poem #20 Lightning Thief Metaphor Poems (and a testing poem)

Did I tell you about my students' National Poetry Month project? When they heard I was going to write a poem a day, one girl said, "We should write a poem a day about the people in our class."

And that's what we've done every day since April 5. We've written poems for about 10 of our classmates so far. (that's almost 200 poems!!!) On the day we write poems for them, they write a poem for me. I wish I could share some of the beautiful poems they've written, but most often, the recipient's name is part of the poem.

I gave my students the instructions for writing yesterday's "If-You-Were" Metaphor Poems, but we haven't had a chance to talk about how they work or for the students to see my examples. Today during his free time after testing, one of my students wrote these poems for a friend who LOVES The Lightning Thief:

If you were the lightning bolt

and I was the clouds

I'd let you streak

under me.

If you were a god

and I was a demigod

I'd let you shine

above me.

Whoa. Did that knock your socks off like it did mine?!?!?

Here's my poem for today:

SOUNDS OF TESTING

Silence.

Uncharacteristic silence.

Focused silence.

Pages turning.

Pencils scratching.

Erasers rubbing.

Birds singing in the trees outside the window.

Roofers pounding on the condos next door.

Children screaming from the playground.

Silence of working.

Silent cheer of finishing.

Almost silent rustling of waiting.

Waiting...

Finishing...

TIME'S UP!

YAY!

by Mary Lee Hahn, copyright 2010