In Writer’s Circle, over four weeks, we have worked on haiku, nonets, clerihews, free verse, and now couplets. Out of all of these types of poems, I found my students stymied at the couplets.
In part, I think this is because I spent less time explaining them. The poor couplets were squeezed in at the end of yesterday’s meeting during which we spent time sharing free verse poems and working on writing our pourquoi stories. Perhaps, I assumed they understood what they were. I gave three examples. One written and two I read, all varying in their subject matter and length. The two I read were from the venerable Jack Prelutsky, one of my favorite children’s poets. I know I am dating myself here. But, that’s okay. I’ve written about Prelutsky before, and he remains a poet I turn to when I need a clear and entertaining example of something relatively simple that students can relate to. All I know is that I did some disservice to the popular couplet style poem and we’ll have to return to them sometime before summer is over.
I also had trouble coming up with my couplet poem on the spot. We all struggled to some extent. Today, I returned to my couplet and came up with the following:
Butterfly Friendly
Butterflies visit my flowers
They find it gives them the powers,
To grow and change in a summer’s pace
So they can join the migration race.
Travel far, they know they must
Through the Midwest, full of dust.
Stopping in yards like mine along the way
Keeps them going without having to pay.
If we stop having flowers, butterflies die too.
So plant some, plant some, and they will come to you.
© Draft, Carol Labuzzetta, 2021
Today is Poetry Friday. Our host for this week’s round up is: Becky at Sloth Reads. Thanks for hosting Becky! To see more great poetry or find out what Poetry Friday is, visit Becky’s page.
The Apples in My Orchard 
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