Let us gather and write poetry... June 17 2013

June 17, 2013

On this blog, I'll be mainly referring to the lessons I myself teach. But in the lesson plan book we'll be creating, CPITS poet-teachers from around the state, and throughout our history, will be included. It was Luis Kong who first introduced me to “Let Us Gather in a Flourishing Way,” by Juan Felipe Herrera, current poet laureate of California, and a former CPITS poet-teacher himself. Especially in bilingual classrooms, I have often had students use it as a guide to write their own individual poems, as David Cabrera did a few years back:

Famous Dishes – DAVID CABRERA

Let us gather in the country of Mexico.

Let’s bring my mom’s best sopa de elote

and my grandma’s famous churros

that taste like cinnamon with sugar.

Let us remember my mom’s pozole and flan.

They are like a piece of God’s famous dish.

Let us get lost in the taste of honey in the flan;

it gets you dreaming and knocks you out

like a famous boxer, Oscar de la Hoya.

He will knock you out, but you

will be happy because of the flavor of honey.

Let us gather en el país de México.

It’s such a festive, inclusive poem and lesson that I’ve started using it to create a virtual party on our last day of poetry class, at least in the longer residencies. On those occasions we usually do it as a group poem. Here are a bunch of 6^th graders at Monroe School sharing their creation:

Let us gather at the city of Atlantis that is as beautiful as a shining reef.

Let’s gather at Mt. Everest and at the end of the rainbow.

Let’s bring chips as crispy as an overcooked bread.

Let’s bring tamales as soft as marigolds.

Let’s remember all the times we were together having fun.

Let’s remember the day we all shared our beautiful possessions

in honor of our friendships and caring,

under the beautiful sea.

And how we had a wonderful time,

eating, and caring about each other.