A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
To anywhere you please.

Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey's over,
You'll find you've just begun.

From The 20th Century Children's Poetry Treasury,
Knopf, 1999, copyright by Charles Ghigna.

What is POETRY? What do you think about when you hear the word POETRY?

There are many kinds of poems:

Some poems make us LAUGH.
Some poems make us THINK.

Some poems are SHORT & FUNNY.
Some poems are LONG & SERIOUS.

Some poems RHYME.
Some poems DO NOT RHYME.

What KINDS of poems have you read?
What KINDS of poems have you written?

Here are some different KINDS of poems:

• •  

    Couplets have two lines that rhyme. 

    Here are five couplets from poems in TICKLE DAY: POEMS FROM FATHER GOOSE by Charles Ghigna.

    from LITTLE DADDY LONGLEGS
    Little Daddy Longlegs played in the sun,
    Climbing up the front steps just for fun.

    from TURTLE TROUBLE
    Tell me if you think you know
    How to make a turtle go.

    from TOMORROW'S MY BIRTHDAY
    Tomorrow's my birthday and I'll be four
    And I won't have to stay home anymore.

    from NATURE'S SHOWS
    Nature puts on little shows
    Every time it rains or snows.

    from IT'S SNOW WONDER!
    It's snow wonder that we cheer
    Snowflakes when they fall each year.

    Here is a poem that has four couplets from HALLOWEEN NIGHT by Charles Ghigna.

    PUMPKINS ON GUARD

    Look at all the pumpkin faces
    Lighting up so many places.

    On the porch and in the yard,
    Pumpkin faces standing guard.

    Looking friendly, looking mean,
    With a smile or with a scream.

    Orange faces burning bright
    In the cool October night.

• •  

    Tercets have three lines.

    Here is a poem with two tercets from HALLOWEEN NIGHT by Charles Ghigna.

    WITCH WAY

    With warts on her nose
    And sharp pointy toes,
    She flies through the night on her broom.

    With covers pulled tight
    In the shadows of night,
    I hide in the dark of my room.

• •  

    A ballad stanza is a group of four-lines. That group is called a STANZA. The ballad stanza has a rhyme at the end of line number two and line number four.

    Here are three poems that have ballad stanzas. The first poem has three ballad stanzas. The last two poems have two ballad stanzas. The first two poems are from TICKLE DAY: POEMS FROM FATHER GOOSE by Charles Ghigna. The last poem is from HALLOWEEN NIGHT by Charles Ghigna.

    THE BEE POEM

    A poem is a busy bee
    Buzzing in your head.
    His hive is full of hidden thoughts
    Waiting to be said.

    His honey comes from your ideas
    That he makes into rhyme.
    He flies around looking for
    What goes on in your mind.

    When it's time to let him out
    To make some poetry,
    He gathers up your secret thoughts
    And then he sets them free.

    A POEM IS A LITTLE PATH

    A poem is a little path
    That leads you through the trees.
    It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
    To anywhere you please.

    Follow it and trust your way
    With mind and heart as one,
    And when the journey's over,
    You'll find you've just begun.

    HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

    I'd rather be foolish than ghoulish,
    I'd rather dress up as a clown;
    I'd rather wear clothes with polka dot bows,
    I'd much rather smile than frown.

    I'd rather be kooky than spooky,
    I'd rather be friendly than mean;
    I'd rather go greeting than tricking and treating,
    I'd rather have fun Halloween!

• •  

    Charles Ghigna created the first If-You-Were Poems to introduce METAPHOR to children.  Instructions: COMPARE a friend to some THING (inanimate object), then COMPARE yourself to some THING associated with the first object.  Lines two and four rhyme.  

    If-You-Were Poems make great Valentines!

    Here are three If-You-Were Poems from IF YOU WERE MY VALENTINE by Charles Ghigna.

    If you were a shining star
    And I were your midnight,
    I'd let you shine above me,
    You'd be my only light.

    If you were the hands of time
    And I were a grandfather clock,
    I'd let you spin around with me,
    Together we'd ticktock.

    If you were the pages of a book
    And I were reading you,
    I'd read as slow as I could go
    So I never would get through.

• •  

    Riddle Rhymes are poems that have a riddle. The answer to the riddle is at the end of the poem.

    Here are three Riddle Rhymes from RIDDLE RHYMES by Charles Ghigna.

    HIGH FLYER

    I fly above the tallest trees.
    I'm not a bird or plane.
    I have no wings or feathered things.
    I do not like the rain.

    I play among the passing clouds.
    I like to rise and sail.
    I am a friend who loves the wind.
    I'm big and have a tail.

    I like the gusty month of March.
    I soar way out of sight.
    My shape is like a diamond.
    I am a brand-new KITE.

    THE EVERLASTING LIGHT

    I shine forever free.
    I do not cost a cent.
    I need no bulb or battery.
    My light is permanent.

    You'll find me way up in the sky,
    When each new day's begun,
    But do not look me in the eye--
    I am the shining SUN.

    YOUR HIGHNESS

    I am a free and open field
    That's never out of bounds,
    Where kites and planes and boomerangs
    Can do their ups and downs.

    I am the biggest yard of all,
    Where birds begin their play
    Of hide-n-seek among the clouds
    At each new break of day.

    I am the place called outer space,
    Where nothing is too high.
    I am the home of all the stars--
    I am the endless SKY.

• •  

    The Japanese haiku (pronounced "hi-koo") is one of the oldest and shortest forms of poetry. The entire poem consists of only seventeen syllables in three lines of five-seven-five syllables. Haiku poems usually contain brief descriptions of nature and they DO NOT RHYME.

    Here are three haiku poems written by Charles Ghigna from HAIKU: THE TRAVELERS OF ETERNITY.

    JUNE

    The cricket calls to
    the meadow, each evening he
    hears his echo sing.

    SEPTEMBER

    Shadows bow to the
    setting sun, pray to the sky
    for blessings of light.

    OCTOBER

    Artist autumn comes,
    paints her blush across each tree,
    drops palette, and leaves.

• •  

    Free Verse poems can have any number of lines. They usually DO NOT RHYME.

    Here are two free verse poems by Charles Ghigna.

    THE JAZZ MAGICIAN

    He turned his
    saxophone
    into a hat of satin

    and pulled
    a silky rabbit
    out of every note.

    MILES DAVIS

    On stage
    in a spotlight
    of smoke
    a cool, blue

    question mark
    of a man
    blows ashes
    into answers.

    Here are three free verse poems from A FURY OF MOTION: POEMS FOR BOYS by Charles Ghigna.

    TACKLE

    A grizzly bear in shoulder pads,
    he growls at the line of scrimmage,
    snarls into the face of the offense
    and glares into the eyes
    of the opposing quarterback.

    Hike!
    and he explodes
    over the line,
    bursts through
    the whirling blitz
    of cracking helmets,
    his legs churning forward
    in a fury of motion,
    his arms flailing
    through the backfield
    for anything that moves.

    SKYDIVER

    First step
    and he swallows
    the dry, delicious fear
    of walking on air.

    Body bent back
    into a bow,
    he falls into the arms
    of the screaming wind,
    his heart beating
    taps in his ears.

    Pop,
    and an angel wing
    pulls him from the thunder
    of a hundred
    mile an hour dream.

    He sits perched,
    a runaway cloud
    of contentment,
    a fearless eagle feather
    lost in the drift
    of an early afternoon.

    Knees bent, he pulls
    the taut reins of reality,
    ready-sets himself
    for one final, little lift,
    one last tiptoe of air
    before his flying feet
    must run their
    earth-bound way
    back home.

    ARS LONGA, VITA BREVIS

    (Art is Long, Life is Short)

    Like the sculptor
    who chips away
    at what is not
    the sculpture,
    your life
    is in your hands,
    the pure
    imperfect stone
    waiting for its
    daily touch,
    the gentle tap,
    the savored strike
    toward mass
    and space
    that form
    the perfect past,
    your tribute
    to the art
    of living.

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Have fun READING and WRITING poems!

Here are some fun activities to help get you started . . .