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and Elisabeth Irwin High School

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Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day

Ana Chaney

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day

This is the poem in my pocket today. It speaks to me now, as I’m missing the city as it was - vibrant and chaotic, accepting of all manner of wildness. Reading this magnifies the melancholy a little bit, but it also makes me feel connected, seen and understood.

Our lives have constricted over the past two months. You might find you are relying more than ever on the arts to reflect and express your feelings, to know that your experience is shared. Artists and writers are distant teachers, giving advice and showing us we aren’t alone. The seventh graders are participating in “Dear Poet” - a project through the Academy of American Poets that invites students to write letters in response to poems by award-winning poets. The selections from students' letters are below. In each one, they share how these poems have spoken to them.

I really enjoyed your poem “Lava and Moon,” especially now because I needed to hear some of those things. I am still figuring out my life and am confused about a lot of things. I overthink a lot and I want to be more laid back and relax more. I think your poem is saying something similar.

Your poem, Basketball feat. Galileo & EPMD, reminded me of taking risks and the idea of being brave and believing in oneself. This connected to me because if you don’t take risks you don’t know what will happen. Even if they turn out badly, at least you’ve experienced the moment. I think this message is so valuable to find inside such a fun and exciting poem. Everyone should hear this so they can stop being afraid, especially for today, whether you’re a basketball fan or not.

I also liked the lines, “It is like/ loving an animal:/ hopeless, an extravagance we were meant for:/ startled, continually,/ by what we’re willing/ to feel.” This line made me think about how many times we put ourselves in situations where the ultimate amount of pain we put ourselves through is more than the happiness we gain.

To be alive on earth is a privilege, and for us to treat it like it’s some piece of trash is unacceptable. Your poem helped me understand that people take a lot of things for granted, including life on earth.

A quote that stood out to me was, “I know the grandmother one had hands / But they were always in the earth / Planting seeds / Removing weeds / Growing knives / Burying sons / I know the grandmother one had hands.” This quote spoke to me because I have a great-grandmother who was working for her whole life. She outlived her son, and planted the seeds that are my family.

When you said, “There was no Nature. No / them. No tests to determine if the elephant / grieves her calf or if / the coral reef feels pain.” It really spoke to me. I have always cared about the environment and the damage we do to it.

Your first line hooked me in, “It is all about speed and flexibility, about speed and flexibility and teamwork and accuracy.” It really spoke to me. And as the poem continued, the metaphors were right on. “When we pass it is a cannonball, when we leap, we hang in the air like Nijinsky taking a nap.”

My favorite part of the poem was when you started to talk about the city and how the city really helped you embrace being yourself... I haven’t quite lived long enough to know about a town or city that helped me be me but my school is my safe place, I can see people who look like me and who allow me to be the kind of person that I am.

I chose your poem first of all as my cat is so similar to your cat, and every time she brings in a mouse or a bird, it feels the same. This mouse/bird has the same right to live, yet my cat chose it as its prey. The sad part is that most of the time, my cat won't even eat the animal. That is the sad part of mother nature and her mysterious ways about which animal will live and which will die. I think your poem also talks well about balance, how you have to balance the good and the bad.

It’s not too late for you to put a poem in your pocket today! Poets.org is a great resource for browsing.

Warmest,
Ana

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