4×4 Poem

4×4 Poem with Denise Krebs

Welcome to Day 5 of Verselove. We are so happy you are here, however you choose to be present. If you know what to do, carry on; if you are not sure, begin by reading the inspiration and mentor poem, then scroll to the comment section to post your poem. Please respond to at least three other poets in celebration of words, phrases, ideas, and craft that speak to you. All educators – authors, librarians, teachers, teacher educators, coaches, consultants, preservice, retired–are welcome. It’s free. No commitment is needed. Please invite a teacher-friend to join you one or more days because poetry heals. Click here for more information on the Verselove. Click here for the PD tracker if you’d like PD credits.

Denise Krebs has recently moved from the desert island of Bahrain to the Mojave Desert in California. She is trying to settle in, restore an old cabin, and figure out what education adventures will be in her future. She enjoys reading, writing, riding her fat tire bike on the sandy roads around her home, and watching the sunrise from her living room window while praying for her grandbaby who is due in June.

Inspiration

“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” –Angela Davis

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” –Mary Oliver

“Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.”  –Oprah Winfrey

Perhaps today you will choose to write about something you cannot accept. Or maybe about the joy of this one wild and precious life. How are you feeling? Joyful, sorrowful, pessimistic, optimistic, alienated, powerful, angry, scared, proud, brave, creative, anxious. What else? You might write about a feeling you have had recently.

Process

Let’s try a 4 x 4 poem today. Sometimes I enjoy the challenge of having constraints when I write a poem. In this poem, there are four “rules.”

• 4 syllables in each line
• 4 lines in each stanza
• 4 stanzas
• Refrain repeated four times in lines 1, 2, 3, 4 of stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4. 

Bonus: Try writing a title in four syllables

Other than those four rules, anything goes. There are no rhyming or rhythm restrictions, and you can write on any topic.

The 4 x 4 poem is a slight variation of the quatern. It’s also similar to the Tricube Poem that Linda Mitchell led us in writing last November. Alternatively, you might try writing a quatern or tricube.

Denise’s Poem

Day star dawning
Sunshine beaming
Precious brilliance
Of toasty warmth

Rise in the east
Day star dawning
Warming the earth
With joy and hope

Rising round womb
Growing bundle
Day star dawning
The world awaits

Grandson coming
Family grows
Into sunshine
Day star dawning

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may use only your first name or initials depending on your privacy preferences.) Not ready? That’s okay. Read the poems already posted for more inspiration. Ponder your own throughout the day. Return later. And, if the prompt does not work for you, that is fine. All writing is welcome. Just write something. Oh, and a note about drafting: Since we are writing in short bursts, we all understand (and even welcome) the typos and partial poems that remind us we are human and that writing is always becoming.

Respond to 3

Respond to 3 teachers today in the spirit of reciprocity. Writing educator Peter Elbow said, “To improve your writing you don’t need advice about what changes to make; you don’t need theories of what is good and bad writing. You need movies of people’s minds while they read your words” (Writing Without Teachers, 1973, p. 77). Please offer a mirror to our writers by sharing what you noticed, what moved you, and what you learned. Responding to one another is a way of saying “I see you” and “thank you for writing” and “I carry your words.” Here are a few sentence stems that may be helpful for you and your students.