In Poetry We Say

Verselove is a community celebration of poetry in April—an invitation to write, read, and reflect together. You’re welcome to write a poem a day or to come and go as you need. Reading and leaving a brief note—a line you loved, an image that stayed, a feeling a poem stirred—is also a meaningful way to participate. This is a generous, low-pressure space. We’re glad you’re here.

Our Host

Linda lives in Virginia, where she teaches from a middle school library. As a school librarian, she tries to expect nothing while simultaneously being prepared for anything. Anyone can walk through the door of her library for tutoring, emotional support, the laminator, collaborative planning, space to hold an event, time to tinker at a maker station or a whole group lesson on how patchwork poetry can be good practice for citing sources. Linda also serves on the Intellectual Freedom Committee of her state’s chapter of the American Association of School Librarians. She believes in whole-hearted teaching, learning from mistakes, and creative play as a learning style. She lives with her husband, two sweety-boy brother cats, Dolly the dog and some of her adult children. Linda has published poems in various Ethical ELA collections and weekly on her ‘Another Word Edgewise,’ substack.

Inspiration

Translating life into poetic style. There is nothing that poetry can’t explain in a way that hearts can understand at least as well as the original.

I am fascinated with how poetry can make life real to me. I share this with students who are open to this as much as possible. I know that it’s not every student’s style. However, for the creative and sensitive types, it can be a middle school life saver.

Today’s poem is meant to be a translation in the style of poetry. I first encountered this prompt from Whitney Hanson. Hanson is a Tik tok phenom who has self-published several books. She takes a Tik Tok trend of translating something from English into poetry to her own level in her book, In Poetry We Say, (Independently published. 2024). However, there are many, many poets that write to the prompt; in poetry we say.

Here are some examples:

“In English, we might say, ‘I feel lost in the chaos of life.’
In poetry we say, ‘The heart wanders through the storm, seeking sunlight in shadows.'”
Source: Whitney Hanson’s inspiration found in her journal, “In Poetry We Say…”.

Source: Letters of Annawin. Facebook

Process

Take a sentence from English. Translate it via the phrase, in poetry we say… Some possible sources of sentences in English:
Idioms
proverbs
Folk expressions
Headlines
Quotes by famous people
Forecasts
Sporting Events
Reviews of concerts, plays, books

Once you’ve translated a few or many sentences poetically, circle back to one that gives you a nudge to go deeper with translation until you have written a full poem (in any form, any length) about a thing and what the thing really is.

I hope today’s writing will give you a chance to play in your poetic style. I chose to play with the golden shovel form. Use any form you like to create a poetic translation.

Linda’s Poem

In English we say, It is what it is.
In Poetry we say,

How can we know a thing? what might           it
carry inside from long ago?                              Is
                                                                         what
we see the end? Or, is                                       it
resting? What stands, what breathes simply     is.

Here are some phrases synonymous with, It is, what it is, if you’d like to play with that idea. But, feel free to take anything from English and translate it into poetry.

• It can’t be helped.
• You’ll just have to accept it.
• That’s life I guess.
• Such is life.
• Let bygones be bygones.
• That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
• It’s ok, it’s all water under the bridge now
• Just gotta roll with the punches.
• Que sera, sera. (Spanish for “what will be, will be”)
• C’est la vie. (French for “such is life”)
• So ist das Leben. (German for “that’s life”)
• Así es la vida. (Spanish for “such is life”)
• Così è la vita. (Italian for “such is life”)

Your Turn

Now, scroll to the comment section below to write your own poem. (This is a public space, so you may choose to 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. If you’d like to invite other teachers to write with us, tell them to subscribe. Also, please be sure to respond to at least three writers.