A Message from Sarah
Welcome to day 29! Please, watch the video message from Sarah Donovan, Ethical ELA founder, which includes some exciting Verselove data. Click on the button below for information about a Verselove Open House/Open Mic. Let’s come together, Saturday, April 30th, the final day of VerseLove, to celebrate: 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM CT. Share a poem. Share a highlight of your experience. Say hello. Zoom link: https://educationokstate.zoom.us/s/6028777200
What a Poem Can Do Poem with Glenda Funk
Glenda is an NBCT with an MA in English literature. She taught English and speech 38 years and worked as an adjunct instructor for Idaho State University and the College of Southern Idaho before retiring in August 2019. As part of the NEA Better Lesson Master Teacher Project, Glenda developed a full-year curriculum for teaching seniors, which is free on the Better Lesson website. She’s thrilled to call herself a published poet with poems featured in Bridge the Distance and Rhyme & Rhythm: Poems for Student Athletes, for which she owes Sarah a huge debt of gratitude. Glenda blogs at https://evolvingenglishteacher.blogspot.com/?m=1
Inspiration
As we near the end of this month of writing and celebrating poems and poets, let’s think about what poetry does for us, for our world, and let’s imagine the possibilities of poetry. Let’s do that in a poem.
Darius V. Daughtry’s magnificent poem “what can a poem do?” begins with a series of litotes naming myriad things a poem can’t do and concludes by imagining what poetry can do and does. It’s these possibilities poems offer that bring me hope.
a poem cannot save a life
cannot Luke Cage your skin
fend off a dark alley attack
cannot make you less woman
or less poor
or less Black
and
thus
treated equally….
You can read the entire poem and hear Daughtry’s recitation of it here.
What can a poem do? Think about the issues that concern you. Perhaps make a list. Next, choose a form for your poem. Daugherty names the sonnet, but maybe you prefer a villanelle, a free verse, or some other form.
Process
Compose a poem in which you celebrate what a poem can do and imagine the possibilities for more poetry specific to an issue or concern. I know you’ll find much inspiration from the poetry you’ve written and read this month.
Glenda’s Poem
in the company of poems
–after Darius Daughtry
when i am alone
in a crowd
silenced by
muted stares
circling the fringe
standing in a corner
sitting by myself
at a table
set for six
a poem cannot
take a seat
or share a meal
or toast the occasion.
at such moments
i spread poetry
through my mind
like butter
on bread.
i feast on
the poets words
dine on meaty
metaphors &
drink the nectar
distilled in time’s
eternal etchings.
these fill my soul
quench my thirst
a collection of poems
keeps me
company
passes time
makes peace
amid chaos
in a poem
i can be a
canary in a
coal mine
who echos
Cassandra’s
siren song.
a single poem
lets
me say
the quiet
parts
out loud
lets
me live
on rainbow
spectrum
as a glass
menagerie in
a mirrored hall.
–Glenda Funk
March 31, 2022
As always, find inspiration with this prompt or go your own way today and write as the poet muse inspires you to create.
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.
Also, in the spirit of reciprocity, please respond to at least three other poets today.
A poem can inspire people
it can inspire them is many different ways
they have a good impact on people
they can reach someone a certain way nothing else can
poems can tell a story from a different point of view
they can be eye opening
they can very emotional
and can take over someone emotions
poems can change someone’s perspective
poems can make someone feel someone else’s feeling
A poem can
make you happy
A poem can
make you sappy
A poem can
send a message simple words can’t express
A poem can
help you decompress
A poem can
how the way
A poem can
brighten your day
A poem can’t heal
But a poem can reveal
A poem can’t kill
But a poem can make you feel
A poem can’t save a life
But a poem can change the tide
A poem can make you float
A poem can make you feel.
A poem can’t judge
A poem can’t punch
A poem can’t hold a grudge
But a poem can make your heart touch.
Like a ball of energy, a poem so opening and erratic
Where thoughts are expressed and ideas ignite
The overwhelming feelings buzz through you like static
Your thoughts flow through you as the lightbulb burns bright
While a small piece of writing cannot save a life,
It opens your heart to excruciating amounts of passion.
Whether or not the writing may twist the knife,
It keeps one’s thoughts in ration.
While poems cannot heal wounds or scratches
It lets your soul run wild and free
A fire set within you like a candle with matches,
but in the end, it brings you closer to thee.
A poem can let you voice your feelings
A poem cannot change someone
A poem can give you a safe space
A poem cannot change the past
A poem can help you forgive
A poem cannot help you forget
A poem can make you feel stuff
feel happy
feel sad
feel nappy
feel mad
A poem cannot make to feel stuff
feel trapped
feel forced
feel capped
feel coarse
A poem can be good
A poem can be bad
Just write a poem
and you’ll be glad
a poem lets you speak your mind,
when words are hard for you to find.
write your thoughts, let them flow,
no judgement, just growth.
home alone or by the sea,
say your truth and set it free.
say whatever you want, it’s yours to own,
a quiet space to be alone.
In every line, your heart is shown,
A work of art thats yours alone.
A poem can attach
Attach your thoughts to words
A poem can withstand
Withstand your worst fears
A poem can relieve
Relieve the burdens from your mind
A poem can unify
Unify ten into one
A poem can alter
Alter your once set beliefs
A poem can change
Change a wrong into a right
A poem can intensify
Intensify an already intense idea
A poem can relive
Relive something you once gave up on
A poem can save
Save a life, a dream, a goal.
A poem allows you to bring your thoughts to life
Your words can be as sharp as a knife
Not only can you create a safe space
But also a judgement free environment
A poem can create connections
A poem can heal
A poem can change your perspective
But it also can also make your visions clear
Now poems may not be able to stop everything
But can create a sense of Armagh like a hot spring.
A poem cannot fix a mistake
Resolve a broken promise
But it can forsake
For the sake of being honest
Can it cause change?
If no one is there to relate
Like a plague
It is noticed too late
But it can start a fire
Burning in one’s soul
Creating a desire
That cannot be controlled
A mountain will never move
Unless someone attempts it
Ink spread anew
And potential is lit
A poem can change a life
Or strike you in the heart with a knife
It can fill your heart with love
and stay with you like a dove
It can tell you what you need to hear
or tell you what you dream
It can give you a sense of mind
Or make you feel like you just got fined
It can solve your worry
or make you brain feel like a flurry
There are many things a poem can do
Like inspire and motivate a crowd
Or take your dreams and help you pursue
It can open your eyes to the world around
Help you appreciate those things you miss
So before you say a poem can’t save a life
Stop to consider this:
A life that might be wasted with regrets and strife
Is enlightened by the words they read
They change their life for the better
Is a life saved by what a poem said
You may think a poem cannot change one
but I believe it can
A poem can soothe
because its words are so smooth
A poem can express
or embrace the much stress
A poem can change someone for the better
and come in the form of a letter
A poem can solve problems
or it can build columns.
A poem can save lives
But it can also lead you into lies
Not all poems are cool
Some will make you look like a fool
Although some poems can be misleading
It can be some fun for some reading
There are many things that a poem can grant
Hopefully not to be tant
Poems can be exceptional
But they can be deceptional
A poem lets you find the calm in a storm.
Filling you with different emotions,
only leaving a heart feeling warm,
leaving you with different notions.
Express your feelings free of judge,
Say what you please,
Although it may take a nudge,
It’s time to live to seize.
Words act as new clothes,
Helping us to express our identities.
Poems can have jokes,
Or may express serenity.
A poem can make you laugh or cry,
It makes you dream, it makes you try.
It tells a story, paints a scene,
Shows you places you have never seen.
A poem can help you when times are tough,
Even when you’re going nuts.
It shouts so loud you can barely hear,
They tell you there is nothing to fear.
A poem stays with you like a song,
It makes you feel very strong.
Poems twist and bend like a river,
When you’re done, it makes everything a lot clearer.
A poem gets out your feelings
A poem lets you express the emotion before it is fleeing
you can express your joy
or your sadness, your pain
or your madness, your thoughts that may seem insane
poetry forms connection and
through the reading you can feel and relate
and the writing can tell and communicate
you may learn and you may move
poetry is more than words
Poems teach what you need to be taught
During tough time it will give you a thought
Speak out on what’s in your mind
There’s people out there who think the same
struggle with life and don’t know how to be tame
Expressing to people your problem
can help them overcome
You can listen during tough times
But teaches you how a word flies
Poems help but its the words that matter
Read them and it can help your brain flatter
It is just a poem i was told
but could just a poem be so bold.
How could emotions be fully expressed
the answer was but ahead of me.
Anger and sadness are merely two emotions.
This is what i believed but tis is not true
how could solely two emotions cause so much hate.
A poem can help people fully understand you.
This could help end issues before even issues.
This could stop a bullet,
Stop a death.
Only those who do not listen are unstoppable.
Nothing is impossible under poetry
it entrances you.
A poem allows you to be yourself.
It will not judge you
Will not hold grudges
But allow you to reflect.
You can be yourself
Express all your feelings good and bad
A poem does not need to be happy it can be full of hatred, sadness, and disgust
Either way it will not judge you and accept you
Last of all, a poem is a beautiful piece of art.
A poem can change your life.
It can create a space without judgement
where you can express your emotions
no matter what your feeling.
it can create a new perspective of life
where you can learn to grow,
and improve yourself.
A poem isn’t just words on a paper
but a story with emotion behind it.
It’s a way to get everything off your mind
and be your true genuine self.
A poem can free you,
A poem can save you
Sometimes all we need is something to hear us,
A thing that can see us.
A poem may seem insignificant,
But to some, their thoughts no longer remain insignificant
A poem can change those who cannot
IT can change lives, no matter the cause
Lastly, a poem can love,
Fill someone’s heart with love.
A poem can open your eyes
A poem can reveal many truths
It allows you to see the wonders of this world
Only using a few words
A poem can seem so simple
Hiding the deep and symbolic meaning
A poem can also seem so complex
Leaving you confused and curious
A poem can open doors to your imagination
Showing the beauties of our world
I do not know much about poems,
I do not know their origin or history,
although, I do know a little about what they can do
I know their importance, impact, and their ability to change lives
many can say that a poem is just sentences that rhyme
but, a poem is much more than words on paper
It can create friendships, emotions, and feelings
It can heal heartbreak, emptiness, and sadness
It can describe memories, feelings, and laughter that a picture can not hold.
Although a poem might not cure cancer or stop a bullet,
It can combat the effects and help save lives.
A poem is the imagination,
the connectivity with yourself,
with the power to take over nations,
displaying the ideas we have sitting on the shelf,
waiting for the opportunity to shine,
the blueprint for culture and change,
What we want to say instead of just being “fine”,
the safe space where word’s arrange,
Poems are deep, below surface,
or poems can be weak, easy to see,
the past, present, and the future,
no Matter the occasion,
poems are everywhere,
in short,
Poems are what we make them,
Poems can prevent but not erase,
a poem is the author,
Poems are the way to truly dig deep and find yourself
Writing can enable you to truly find your thoughts
Once you have found your thoughts you can fly higher than ever before
Write about what you fear
Write about what you still ponder today
Write about what makes you happy
No matter where
No matter when
No matter what you go through, poem cans make all the difference
Poems can break you out of the cell you didn’t know you were in
A poem can spread love and light,
It can share your emotion
Paint a picture or create imagery.
Stop lies that bottle you up.
It can show love, anger, joy.
It can be seen multiple ways,
Interpreted as comfort,
interpreted as calmness,
interpreted as reflection.
In the end it is how it is interpreted,
by love or by hate.
They say poetry is man’s sword,
Words jot down with no reward,
Thoughts and feelings with no accord,
Just a hope that it gets a record,
Words cut through just like a blade,
Feelings rush over that can’t leave you unscathed,
The emotion it invokes leaves a scar,
You bleed out all that’s been bottled in,
For the public to see what’s left within,
A person who had a mouth but did not speak,
As society deems them as a misteek,
How unfortunate their possibilities of revolution had been silenced,
As society instigates for a continuation of violence,
Poetry is man’s sword with no reward,
But man is leftover, feeling floored.
A poem can love
A poem can hate
It can be as beautiful as a dove
Or as heavy as a debate
A poem can be an escape
A poem can be a relief
It can wear a cape
And take on your grief.
Although it can’t stop a bullet
Or protect you from harm
A poem can relax you to the fullest
It just has to begin at the sound of your own alarm.
A poem speaks more than words
With its rhythm and rhyme
Poems are powerful
Of course It can’t fix your problems
But it can turn darkness to light
A poem can heal someone
It can make someone happy
Make someone feel joy
That’s what makes it special
It’s what poems do
What can a poem do
It cant stop and attack
Or bring someone back
It can’t control time
It cant stop a crime
Instead it lets you express
It lets you destress
A poem could be a song
It never has to be long
A poem can be whatever you want
whether its a joke or a taunt
or even something that can haunt
Whether its happy
Whether its sad
A poem is for you to be you
A poem can solve problems
A poem can do wonders
A poem can be your outer voice
A poem can bring joy to others
A poem can change our lives
Change our lives by creating positivity
Change our lives by influencing our mindset
Change our lives by our actions toward others
All helping us and others
If only some of us took the time
Just a little time
Maybe the world would change
For the better
So maybe, go write a poem
A poem is a way to let your deepest thoughts out
It is a way to express what you really feel
It does not matter what you write about
As long as what is in your heart you reveal
Reading a poem can be a tricky thing
As it causes you to really dig deep
It can make you so happy you want to dance and sing
Or so sad that you start to weep
Poems are a powerful thing
Because of the people it will together bring
A poem creates feelings of emotion through words
Poems express ourselves in a way we want it to
It can make us feel happy
It can make us feel sad
It allows us to understand
A poem isn’t a painting
But a poem paints an image through your emotions
They can relate to some of us in our own way
Others not at all
Poems teach us something about ourselves.
They helps us find beauty and meaning of our lives in our own special way.
A poem is something that expresses your thoughts and views
A poem is something personal to you
You can write if your thriving
You can write if you feel like dying
No one judges you for you so this is the way you speak your truth
People can better understand your feelings
Your able to say anything and everything on your mind
Poems can connect us to others
These words hold power
These words help our thoughts take flight
So that we can continue to live in this life
A poem allows for us to expirience a story from someone
Whether a story or event
An idea or a challenge faced
We listen and embrace
The message being said
whether a lesson is spread
Proves that poems are voiced
By someone who wants to be heard
Through the imagery and words
We feel the authors voice.
A poem is something that gives you freedom
The freedom to present your emotions
Whether they appear positive
Or negative
Or somewhere in between
A poem can guide you along
Whatever you’re going through
Whatever you have to deal with
It gives you a safe space
A space to be at peace
Let this peace give you the freedom
To show who you are
To be yourself
To dig deep into your soul
And to push out whatever it is you need to push out
A poem can help to convey your feelings
Make it easier to say what’s on your mind
It gives you someone to talk to
Without the fear of people judging you
A poem can give you a voice
When you feel most alone
A poem can give you a friend
When you’ve lost all of yours.
The powers of poems are ceaseless.
A poem is that of words lines and letters
But what of its more than something to be read
But something to feel, imagine, and let it change you
A poem can set you free the words and feelings you hold so deep
Instead of beginning to weep you take a brave leap
Writing words letting them change you free you and getting to be you
A poem can’t change your life, but it can start the process do so
When a poem is done and done right someone feels less at their low
They feel more at ease that weight off their shoulders
The words much stronger than that weight they carried before
So a poem isn’t just a bore but rather something incredible
A poem can help people show who they truly are.
It’s all about what you think and not how others feel.
A poem can be powerful allowing people to talk about tough topics.
It also allows topics to be spread to others.
A poem can’t physically heal someone.
It can, however, help them express their feelings and make them feel happier.
A poem can help strengthen someone’s mind with different ideas.
Open up their hearts and see different perspectives.
A poem can bring people together who appreciate it.
Allow new friendships to form over a topic they love.
A poem is a feeling of expression
It allows you to say things that you never thought you could express
It is a deep feeling,
It is a feeling of satisfaction
You finally allowed yourself to pour out your emotions
Sometimes it does t even feel real,
This emotion and feeling can make u cry,
It makes you reflect on all that pent up anger,
fear,
love,
lust,
Anything you feel,
It is possible to express
Even if it feels impossible.
A poem cannot save a life
but it can heal.
A poem cannot save a life
but it can give inspiration.
A poem can make you love.
A poem can give you hope.
A poem can get you out of depression.
It can make you cry.
It can make you laugh.
It can be there when theres no one
when you feel sad
when you feel blue.
A poem can be passionate.
A poem can do multiple things.
A poem lets you explore
A poem lets you create
A poem lets you express
A poem lets you feel
These emotions come out the deepest part of yourself
Comes out your mind
Your thoughts and feelings blend and take shape
They fly down on your fast pen
They showcase and unveil the cape of lies
A poem lets you escape.
A poem allows you to write out your emotions
it allows you to express yourself in a way you can’t verbally
you can explain your very thoughts
you can explain how you are feeling
you can explain things you couldn’t before
things you can’t just explain to someone in a conversation
poems aren’t just a piece of writing
they are way more than that
they are an artwork that is crafted by an artist
that artist being the writer
the writer being you
you are the artist
you carefully plan, work, and then execute
and watch the magic do itself
your brain, your thoughts, and your emotions
finish the work you start.
Poems are full of love and emotions
snd some times can cause a commotion
some tell stories
poems are a form of art
with many meaningful parts
poems hold many different meanings
that are worth reading
poems can share happiness, sadness, or love
or maybe none of the above
poems are a way you express your thought and feelings
no matter the meaning
Poems can be different for every feeling
it just depends on how your reading it
What some think is a word display,
is really a message we wish to say.
It is powerful and impacting on your life,
that can help end all strife.
They can be fun,
and can inspire someone,
through the rhythmic tone
that is clearly shown.
It cannot undo,
the bad things that caused feelings of blue,
but help us feel better,
and lift us from the pressure.
It helps us think
and see the world in a new link.
A poem is something special
It can help you express your feelings
A poem is a message that you can share with the world
It can heal people
It can spread joy
It can even change lives
Poems are powerful
They make you feel free
They can even change your perspective
Poems can change the world
Poems do not live on their own
something that very well known.
Your heart is said to be unbound
but they find a way to wrap around.
In the drowning waters of the dark
they provide a burning spark.
Poems are the light that you followed
to fill you heart that darkness had swallowed
Finding a way to express your mind
of something that cannot be unwind.
It lets you escape to many lands
and can heal without any hands.
Poems can do many things
but cannot grow legs, arms, or wings.
What can a Poem do?
A poem cannot stop death
Cannot bring back the ones you loved
Cannot Save the ones lost and never found
Cannot make you young
Or old
Or more rich
Or less poor
Or More of something your not
A poem cannot stop a murder
stop a war
stop the long beep of a heart monitor
your mothers monitor
your monitor
This very second could be your last
A poem cannot stop the forgetting of the past
cannot fix the mistakes of the past
A poem can change a mind
can change a heart
change a life
A poem can make you remember
remember the good
the bad
And what’s to come
A poem can change the world
Your world.
What can a poem do?
Oh, wish I had an answer, what a blue.
But a poem enlightens many
Not even worth a penny.
A poem holds feelings of rhythmic words
Among the happily chirping birds.
A poem cannot stop the bad
But it does increase the glad.
A poem can lift fun and decrease boredom
With poems, your lightness overcomes.
Poems usually have an impactful meaning
Which will leave society with a trace
Knowing that it will leave you thinking
You have to take a chance to embrace
Each of us takes a turn
Of we can do to affect the world
Usually we learn to cry and yearn
And not succeed and earn
We communicate what we feel
But sometimes not to everyone’s appeal
We were taught to show what we believe
But fear to what antipathy one feels.
What Can a Poem Do?
What can a poem do?
What can a poem do?
What can a poem do?
What can a poem do?
What can a poem do?
What can’t a poem do?
It can drown you in emotions, make you feel blue
It can rip your heart out, freeing the monster trapped in a rib cage,
it can leave you lost in sorrow or fuel the fire of you rage
It reminds you that you’re not alone
that your voice matters until the unknown
and maybe being your authentic little self
isn’t so bad afterall.
A Poem is an expression from. You
it’s a flow within. You
A piece of. You
It’s a story of. You
A heartfelt message of. You
Your opinion is what matters
Your soul is what speaks and chatters
Your emotions create the purpose
It’s Your flow, Your circus
so dream, dream big, it’s all you,
A Poem is you, express your soul so others may feel it too
it’s You.
here is a tool
a tool that can be used to touch hearts
the hearts of anybody
anybody can fall victim to this tool
this tool that can urge people to do things
things that can help or harm a person
a person can fall victim to this tool
this tool that has no limits
as these limits are made by the writer
a writer can fall victim to this tool
this tool that has a name
that name being poetry.
What can poems do?
Poems can express feeling
Poems can be healing
even when it feels things are peeling.
Poems can express a dream
Poems can be the seam
between the heart of a team.
What can’t poems do?
Poems don’t have to rhyme
just for them to shine.
Poems don’t have to keep form
just for them to perform.
A poem comes from the heart
Poems are truly pieces of art.
A poem is a collection of expressions.
Poems have the power to share feelings with others,
Even when those feelings are “too personal”.
A poem is full of emotions and ideas
That can act as comfort for the uncomforted.
A poem can act as home for the people
Whose minds lack sanctuary.
Poems contain words that lead to peace
Through their touching messages,
And they hug the soul.
Poems grab letters
And bloom them into a brighter purpose
That shares its value with the entire world.
A poem can change lives,
The impact doesn’t have to be direct,
But rather a whisper for a brave step,
A chance for words to have a deeper meaning,
Asking to dig below the surface,
Soft words attached with loud meanings,
Trying to lead for a change,
violent actions turned into heartfelt words,
feelings expressed without malicious effort,
A poem can save lives
there is a tool
a tool that can be used to touch hearts
the hearts of anybody
anybody can fall victim to this tool
this tool that can urge people to do things
things that can help or harm a person
a person can fall victim to this tool
this tool that has no limits
as these limits are made by the writer
a writer can fall victim to this tool
this tool that has a name
that name being poetry.
A poem can help snooze you
A poem can help calm you
A poem can help you with plenty of things including stress relief
Poems are awesome and can make the world a better place if people realized that
Poems can come in all shapes and sizes
Poems can sneak into places you wouldn’t expect them to
Poems are read in different versions and forms
Poems help people with their problems in good ways
Poems are awesome