Poetry is a part of literature that is now going passe.
Gone were the days when poetry reading was once a part of grand occasions looking back into our Hispanic heritage. It is even getting less and less popular among students what with their current interest. Something understandable, as technology like cellphones or the computers now prove to be better windows to the world than the books in the school libraries.
This is quite sad for us, especially the teachers, for poetry is a creative excursion of the mind, a special way of expressing our thoughts and our feelings. Introducing poetry as well as pushing it to be appreciated by the students can be very demanding and present a challenge. Seeing our students enjoy and use their skills afterwards can be a very rewarding experience for us teachers.
There are some simple forms of poems that we can introduce to our students. These are the “diamante”, “cinquain”, haiku and the shaped poetry. Let’s try the shape poetry I have written. Here goes :
What is love?...
A beautiful stirring
of the young heart,
a sudden glance, a smile,
a gentle touch.
The fast beating of
the heart,
the quickening
of one's gait
to see one's beloved.
It's the silence shared,
forgetting the time,
for nothing else matter
but to be with
one's beloved.
The sweet " I do's "
Oh, love so sweet
and sublime.
The voice of the first born,
the gentle hands clinging,
caressing your face,
The walks under the paling light
of the moon, the moon
in the warmth of the sunrise,
in the beckoning shadows
of the sundown,
on the soft, rough
sandy shore.
The days, years
spent together.
Until the unseen moment,
The sudden grief of parting,
The silent tears that fell.
The silence, this time
so lonesome
Moving on!
Still a decision of the heart.
It's the twinkling star
giving hope...
and strength
creating an newer
world,
a newer sound
of laughter,
a vision of
another dream.
The joy in one's heart.
That one secret
magical, mysterious,
wise, wild,
funny, foolish
longing.
An ambitious,
unstoppable,
uncaring,
hurting
void in one's heart.
The thing most beautiful,
untouched, unseen,
but felt.
That is love
The river of life.
This poem which is quite on the higher level as per comprehension, experience and interest of the students can be a good venue for literary appreciation in class. Although it will need a lot of guidance and coaching from the teachers so as to achieve the goal of making students appreciate and understand poetry. The shape of the poem suggests as it is shaped that love is like a river. As a river love goes on forever, freely, unstoppable but beautiful.
(Editor’s Note: No guarantee the poem will appear as intended by the author across different browsers. Posting above poem is quite a challenge. Just in case it displays scattered, it is how the browser renders the output. On Internet Explorer (10) and Mozilla Firefox (10), rendering was OK.)
- An Educator Asks: Is Cursive Writing still Important in our Schools? - August 25, 2017
- What is love?/Ano an pagkamoot by Eden A. Avila - April 12, 2015
- Is DepEd’s National Achievement Test still relevant or passé? - March 8, 2015
Well written, as always.
During my high school days, I specially liked literature. There was not much material other than the official textbook which already contain the required reading, though more like a sampling only. Unlike today’s age of the internet, students can have vast access to fine and (also crappy) literary pieces. It is there for “picking” but would need, a real interested student.
The poem ” What is Love ” is an original composition of the writer.