A Poem A Day

Every Valentine’s day, I feel inundated with images of hearts. Construction paper heart cutouts decorate classrooms and hallways, and it feels as if I can’t walk into any sort of shop without being bombarded by floating balloon hearts, candy-filled cardboard hearts, ceramic cup hearts, tiny candy conversation hearts, stuffed fabric hearts. In all their material glory, these saccharine proxies for love never adequately reflect the complexity of what our own hearts contain.

And so it was that about two years ago, I was delighted to see a beautiful untitled sculpture by native Texas artist Lauren Levy which featured a red button heart that bloomed pencil stubs. The inspiring play of delicacy, strength, preciousness and the everyday enchanted me; this image had captured something of what my heart really felt like.

I kick myself every day for not finding a way to purchase that sculpture. However, this artwork did inspire me to ask my young writers what they imagined their own hearts could be made of. With some consideration, these writers produced Valentine-themed poems much more interesting –and dare I say, more heartfelt– than the stock “Roses are red, violets are blue” Valentine chants. Here is one young girl’s response:

My Heart’s Expressions

My heart is a quiet room
filled with candles. My heart
is red and pink unique
buttons. My heart is a tiny
egg wanting to burst out,
with sounds of little baby
puppies whimpering for milk.
My heart is a pocket for
people I love. My heart is
a place for red juicy punch.
My heart is a purple silk
ribbon waiting to be untied.

by Audie, 2^nd grade

posted by Tria Wood, Writers in the Schools