Elm Tree Poetry 2017: Week 1 — Day 5

Dear Elm Tree fams, 

Today marked the end of our first session of Elm Tree! The week went by in a flash; we could hardly believe that some of us were strangers to each other just four days ago! By the end of today, we were huddled together, hugging under the arches of Grand Army Plaza after having read our last poem of the week. 

Our day started under unusual circumstances, considering that we had been blessed with good weather all week. Rainy days are a challenge for Elm Tree since we consciously operate outside the four walls of a typical space. Nevertheless, we had our kiddos grab their backpacks and head to the main lawn of Prospect Park, our wagon in tow. This kind of intrusion is welcomed at Elm Tree, because it is a part of nature—which is, itself, a huge part of our curriculum—and we choose to embrace it. Since the pour was gentle, we had the kids drop the bags on the cart, run into the center of the field, and have a little rain dance party. The soundtrack to Moana factored heavily, to nobody's surprise, and the kids were thrilled to be able to have the entire field to themselves. Their shrieking filled the outer-corners of the park as they ran from one end to the other and showed us some great moves. We of course couldn't help but join in the fun and get down with them.

 
After running around for a good while, the rain started to get stronger, which we took as a sign that it was about time to get down to writing. So we strapped our bags back on and high-tailed it to the Brooklyn Public Library. Once inside, we quickly claimed a table for snacks and reflection. We asked the children why it was important to reflect on experiences, history, and significant people. At first, they didn't all quite understand what we meant by "reflection", so Rod and Romy played a little game of Devil's Advocate. Romy decided to be the outlandish one and claim that there is no use to reflecting on anything in the past, because it's passed and it's over! "We should ONLY focus on the future," she said. Rod countered: "But Romy, how can we do good work for the future if we don't understand our actions in the past or our behaviors in the present?" The kids joined in with Rod, and started to mention bigger historical events. 

 

We used this as an opportunity to get the kiddos to reflect on their own time at Elm Tree. We went around in a circle and recounted some particularly memorable moments and projects that we shared as a group. Amelia was most taken by our work on enjambment, noting that acrostic poems became more complex and, as a result, more interesting; Wynnie noted that she made great friends during this week; Lyla was particularly fond of our found trash project on Day 2. Sylvie's favorite experience was our field trip to the Statue of Liberty, and said that even just being there was enough. And Annabel loved working with paint as a companion to writing on our first day. 

Since we knew we were going to spend a majority of the time inside, we gave the children some time to explore the books in the library and select as many books as they wanted. We pointed them in the direction of the children's section, and within minutes everyone was sifting through books and trying to find ones that spoke to them. While we set up our last writing assignment for the week, the children scattered around the room, and without any prompting started to read the books they'd pulled for themselves. Once Romy and Rod were ready to begin the day's project, we had to pull them away from their books. We used the good 'ole phrase, "find a good stopping place." 

 

The kiddos sat down at the table, where they were greeted by their notebooks and an unopened bottle of whiteout resting on top. Under their notebooks, they found a printed copy of "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus, which we had read the day before on the ferry ride back to Manhattan. We wanted to really make sure that the kids took in the words on the page, which they made easy by requesting to read aloud. Almost on every occasion to read through our week, the kids lightly battle over who gets to read first, much to our delight. In this case, Sylvie gave it a go, followed by Wynnie, with Annabel closing us out. After hearing it three times, Rod asked them to listen closely as he read the poem again, and this time went line-by-line breaking down the meaning of Lazarus's words. 

For those unfamiliar, give the poem a read below. The quote ten-lines in will be familiar to most, as its inscribed on the Statue of Liberty herself.

"The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

As we read, the kids quickly picked up on the poem's specific language, noticing that the poem framed the Statue of Liberty as possessing "motherly" qualities. According to the Poetry Foundation, Lazarus was commissioned to write a poem in an effort to raise funds for the pedestal to the Statue of Liberty (the statue had already been gifted from France, but needed proper displaying). Lazarus initially declined, but then wrote a sonnet "commemorating the plight of immigrants." Lines from that sonnet were engraved on the statue's pedestal in 1903. 

We used this as an opportunity to discuss the meaning of the Statue of Liberty and her role as a symbol in American history, and then went a step further by leading the kiddos in a discussion about "freedom." We posed a question: "do all North Americans have the same exact freedoms and rights?" They immediately responded, "no". The kids noted that large swaths of the country remain less free and underrepresented: women, Muslims, African Americans, poor people. Sylvie made the point that to this day, STILL, women are not paid a wage equal to men. Annabel brought up America's sordid history of slavery, which we used as a launching pad to reconsider what slavery means. Even though slavery has been abolished in a legal sense for more than a century, we explained to that that it hasn't disappeared, but has rather morphed into something much harder to see. As a result, the freedoms that we were ruminating on remain limited for many of our fellow citizens, documented and undocumented. 

 

This lead us to our big writing project: erasure poems. This form of poetry consists of taking an existing text and erasing some of the words in order to create a new poem with the selected words leftover. We wanted the kids to think of this form as a metaphor for the ways in which our country's notions of freedom are inherently limited. Even though we celebrated Emma Lazarus's poem as a significant and moving piece of writing, we really wanted the kids to grapple with what is on the page. We had them write their erasure poem in honor of all of the people who are underrepresented and oppressed in America. 

Some of the children dedicated their poems to specific groups of people, and we think the works speaks for itself.

by Annabel / "dedicated to Oumou, with love"

 

by Amelia / "dedicated to the crew who made the Statue of Liberty"

 

by Sylvia / "dedicated to all the refugees that are trying to find an area to live"

 

by Lyla

 

by Wynnie / "for all the women who are struggling to live"

After this, we broke for lunch and let the kiddos enjoy their last time in this specific configuration. We would like to make a note that Ubalo had a difficult morning and decided not join us for our last day. The children were disappointed, and needless to say he was extremely missed. During our reflections over snacks earlier in the day, Annabel noted that a highlight of the week had been, without a doubt, spending time with Ubalo, which we all quickly agreed with. 

Time truly evaporates at Elm Tree; we do not know where it goes. In the blink of an eye, we went from drop-off to lunch to the end of our day. Even the kids could hardly believe what time it was. As we packed up to leave, Amelia exclaimed that this was "the best time [she'd] ever spent in the library." Walking out, we noticed the rain had temporarily stopped, so we used the opportunity to share our last poems in a unique space: under the arch of Grand Army Plaza. We laid out a tarp provided by Wynnie's mom, Kate, and sat down to share. 

 

 

 

We finished the day off by returning to the color blue, reading excerpts from Maggie Nelson's Bluets. We would like to share with you one of our favorite pieces: 

13. At a job interview at a university, three men sitting / across from me at a table. On my cv it says that I am cur- / rently working on a book about the color blue. I have been / saying this for years without writing a word. It is, per- / haps, my way of making my life feel "in progress" rather / than a sleeve of ash falling off a lit cigarette. One of the / men asks, why blue? People ask me this question often. I / never know how to respond. We don't get to choose what / or whom we love, I want to say. We just don't get to / choose. 

As writers and teachers, we feel that we take almost an equal amount from the children as we hope they do from us. That is the joy of teaching; there is a give and a take, and it's precious. We thank you for giving us the opportunity to work with your kids—to teach and be taught by them.

Please remind your children to write. To quote Kamala Harris, "stay engaged until the very end."

With gratitude, always, always and always,
Romy & Rod