O, Odes

School
Nathan Hale Elementary School

Poet in Residence
Fullamusu Bangura

Date

Hale 6-8th grade poetry club students joined me in my birthday celebration this week, and it was filled with daring poetic language and joyous performances from our students. On Tuesday, we learned about odes, a form of poetry that celebrates a person, place, or thing. Students read my poem “Ode To Ursula” and discussed why poets write odes, particularly about misunderstood people or characters like Ursula from The Little Mermaid. Students then wrote their own odes, choosing to commemorate items like wide-legged jeans and combat boots. On Wednesday, we spent some time learning about group poem performance techniques through 2017 Brave New Voices poems and tried our hands at more theatrical performances with the help of poems from Lorna Dee Cervantes and Kevin Varrone. At our open mic on Thursday, Ash shared a poem about their favorite woodland plant: mushrooms.

School
Nathan Hale Elementary School

Poet in Residence
Fullamusu Bangura

Date

Ms. Marasovich's After School Grades 6-8

Ode To Fly Agaric Mushrooms Ash S.

Walking through the forest as I slowly fall in love

a red cap like the color of blood

gills to get lost in the endless maze of your life

I look but don’t touch

for if I ingest it it will bring me the colors and shapes you would never

see without it. White bumps soft and warm

getting lost in your color trapped in the endlessness of your roots

a love like no other. A love that intoxicates

it fills my senses and slowly kills me.

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