Happy Mother's Day - The Chicago Poetry Center

Happy Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is coming up just next week so it’s time to say thank you! In poetry club, we read Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem Famous (which is not at all about mothers but about imagination and the different comparisons a poet can make about what makes one thing famous to another– for instance, her poem begins “the river is famous to the fish.” We used this broad idea of fame to create poems about what makes our mom famous!

Here are a few from the group (and don’t forget to say thanks to all the mother figures in your life — maybe write a poem for them!):

7th grade

Sebastian

My mother is famous to her children.

Her children are famous to all she gives to use,

her home cooked meals easily show how much she cares.

My mother is famous to her work.

For her work is famous to all she cares for,

even if they do not know her.

My mother is famous to her garden,

her garden is famous to the rain,

the rain is famous to the sun.

My mother is famous to her car,

which is famous to its wheels,

and it’s famous only to the road.

My mother is famous to her family

for it’s her most famous possession.

8th grade

Zarissy

My mom is famous to the library

The place where it is as quiet

as a mouse,

where you can smell the

smell of old books that my mother will

always love reading.

My mom is famous to plates.

The plates where she places her

lovely home cooked meals

that will fill me for the night.

My mom is famous to her bed.

The place she would hold me when

my younger self wanted her to.

My mom is famous to my face.

The place where she would

kiss my head in the morning before

she left for work.

My mom is famous to my feet.

My feet is my carrier,

they are what

hold me up and let me stand.

My mother is my two feet,

for she holds me, and allows me to stand.