Paint Me A Poem

For their week of poetry, Hale after school 3rd-5th poets became artists. We explored Ekphrastic Poetry, poetry that is inspired by works of art, such as drawings, paintings, sculptures, or photographs. On Tuesday we read the poem “Dogs Playing Poker,” by 6th grader Xavier H.S. who drew inspiration from the 1903 A Friend In Need, by Artist Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. Xavier gives names and personalities to the dogs playing poker in a dimly lit room. Charlie is cheating (no surprise!) Buster is about to win this thing, being careful with his hands. John is laughing at his bad luck.

As a group Hale poets wrote a group poet based on the painting, “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, by Georges Seurat which hangs near the front entrance of inside their school.

On Wednesday and Thursday, we created on own individual pictures. We kept the artists anonymous, then each student chose a picture and wrote a poem about it. Then we had an open mic where the artists were than revealed.

Please explore this poetry museum of fine art!