The Republic of Poetry

For the last day of our summer poetry residency, MLK Academy 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students explored the idea of creating a new country. What will this new country look like? What type of people will live there? Together we read and discussed the poem “The Republic of Poetry” by Martin Espada. In his poem Espada creates a country that celebrates poetry. Poets rent a helicopter to bombard the national palace with poems on bookmarks/ and everyone in the courtyard rushes to grab a poem fluttering from the sky. For Espada the Republic of Poetry is a place filled with possibilities, where odes are used for recipes in restaurants and parades with kicking horses and village bands honor poets. In this country poetry touches the lives of its citizens in fantastical, yet meaningful ways.

Inspired by Martin Espada, students used poetry to visualize their own unique countries. Please enjoy these published poems.