REMEMBER EVERYTHING YOU CAN

so i'm clearing out the "empty" room of all my mess of papers and poems, trying to get organized for another year of teaching and thinking about children's writing. and i'm startled by these little gems of light i'm finding! i think these were written at columbus elementary school in chicago, il, in the ukrainian village, an amazing little school tucked into the corner of leavitt and augusta. we had read a poem by joy harjo and i asked them to take on an authoritative voice, to call on others to remember what might be forgotten in the everyday. we also talked about belonging and used this prompt as a warm up -- "...blank...belongs to...and...belongs to ...blank..." pushing for them to think about relationships, connections, audacious or otherwise. the light belongs to the window, and the window belongs to the light. that sort of thing. i love re-finding these poems in my apartment. they make me smile. enjoy.

REMEMBER EVERYTHING YOU CAN

Remember when you discovered that there is a world inside your body.
Remember when you discovered that you live on the brightest planet.
Remember when you discovered that your dog always dreams about bones.
Remember when you discovered that books are smarter than you.
Remember when you discovered that everything that grows has feelings
just like you.
Remember.

Pavlo D.

REMEMBER

Remember the moon is you and you are the moon
Remember you are the star and the star is you
Remember you are the sea and the sea is you
Remember love is in your heart and the heart is you
Remember you are me and I am you
Remember love is in our heart and our heart is in you

anonymous 3rd grader