So Far Away...6th Graders Deal with Emotional Distance

6th graders at Columbus Elementary School read poet Susan Stewart's "yellow ice and stars," about feeling really really far away from one another. I asked them to think of what it feels like to feel far away and to describe those feelings by talking directly to the person/idea so far away.

Death Is Near

You are as far as god and I

am as far as the world

on a planet with a house on it.

You are as far as a memory

in the sky and I’m as far as

my cousin’s death, as he rides

in the sea like a dead man.



You are as far as my sister’s

lies, I’m as far as my death is

near, and you are as far as

Navy Pier in an old place. I am

as far as gods in the sky.



You are as far as my love.

I am as far as my love in the

blue sky. You are as far as the

trees. I am as far as a river

of love.





You are So Far I Never Saw Your Face



You and I are as far as where

Jesus is. I am as far as the bottom of

the boat of the Titanic. You are so far I

never saw your face. I am as far

as the first day I saw you. I am so

far away that nobody is understanding you.

You are as far as the day I was born.



You are so far away that I don’t

even remember your name. I am so far that

I don’t even remember my brothers’ and sisters’

names. You are so far away into the first

War we ever had. I am so far where

I could see the universe. You are so far that

You don’t even know the place you are.

You and I are so far away, where only god

sees us.



Jessica A.

As Far As...

I am as far as a gem that is

cascading down eternity and you are as far as

a computer with its vast knowledge.

You are as far as the heavens that rain

smoldering, flipping boulders and I am

as far as the person on the bottom of the

pain where darkness is eternal.

I am as far as destruction and you are far as creation.



I am as far as a black hole at the nexus

of nothing and you are as far as the person

trapped in that hole. You are as far as the river

o life and I am as far as the person

who sings “oh how far I am from life!”

I am as far as destruction and you are

as far as creation.



You are as far as a boy playing in a field

and I am as far as the father calling

the boy from the mountains. I am as far as

the sky and you are as far as the

mountain piercing the sky.

I am as far as destruction and you are as

far as creation.



Alexander C.