Christie Wyman is hosting this week’s special Poetry Friday celebration at Wondering and Wandering. It’s also Christie’s birthday today, so stop by for a double helping of cake and poetry!
Today, the Poetry Friday community is celebrating Mary Lee Hahn’s retirement from teaching!
Many years ago, I was lucky enough to visit and spend a little time with Mary Lee’s class. I loved watching her interact with her students. From that visit–and Mary Lee’s beautiful, vulnerable posts about striving to learn and grow as an educator–I know her students and her school will miss working with such a committed professional.
If you’d like to check out Mary Lee’s blog, head over to A Year of Reading!
To draft today’s poem, I borrowed several of Mary Lee’s original poems from her recent Poetry Friday posts. Then, I played “10 Little Words,” choosing ten words from Mary Lee’s poem to form the backbone of my draft.
My ten words (12 if you count the title!) are:
- choose
- Cicada
- crowd
- days
- decades
- desk
- emerge
- flow
- memory/remember
- momentum
- retiring
- students
Retiring in Cicada Season
For Mary Lee
Memories of students
flow by her desk, emerge
from days, years, decades
of the work she chose.
They crowd—a brood of minds
who were under her care,
who shared poetry, books,
and fifth grade’s momentum.
They grew out of their shells
under their teacher’s wing,
and flew, as they must do,
into their bright futures.
by Laura Shovan
Congratulations, Mary Lee! We can’t wait to hear about your bright future and all of your new adventures.
Thanks for sharing how you came to your poem for Mary Lee— it reminds me of one of your February Poem a day writing challenges Laura. How clever to bring in cicada’s. I also like your closing stanza, serendipitously, I hit on some of these same areas while writing my poem for her, thanks!
Yes, we did the 10 Little Words poems in 2017, using news articles. It’s still a favorite prompt of mine. I’m off to check out your poem!
Laura, I think Mary Lee will love the poem you penned for her. I like your process and perhaps will try this out on my own. Happy Spring to you.
Thanks, Carol. I learned this method from Maryland Poet Laureate Grace Cavalieri. I think she keeps a bank of words, but I like to pull from a news article or other text.
Laura,
Nice tribute to Mary Lee here, Laura. I like the process you used. Great word choice of Mary Lee before you, and your choices from her poems, as well. I also like the shape of your poem.
Some of my favorite lines are:
“They crowd—a brood of minds”
and
“under their teacher’s wing”
Thank you for reading the poem, Denise. I appreciate the feedback!
What a perfect tribute…cicada season. I love it! And, such truth. Fifth grade is so important to a kid. And, Mary Lee is a gifted educator. I’m loving this celebration today. And, thank you — I am now addicted to ten little word poems!
Thanks, Linda. Fifth grade does feel like an important transition and Mary Lee has always been so thoughtful about her role in kids’ lives.
What a lovely poem for Mary Lee! Thank you for sharing it and your process. Best to you…
Thank you, Karen!
It’s a special idea to use Mary Lee’s words, Laura, in your own lovely poem for Mary Lee, indeed so many lucky ones to be “under their teacher’s wing” when it was Mary Lee’s!
Thanks, Linda. I enjoyed combing through Mary Lee’s recent poems to put together this little tribute.
Beautiful poem, Laura. Such a gift! x
Thank you, dear Kat!
Oh those bright futures that have been made brighter by Mary Lee! Love the poem, Laura. xo
Yes! A thoughtful, compassionate teacher can be an important presence in a child’s life. I’ve loved following Mary Lee’s questions, ups and downs, and passion for education through her blog.
I love the idea of taking words from Mary Lee’s poems to serve as the framework for this one! I love how this echoes her poem about the cicadas and turns that into a metaphor for her students.
Thanks, Elisabeth! Cicadas are everywhere right now and I loved Mary Lee’s poem, so it seemed like a perfect fit.
Fab poem, Laura — love hearing about your process, using ML’s own words. 🙂
Thanks, Jama!
This poem is just PERFECT.
What a gorgeous tribute, and thanks for sharing your process – I always love that. What a great idea to harvest words from Mary Lee’s rich field of poetry!
“Harvest” is a great word for this type of poem, Tanita. I’m glad you enjoyed it. And hooray for Mary Lee!
Such a wonderful, timely poem, Laura!
I love this so much! How fun to bring in the “cicada season” and make my students my “brood.” That last stanza, though…oh, my heart. That’s the pain and the glory of teaching.
Forgot these important words: THANK YOU!!
Perfect, Laura. A beautiful poem and wonderful send off for Mary Lee!
I love how you shared Mary Lee’s words in a new way, Laura! Your cicada metaphor is brilliant – that you made those creepy insects into such a positive thing (sorry I am not a fan of these fellas) is amazing. 🙂