Friday, June 1, 2007

Poetry Friday: The Month of June

Still riding the year-end rapids, but I had to surface for this first Poetry Friday in the first month of summer.

June means graduation around here. The 8th graders at my school are graduating in a couple of weeks. They were kindergarteners when I first started at this job, so we've grown up together; now they're heading off into the wider world, and there are changes ahead for me, too.

This poem by Sharon Olds reminds me of them.

The Month of June: 13 1/2
by Sharon Olds

As our daughter approaches graduation and
puberty at the same time, at her
own, calm, deliberate, serious rate,
she begins to kick up her heels, jazz out her
hands, thrust out her hipbones, chant
I’m great! I’m great!

Read the rest of the poem here.

The Poetry Friday roundup, along with a lovely Elsa Beskow poem, is at Adventures in Daily Living this week.

4 comments:

Kristopher said...

I got to see Sharon Olds at a reading this April.

Honestly, I wasn't very impressed with her stuff until I heard her read it live. When I went back and heard her voice in my head while I was reading her books, I got it.

She's seriously one of the most passionate, eleoquent, entertaining speakers I've ever gotten to see.

Andromeda Jazmon said...

Great choice! I saw this at Blue Rose Girls too and I had to send it out to our teachers. Our eight graders graduate too and it is bitter sweet!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Els,

I guess great minds think alike, huh? That poem by Sharon Olds really spoke to me--both as a parent and a teacher.

Vivian Mahoney said...

This is too funny that we chose this same poem. This poem says it all.