A Poem for a Poetry Man

I’m winding down from the 2009 Annual NCTE Convention in Philadelphia and Thanksgiving. I attended the NCTE Convention for the first time ever because I wanted to be there for the Poetry Party in honor of Lee Bennett Hopkins, the 2009 recipient of the NCTE Excellence in Poetry for Children Award.

Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong compiled a special book of poems, Dear One, as a tribute to Lee. I was thrilled to be asked to contribute a poem to Dear One.

Here's a picture of me with some of the children's poets who attended the Poetry Party for Lee Bennett Hopkins.

L to R: Janet Wong, J. Patrick Lewis, Kristine O'Connell George,

Moi, Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Here’s the poem I wrote for Dear One. The words in italics are titles and a subtitle of poetry books that Lee has published.

Eating Poetry
by Elaine Drabik Magliaro

Here we are
sitting side by side,
eating through a day
full of poems,
chewing on wonderful words,
delicious words
full of surprises—
words that flit, flutter, fly
from our tongues,
words that taste of
April, bubbles, chocolate,
words with the scent of sky magic.

Here we are
sitting side by side
savoring similes,
munching on metaphors,
rhymes dribbling down our chins,
licking rhythm from our lips.

Here we are
sitting side by side
in the city I love
eating poetry
a l l d a y l o n g…
Yummy!

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At Wild Rose Reader: Party for a Poetry Man.

At Political Verses: Who's the Turkey?: A Poem about Sarah Palin

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Becky’s Book Reviews.