We are all poets. Each one of us sees the world in our own special way. Whenever we look up at the passing clouds and see long tail dragons and sailing ships we are poets. When we share our visions and dreams we are poets. We are poets whenever we tell the world who we are, what we think, and how we feel.
What is Poetry?
A whisper,
a shout,
thoughts turned
inside out.
A laugh,
a sigh,
an echo
passing by.
A rhythm,
a rhyme,
a moment
caught in time.
A moon,
a star,
a glimpse
of who you are.
Poetry is music, theater, dance, art, and literature. Poetry is winter, spring, summer, and fall. Poetry is laughter and tears, faith, and fears. Poetry is life!
So what do poets like to write about? I’ve written poems for children’s magazines such as Cricket, Spider, Ladybug, and Babybug on a variety of subjects from “Snowfall in the City” to “Roses After the Rain,” from sunny days of “Summertime” to “The Cold Gray Days of Winter.”
Poetry is everywhere! It’s in the smile of a friend and in the sound of the wind. It’s in the scent of the meadow and in the skyline of the city. It’s in the setting sun as she bows her bright orange dress away into the purple haze of evening.
Finding poetry in the world and sharing it with others makes us feel alive. It fills us with hope and wonder. It celebrates life. It shines light into the corners of the world and turns the overlooked and the common into sparkling gems of wonder and joy.
Poetry is everywhere! It’s in the smile of a friend and in the sound of the wind. It’s in the scent of the meadow and in the skyline of the city. It’s in the setting sun as she bows her bright orange dress away into the purple haze of evening.
So what else do poets like to write about? We like to write about everything! Sometimes we write poems that compare one thing to another. We call that metaphor. Sometimes our metaphors compare poetry to things!
A Poem is a Spider Web
A poem is a spider web
Spun with words of wonder,
Woven lace held in place
By whispers made of thunder.
* * *
A Poem is a Firefly
A poem is a firefly
Upon the summer wind.
Instead of shining where she goes,
She lights up where she’s been.
* * *
A Poem is a Painting
A poem is a painting,
A masterpiece you’ll find
Hanging on display inside
The gallery of your mind.
* * *
A Poem is a Busy Bee
A poem is a busy bee
Buzzing in your head.
His hive is full of hidden thoughts
Waiting to be said.
His honey comes from your ideas
That he makes into rhyme.
He flies around looking for
What goes on in your mind.
When it’s time to let him out
To make some poetry,
He gathers up your secret thoughts—
And then he sets them free!
So what is poetry? It’s life! It’s also the little path that leads us all the way to wonderland — and back.
A Poem is a Little Path
A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores,
To anywhere you please.
Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey’s over,
You’ll find you’ve just begun.
Charles Ghigna – Father Goose® lives in a treehouse in the middle of Alabama.
He is the author of more than 5,000 poems and 100 books from Random House,
Disney, Hyperion, Scholastic, Simon & Schuster, Abrams, Charlesbridge, Capstone and other publishers.
His poems appear in hundreds of magazines from The New Yorker and Harper’s to Cricket and Highlights.
For more ideas about poetry, please visit his website at FatherGoose.com
Art by Barry Gott
