Rainbow Witch - Being Who We Are

Rainbow Witch

Photo by Hope LV

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - The origin of this poem is funny, as is the origin of many pieces of writing.  Our daughter Hope was waiting for a backpack to arrive in the mail, and when it did, the package seemed rather small for a backpack.  When she opened the package, she realized why.  There was no backpack at all!  Instead, the package contained the rainbow wig you see above.

Of course we all had to try it on, and I grabbed a witch hat from the coat tree for good measure.  When my friend Sue saw the look, she said, "I think 'Rainbow Witch' should be your next poem."  And so it is.  Sue, this one's for you.

Beginning to write this, the first lines came right away.  'Hat' and 'cat' are of course easy, natural witch rhymes.  But then I kept writing.  How should this small verse end? Hmmm... I wanted my witch to know that she was a little bit different.  And I wanted her to feel good about being different.  I love books where characters are strong enough to be their true selves.

by Megan McDonald

by Mary Whitcomb

When our children were small, they loved this book about a witch who wishes for a different kind of pet.  Actually, we all still love it.

by Arthur Howard

Do you have a favorite book about someone who stays true to him or herself even in the face of people who try to make him or her change?

For another Halloween poem, click here to read Moon on Halloween in The Poem Farm archives.  Scroll down past the first blue poem, and you will find it. It's orange!

There is still time to enter the giveaway for a pair of handknit (by me) handwarmers over at Friday's post.  Stop on by if you like reading about bean mosaics or if you imagine that you might have chilly hands soon.

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes.

Visit Sharing Our Notebooks to peek in all kinds of notebooks.

Follow me on Twitter or Pinterest!

Witch Decisions - Mask Poetry for Halloween

Vacuum...or Broom?

by Amy LV

 

Click the arrow to hear me read this poem to you.

Students - Today - Halloween - is a dress-up day, so I decided to dress up as a witch!  You might recognize this as a mask poem, a poem when the poet writes pretending to be someone else.  To write these lines, I sat with my notebook and began imagining problems a young witch might have.  Modern witches, like modern teenagers, may feel confused about when to use new technology. Should a witch use an app to write a spell or should she count on traditional magic?  Should she wear black jeans or a black dress?  For today's poem, I allowed my witch to stay a bit old fashioned.

For today, you might wish to write in the voice of someone else.  Pretend you are wearing a mask (maybe the one you will wear for Halloween tonight) and write in that voice.  Or write in the voice of an animal you know or an object sitting right near you right now.  What does that crayon being think about?  What struggles does a mermaid wish?  What does a rat wonder?

Usually I write poems longhand, in black pen or pencil into my notebook (also old fashioned, some might suggest).  And then, once I have crossed out and fiddled for some time, I type a poem up.  Below you can see the way I first typed this little poem.  Originally, it was in quatrains with the rhyming (or near rhyming) words at the ends of every other line.  Later, I decided to break the lines up a bit differently, to honor certain pauses...and the poem ended up as you see it above.  The rhymes, however, still match a quatrain pattern.

Witch Transportation

It cannot fly too high (the cord).

It sucks up every cloud.

It scares my own black cat.

It's heavy.  And it's loud.

Other witches cackle when

they see my shadow on the moon.

And so this Halloween I'll trade

my shiny vacuum for a broom.

When I was a little girl, some of my favorite books were the Dorrie the Little Witch books by Patricia Coombs.  If you don't know those great stories, you can read about them here at Vintage Kids' Books.  And from what I see here, it seems that several of the Dorrie titles have been reprinted.  Yay!

For older Halloween poems here at The Poem Farm, click on over to Pumpkin or Taking Stock.

If you did not read yesterday's post with Dee Michel (Eve Merriam's son), please be sure to stop by and see his magnificent edible books and hear about his childhood!

Here are some witch jokes for you!  Happy Halloween!

Please share a comment below if you wish.

To find a poem by topic, click here. To find a poem by technique, click here.

Like The Poem Farm on Facebook for more poems, articles, and poemquotes!