McArthur School

Last Friday I did a round of poetry workshops with some of the classes at a McArthur Elementary. I snapped a picture of this fabulous quilt hanging up in the main office.

I loved the energy and excitement of the kids as they listened to poems and tried writing their own. Especially the Asian girl who earnestly asked for the right English adjective to describe quick, happy, upbeat music (she was pleased with my suggestion of “lively”) and then proudly read her poem aloud in her tentative English; the Hispanic girl who wrinkled her nose a bit at my Spanish accent but still smiled at me to make sure she wouldn’t hurt my feelings; the Caucasian boy who squirmed throughout my presentation until I thought he was bored out of his skull and then blew me away with one of the best poems I’ve heard; the Middle Eastern girl who hugged me and said she could now check “hugging an author” off her bucket list.

It was lovely to see all these bright, eager, American face light up with joy to be talking about artwork and writing poems.