Beavers in November
This stick here
That stick there
Mud, more mud, add mud, good mud
That stick here
This stick there
Mud, more mud, add mud, good mud
You pat
I gnaw
I pile
You store
This stick here
That stick there
Mud, more mud, add mud, good mud
You guard
I pack
I dig
You stack
That stick here
This stick there
Mud, more mud, add mud, good mud
I trim
You mold
To keep
Out cold
This stick here
That stick there
Mud, more mud, add mud, good mud
Marilyn Singer
Canada Goose
Did I tell you?
I should tell you
Going home
We're going home
Are you coming?
Yes, you're coming
Going home
We're going home
How the sun will warm each feather
How the wind will make us fly
Follow me – I'll be your leader
As we flap across the sky
Are you ready?
I am ready
Going home
We're going home
Is it time now?
It is time now
October's happened
And we're going home
Marilyn Singer
Bullhead in Autumn
in autumn
I settle
belly down in the shallows
above me
leaves
red and yellow
spinning slowly
in the wind and water
on the shore
a lone fisher
casts a line
begging me to bite
donb't waste your time, fisher
it's autumn
and in autumn
I settle
belly down in the shallows
Marilyn Singer
I promised you the first one in an earlier post; it's definitely a favorite with me. Perhaps you remember our choral reading (in three groups) of it in Integrated Arts class. Maybe you even remember acting out the second poem in a small group; it lends itself well to that. Asking students to act out poems is a fantastic way to grow their brains via creative drama. The worthwhile challenge for them is in making decisions about how to use their voices and bodies. All of these poems came from Turtle in July by Marilyn Singer. The illustrations were done by the equally fabulous Jerry Pinkney.
Do you want to submit a poem or poems for this section? It could be yours – or a favorite of yours by someone else. Just let me know via the CONTACT page on this site.