Poetry friend, Sara Holbrook pops into Amy Ludwig VanDerwater’s Poems are Teachers: How Studying Poetry Strengthens Writing in All Genres within the Writers Craft Beginnings and Endings section. Holbrook invites young writers to “End with a Surprise.”
Here is Sara’s poem from the book:
“Brave”
Red means stop.
Look both ways.
I am not afraid.
Sleepovers.
School bus rides.
I am not afraid.
Escalators.
Wiggle teeth.
Thunderstorms.
Roller coasters
Movie monsters.
Scraped-up knees.
I am not afraid.
SPIDERS!
Sara sets the reader up here. One, two. Summary. One, two. Summary. Five, Six. Summary. Then, WHAMMO! A sense of shared fear and trepidation.
In Sara’s piece we see:
anaphora with the repetitive phrase: “I am not afraid.”
implied irony for the lack of fear met with the purposefully-capitalized SPIDERS!
Let’s see what we might do with Sara’s model as we continue to present our subject, James Castle:
“Speak, Soot & Spit”
Dust is silent.
It’s all around.
It’s a part of me.
Water whipers.
I am of the water.
It’s a part of me.
Letters.
Numbers.
Family
Figures.
This shed.
This room.
It’s a part of me.
SPEAKING!