Friday, November 1, 2013

TITANIC POEM

Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! Lovely Linda has Roundup at Teacher Dance. Linda is one of those people who brightens the planet with a verse, a smile, an inspiring thought.... I know all of you know what I am talking about!

I'm excited to share with you a poem inspired by history: "Titanic Remember April 16, 1912," as it appeared in Scholastic's Storyworks magazine. Elementary teachers, if you are not getting Storyworks, you should! It's an awesome classroom publication, covering all sorts of high-interest topics. I am super-proud and honored to have my own work appear in their pages. Enjoy!


15 comments:

  1. Wow! What a great poem, Irene!
    "In the end, what could I do but sink and hide?" Now that is a powerful line.

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  2. Wonderful, Irene. The soul of the ship has spoken!

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  3. Terrific poem, Irene--love the sound of the engines:
    unsinkable, unsinkable, unsinkable

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  4. Beautiful, grave, sad, just as it should be. I like Jama's comment. And I love the way they framed it, and that poetry contest! Interesting challenge with the five factual details -- love it!

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  5. Congratulations! This is a wonderful poem. I love that you gave the ship a voice.

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  6. I agree with you whole-heartedly regarding, Linda, Irene. She is a gem. And, huge congratulations for your Titanic poem. One never thinks how the ship must have felt. I love your unique perspective. =)

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  7. Great to see that the ship is speaking of that night, Irene. I don't think I've ever seen anyone else do this. After all the years, still fascinating and awful to think of that night. I love that plaintive "what could I do/but sink and hide." Thanks for sharing your poem, about the contests, and the compliment.

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  8. Great poem, and I like the way they integrated the newspaper headline.

    A contest like that is right up my alley. Too bad, I exceed the age limit by a good number of years. It took me about 50 of those years to decide to try my hand at poetry!

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  9. How nice to have your poem used as inspiration! I, too, like the engines chugging "unsinkable." Sigh.

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  10. I, too, love that you gave the ship a voice in this!

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  11. Love those staggered lines - such a sense of mourning in this beautiful poem.

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  12. Poignant poem, Irene. I JUST finished Allan Wolf's amazing THE WATCH THAT ENDS THE NIGHT, and your poem made me realize that the ship itself is not among the voices in his books. I love that you gave it a voice now!

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  13. I love this poem from the ship's POV. I've never thought of the Titanic experience in that way before. Thank you!

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  14. I love the ships voice: unsinkable, unsinkable, unsinkable Blackest night. Gives me chills.

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  15. I teach third grade and one of my students recently wrote the following to you after we studied "Titanic Remembers." I am posting it on her behalf:

    We read this poem in class and went deeper and explored your poem. I loved how you wrote, "Oh, my passengers and crew...how I failed you! Not enough lifeboats, not enough time for rescue. In the end, what could I do but sink and hide?" You write beautiful poems. I also love your poem "Ship Spies a Light." -E

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