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Poem in Your Pocket

Keep a Poem in your Pocket by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers

Keep a poem in your pocket
And a picture in your head
And you’ll never feel lonely
At night when you’re in bed.

The little poem will sing to you
The little picture bring to you
A dozen dreams to dance to you
At night when you’re in bed.

So - -
Keep a picture in your pocket
And a poem in your head
And you’ll never feel lonely
At night when you’re in bed.


from NPR: "Is That A Poem In Your Pocket, Or Is It Something Even Verse?"

The Second Annual VVMS Poem in Your Pocket (PiYP) Day went well. I am always amazed at the VVMS staff. Actually I know everyone is incredible, but today two events overwhelmed, positively, me. We have a staff member who has a legitimate reading learning disability. When asked to read his poem out loud in front of the camera, he read it. My guess is I don't even know how difficult this was for him, but it is incredible for him to read it (even though it took several takes). The other incredible people that stand out are the lunch ladies. As I did with all staff members, I put papers in their box (not enough for all) for their PiYP. Not only did they have poems today, they made (or had made) posters of their poems and hung them in the cafeteria, so the students could see their poems as they stood in line.

Most staff members and students had poems today! Since I had five pockets today, I had five poems: 1) Sun by Mary Oliver 2) Apartment House by Gerald Raftery 3) Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou 4) Keep a Poem in your Pocket by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers 5) Dreams by Langston Hughes

Dreams by Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

My Gratitude list for today...
1) Poem in Your Pocket Day
2) Andes mint given by Body Flow instructor
3) lunch ladies and brave staff members

Comments

LH said…
I love this. Thanks for spurring me on.....stay tuned for piyp day from the Hoosier state. Better late than never?..
kc said…
This sounds amazing. My fave part was the poems in the lunchroom.

Good work, mm!
Anonymous said…
Loved the poems in the lunch room too. Is this an actaul recognized day nation wide or is this a MM thing? Just curious.
mm said…
It started in NYC nine years ago. I heard about it from fellow blogger LH and initiated it at our school last year.

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