Poetry

Julien has always been one to produce a bit of poetry or a song throughout the day. He is like Winnie the Pooh in that way, little verses and diddies come out about everything from deeply poetic descriptions of the sky, to silly songs about popcorn in a bowl (sure to be a hit one of the years, I am sure of it! You should see the video.) Noah has also started with his own little songs and such, very different from his brother’s style, but just as poetic. We are a house of verse and song and it is lovely.

In our schooling, we work on memorizing one poem for each of the seasons. Right now it is one of my favorite fall verses,

Yellow the Bracken, Golden the Sheaths,

Rosy the Apples, Crimson the Leaves.

Mist on the hillside, clouds grey and white.

Good morning Autumn,

Summer, good night.

as well as one about St. Michael in preparation for Michaelmas which is fast approaching.

The autumn winds blow open the gate!

Oh, Michael, for you we wait.

We follow you, show us the way.

With joy we greet the autumn day,

Good morning! Good morning!

Lately, during our circle time, Julien has been requesting that I write down his contributions to our seasonal songs and poems. This got me thinking about how to keep track of his musings. So I have decided I will get a book and try and write them down as he spills his soul. As his writing gets better, he can write them down and hopefully, if I am really lucky, this will start the path to a life long love of writing. Being able to express yourself, if only for your own pleasure, is an amazing life skill.

As someone who has been writing since I was very young, I can attest to the healing and cathartic benefits of writing. I think, especially for Julien who has a tendency to worry and whose mind races with thoughts constantly, this might be one of the most important things I can teach him. Putting pen to paper frees the mind of clutter and calms the soul. Allowing a child a safe place to express ideas, worries, feelings, and opinions with the knowledge that no one will ever see them, unless they so choose, is a great thing. If I can create this habit and have it continue throughout his life, I will consider it one of my best accomplishments.

We will continue to jot down his little bits of expression and in years to come we will be able to piece together who Julien was at this moment in time simply by reading what was going on in his soul at this time. I like that, not only capturing an image of his physical body but also taking a snapshot of his soul.