I know posted a goodbye to Frere Flamingo, but it's hard to let go. In December and January, we travelled to six classrooms together! He's one popular bird.
Matthew Smith, one of the other poets working on "Totally Ekphrastic: Picturing America through Poetry," recommended some grown-up poetry related to John James Audubon's work.
Claudia Emerson's book Late Wife includes an Audubon poem. Robert Penn Warren has a book entitled "Audubon: A Vision." I'm sure there are more Audubon related books and poems out there (please comment with any you know.) What a fascinating person.
I'll be reading poetry related to Audubon, because it's hard to let go.
Here is a selection from the Warren book:
Love and Knowledge
Their footless dance
Is of the beautiful liability of their nature.
Their eyes are round, boldly convex, bright as a jewel,
And merciless. They do not know
Compassion, and if they did,
We should not be worthy of it. They fly
In air that glitters like fluent crystal
Read the rest of the poem here.
Trust me, it's worth following the link. Kids are fascinated that Audubon killed his subjects in order to study, then pose them. You'll be amazed at what Warren does with this fact in his poem.
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