A Tasty Treat for Poetry Friday

Last week, I led my final ekphrastic poetry workshop for the Maryland Humanities Council program, "Totally Ekphrastic: Picturing America through Poetry." The poetry sessions were an off-shoot of the NEH's Picturing America art curriculum.

It's sad to say goodbye to my good friend, the American Flamingo. We laughed together. (One student said, "It reminds me of cotton candy." Another: "It looks like it's doing yoga.") We cried together. (Kids asked me, "Can flamingos fly?" Since they are no longer wild in the U.S., I'd never seen one in flight. We had to look up the answer -- they can.)

As I worked with the image, John James Audubon's biography, and kids, I found myself discussing American history with students -- Audubon recording birds when much of our country was wilderness, his role as a naturalist, the fact that flamingos now live only in captivity.

A discussion about art that leads naturally into learning about American history -- that's what this program was supposed to be all about. There's a great George F. Will article about "Picturing America." He praises the program as the type of low-cost, high benefit initiative our government should do more often.

In my workshops, I heard a lot of elementary schoolers' poems about flamingos, wolves, elephants -- whatever animals struck their imagination.

One thing that definitely caught their attention: I shared Laura Purdie Salas' book, "A Fuzzy Fast Blur: Poems about Pets" as a model of poems about animals.

The hands-down favorite poem was, "Come in, Come in!" which Laura gave me permission to share today. (The snake below isn't the snake from her book, BTW. You have to check that one out -- it's grinning as it eats its dinner.)

Come in, Come in!

by Laura Purdie Salas

I'll make it easy

I'll open wide

I'll hope that you

will slide inside

Snakes eat mice

Some find that sad

But here's the truth:

They don't taste bad!

Had to include this photo. At least this mouse gets the last laugh!

You can read Laura's post about "A Fuzzy Fast Blur" here. She happens to be hosting Poetry Friday today, so stop by for more poetry.

Inauguration Day: Daughters in the White House

Has anyone else noticed a trend in the White House?

In my lifetime, the only children living in the presidential mansion have been girls. (Correct me if I'm wrong, I'm relying on memory and light research.)

Richard Nixon was president the year I was born, 1969. At least one of his daughters was a teenager living at the White House.

Two of President Ford's four children (2 boys, 2 girls) were teens when he was inaugurated. Anyone know if son Steven resided at the White House?

I remember Amy Carter well because she was only a few years older than me. It's fun to have a presidential kid and wonder what their lives must be like. Here's a good article on the topic -- kid friendly: http://www.whitehousehistory.org/04/subs/04_a02_d.html

There were no children in the White House during the Reagan & first Bush years -- 12 years from 1981-1993. Then Chelsea Clinton, the Bush twins and now Sasha and Malia Obama.

Does something about being the parent of a girl make a person more appealing as a potential leader, or more willing to lead? What do you think?