Poetry Friday Portraits

Portrait and persona poems are endlessly fascinating -- just like the people who inspire them.

One of my favorite poetry exercises for middle school and up: clip photos of people out of newspapers or magazines. Have each student choose one that makes him/her ask, "What's the story here?" Then write an imagining of that person's story.

What if the "person" in your photo isn't really a person?

Maryland poet MiMi Zannino spotted this beauty at an antique market and had to give her voice (and take her picture). Here is MiMi's portrait poem, "Heavy Metal Mermaid."

Heavy Metal Mermaid

You must understand my position

casting me in this untenable pose

wrought into your mermaid fantasy.

Set the pros and cons on scales

and weigh the truth against fiction.

Make a decision before the rust

bleeds into my bronze

weakening my steely disposition.

MiMi is my fellow Maryland State Arts Council poet-in-the-schools. Here at the Maryland Poetry Out Loud finals. You can read her full bio below.

More recent posts on portrait poems:

my poem in the voice of conjoined twins, "Brother,"

Hal Sirowitz's "Crumbs" from Mother Said. (There is another classroom poetry lesson/writing exercise posted with "Crumbs.")

Have a happy Poetry Friday, everyone. More poetry at A Year of Reading. Stop by and visit our hosts Franki & Mary Lee.

Author, educator, and photographer MiMi Zannino has been a poet-in-residence with the Maryland State Arts Council since 1989. Her writing workshops include “Emily Dickinson: Mother of American Poetry” a dramatic portrayal of the 19th century poet. Her books include “Keeping Memories Alive,” an easy-to-use interactive resource for families, grief camp counselors, and school professionals who are helping a child through the emotions surrounding the death of a loved one. Information about her books and programs for adults and children can be found at http://www.memorylanepress.com/ or by emailing mimimsac@yahoo.com.

"If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times..."

Fiction writers can spend hours building characters -- sometimes creating full dossiers before we ever type "Chapter One." (Here's a worksheet, if you're interested.)

So how do poets capture a person in just a few lines? What kind of magic are they working and how can we get some -- or give some to our students?

I'm continuing to look at persona and portrait poems this week. Last week's persona poem, in the voice of conjoined twins, was "Brother."

Here is Hal Sirowitz's wonderful poem, "Crumbs." It's from his hysterically funny collection, Mother Said. This is a great model poem for the classroom and a good exercise for fiction writers.

Crumbs

Don't eat any food in your room,

Mother said. You'll get more bugs.

They depend on people like you.

Otherwise, they would starve.

But who do you want to make happy,

your mother or a bunch of ants?

Read the rest of the poem in an awesome comic-book version here.

Lesson/Writing Exercise in Character Building

Audience: Advanced 5th Grade Writers through Adult

Read "Crumbs" again. Think about a person (or character) who says the same thing, over and over again. It might be a catch-phrase, favorite saying, or pattern of speech when the person's on a tirade.

Your Prompt: Quote someone you know – your poem will tell the reader something about the speaker and how you felt about what he/she said. Trust that the words your speaker is using will suggest the nature of his/her character.

Here are a few lines of a 6th grader's response.

My mother once told me proper punctuation Is key. "Or I’ll never have peace. Why am I so cursed? To have children That can’t spell is worse than having fish

That cannot swim."

Another great example of using someone's words to paint their portrait, Robert Frost's "Blueberries."

Look for another persona/portrait poem on Poetry Friday.