This is an awesome book of poetry written by teens ages 12-18 of WritersCorps, an organization operating in New York (Bronx), Washington D.C., and San Francisco (California). The poems are grouped into the following categories:
Tell the World who we are
Tell the World where we're from
Tell the World what we love
Tell the World what we think
Tell the World how it feels
Tell the World why we hope
With a foreword by acclaimed author and poet Sherman Alexie (and a poem written by him!), this is a book of poetry every adult working with teens (and 'tweens') will want to share! At the beginning of each section of the book is a short poem-writing challenge for teens. These writing challenges could easily be incorporated into a poetry writing session or ongoing workshop in the school or public library.
The topics of the poems are so interesting, and many of the poems have such a profound emotional impact on the reader. There are some haikus and many free verse poems. It is fascinating to read page after page of emotionally raw, honest, funny, sarcastic and melancholy poems. The teen writers really put their heart into their writing, and it shows in the poems in this book of poetry.
There are so many different poems in this collection that it was difficult to choose just one to review; they are all wonderful! One of my favorites is "Voices of Wonder". It is written by a 14-year-old from San Francisco. I play cello, so this poem really has a soft spot in my heart!
Voices of Wonder
The lone Flower dreams as it listens
to the song sung by Flute,
accompanied by the echo of Trumpet
parading through the night as Cello
begins to move.
Sleep leaves the fountains and disturbs
the thirsty trees, hungering for the
touch of the collapsing bridge breaking
under the weight of the world.
The voice of Clarinet whispers a
song to the breezy morning,
walking those of the sleeping, ruffling,
the blankets and bed leaving them to wait
for you to return, allowing pillow
to recuperate from the weight being
lifted from its body.
The keys of Piano begin to leap with joy
as they exchange their love with Viola,
through their singing before the
eyes of hundreds, admiring their beautiful duet.
The voices of Cello soften
bringing darkness to a new level
as the requiem dies out completely
in voices of wonder.
(WritersCorps, p. 42-43)
A fun, interactive way to introduce this poem would be to play some music featuring the instruments talked about in the poem: flute, trumpet , clarinet, piano, and cello. Even better would be to host a mini-music and poetry listening party. The teacher, librarian or other adult working with teenagers could invite (well in advance) the teenagers to create and record their own music using real musical instruments.
For a technology spin, youth could record music using a musical instrument application on their smart phone or device. After listening to various types of music and reading the poem in partners, the teenagers could write their own poems on "what they love", whether it is music, a sport, a hobby, etc. It would also be helpful for the teacher, librarian or other adult to read aloud (or have the teens read them aloud!) other poems from the same section of the book focused on what the teens love.
Tell the world. JPEG. Retrieved from http://www.harperteen.com/books/Tell-World-Writerscorps/?isbn=9780061345043
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