Friday, May 02, 2008

A Sixth Grader Sees the Future -- an original poem by J. Patrick Lewis

It's a huge Poetry Friday treat for me -- an original J. Patrick Lewis poem, posted here with his permission. You really should go to his website, and check out his fabulous books of poetry for children. Seriously. (And check out the Poetry Friday roundup at Big A little a, too)

A Sixth Grader Sees the Future
By
J. Patrick Lewis

In a billion years, A.D.,
Our sun will shine for none to see.
The sea will miss each passing ship;
The sky will hover over zip.
Those blazing stars will start to cool,
And I won’t have to go to school.

In a billion years from now—
Or maybe more—but anyhow,
The earth may shrivel up and die,
                   The universe? Pi in the sky.
                   The future, spinning, may have spun.
And I might have my homework done.


[Note: This poem will appear in J. Patrick Lewis’s COUNTDOWN
TO SUMMER: A POEM FOR EVERY DAY OF THE SCHOOL YEAR,
Little, Brown, 2009. All rights belong to J. Patrick Lewis. Posted here by his express permission]

6 comments:

tanita✿davis said...

This is adorable! Homework always did feel like it wouldn't be finished until millenniums had passed... What a great classroom poetry book!

Unknown said...

Love the poem. Made me smile, and think of days gone by--long gone by. Thanks, J. Patrick Lewis!

Mary Lee said...

Thanks for the sneak preview! And I might suggest that the sentiment in this poem could be shared by the teachers who have to GRADE all the homework!

Elaine Magliaro said...

Gregory,

Great poem by Pat Lewis! I'm looking forward to the publication of that poetry book. It's sure to be a hit with teachers.

Terry P. said...

I love his books--I've got four of them in my collection. Thanks for sharing!

Rita said...

Wow. This poem's got a great, futuristic, no-holds-barred, kid-vision tone. "The sky will hover over zip." Great!

Thanks for sharing!! :D