Joan Bransfield Graham - I am the Poem

I AM THE POEM
by
Joan Bransfield Graham

I am the poem
out
of reach
I make you
spin
and leap and
stretch
and when you're
just
about to
catch
me
off I twirl
in clever
choreography
but we are
never
far apart
I pirouette
around
your heart
and head and
tease
with all the
mysteries
I can employ:

it is the dance
that is the joy.


© 2009 Joan Bransfield Graham. All rights reserved.

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Joan Bransfield Graham has written two of my favorite poetry books to pull out and read aloud from - Flicker Flash and Splish Splash. The poems in the books about light and water are not only wonderful to say aloud but, since they are all concrete poems, they are also wonderful to show. To see what I'm talking about, head on over to the Miss Rumphius Effect where Tricia has actually put up a few examples of those poems in her great Poetry Makers piece on Joan. Then try these poems out yourself and see their impact on kids.

But, of course, Joan Bransfield Graham's poetry isn't just about the shape on the page. In fact, I was lucky enough to see a few poems from Joan in putting this event together, all of which were great and none of which were concrete. Her food poems made me hungry (and I swear to you I could actually smell one), and another poem had me ready to go out and ride my bike. One could say I danced with her poems and, in fact, it was a joy... just as it's a joy to have a poem of hers here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday brought us Julie Larios's No Strings Attached. Tomorrow, My Chicken's on the Internet by Kenn Nesbitt!