Georgia Heard - Ars Poetica

Ars Poetica
by
Georgia Heard

In September, small poems lay
still and silent inside your hearts.
If you listened carefully,
you might have heard
the quivering of wings.

In January, from the corner
of your eye, you could have spied
a flutter or two –
poems slowly unfolding,
delicate silken wings.

In April, poems began to appear everywhere!
Rainbow wings beating, flapping,
hovering over desks, hanging
from the ceiling, tips of noses, tops of heads.
It was difficult to get any work done!

Now, your butterfly poems
fly free. You fold the memory
into your hearts. Poems --
small butterflies raised, watched,
let loose into the world.

©2010 Georgia Heard. All rights reserved.

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Georgia Heard is a poet, a teacher, and an incredible advocate for including the writing and reading of poetry in the classroom. For that work alone - and you can learn more about both her poetry and her work with educators in her Poetry Makers profile at The Miss Rumphius Effect - we should all give three cheers. (I'll pause here while you cheer. Thanks!).We should also cheer for the collections she's put together, including This Place I Know - an amazing work made in response to 9/11 but which works for anyone, not just kids, seeking comfort.

Finally, we should cheer for her poetry itself. Did I mention yet that I'm a sucker for poems about poetry? I should amend that, really: I like the poems of that ilk that fill me with joy, make me tingle, give me a new way to view something I love. Ars Poetica does all that - it makes poetry take wing - and makes me very happy, indeed. And you know what? I'll give one extra cheer, just as I did when Georgia Heard said yes to being here as part of 30 Poets/30 Days.

Yesterday brought us I Speak by Charles R. Smith, Jr. Tomorrow... Trying to Get Out of My Tree by George Ella Lyon! For more on 30 Poets/30 Days and ways to follow along, please click here.