A Writing Kind of Day: Poems for Young Poets

By Ralph Fletcher

I really like this poetry book because it’s directed toward young writers, and I feel like it could provide a lot of inspiration to elementary students. It makes direct references to the writer’s notebook and to the process of writing poetry, so I think these poems would be a good way to reinforce what your students are doing in the classroom. The poems would also help students to realize that they can write about whatever they want – inspiration comes from many different places. There are poems about grandma, little brothers, a weather forecast, and other topics that kids might be surprised to find in poetry. I believe that the fact that poetry can be about anything is a really empowering and inspiring realization. “Squished Squirrel Poem” is a perfect example:

I wanted to write about
a squished squirrel
I saw on the road
near my house last week.


You can’t write a poem
about a squished squirrel,
my teacher said to me.
I mean, you just can’t do it.


Pick a sunrise or an eagle
or a dolphin, he suggested.
Pick something noble
to lift the human spirit.


I tried. I really did. But I kept
coming back to that squirrel.
Did his wife send him out
to fetch some food or something?


There was blood and guts
but here’s what really got me:
he had pretty dark eyes
and they glistened still.


You can’t write a poem
about a squished squirrel,
my teacher insisted,
but I don’t think that’s true.