Outside I looked for a way/To teach my heart to sing

Week Two/Friendship poems
Previously Walt Whitman Poems


Ken Koch used a translated Italian sonnet by Dante Alighieri to teach friendship and journey poems to children:

Guido, I wish that you and Lapo and I
Were carried off by magic
And put in a boat, which, ever time there was a wind,
Would sail on the ocean exactly where we wanted.

In this way storms and other dangerous weather
Wouldn't be able to harm us-
And I wish that, since we all were of one mind,
We'd go on wanting more and more to be together.

And I wish that Vanna and Lagia too
And the girl whose name on the list is number thirty
Were put in the boat by the magician too

And that we all did nothing but talk about love
And I wish that they were just as glad to be there
As I believe the three of us would be



Invite yr child to imagine some magical transportation.
Kids love this! Finn chose a yellow magic rocket ship!
Ask yr child who they would love to invite on this journey.
Talk about friendship and the qualities that their friends have that they love.
We spent a lot of time on this portion.
Inquire where in the world or universe they want to go?
I talked with Finn about describing people and places.
Older kids can take off and write a story from this poetry prompt here.
Just allowing them to close their eyes and imagine and speak out loud works well. Try and display the poems around the house for more connections!

Finnian's Poem:

Jack I wish that Parker and you and me could go on my yellow magic rocket ship
go flying on the moon
like flying astronauts
we are flying astronauts
when we get there we are going to play on the rocket ship and the moon
eat candy
more sugar
more sugar
we will build a stair
so we can drop drop drop
we fight the bees that live on the moon and steal their honey
we will be good and share
and eat more honey on the moon