The Weavers
Last week was the first week of classes at Morehead State University and I spent a lot of time selecting just the right poem to inspire my students’ writing about their beliefs and writing goals. In fact, the selection of the perfect poem was such a journey I wrote a blog post about it.
I really love when I find the perfect poem to use in the classroom or for writing inspiration and The Weavers Were the First to Know by Arielle Taitano Lowe is lovely and inspirational poem on so many levels. Just the title alone is evocative, but the content works on me in multiple ways.
I limited myself to the two questions that I asked my students:
- What traditions do you want to weave into the palms of your children?
- The poet writes about taking up the craft of weaving for a specific purpose. This semester you are being forced to take up the craft of writing, but you alone have the power to choose your purpose. What is one aspect of writing that you want to focus on learning/improving this week?
But I may use this poem again in the spring when we begin working with arguments as this poem contains many arguments inspired by real lived experiences. I could pair this poem with The Sunday Read: ‘The America That Americans Forget’ to highlight some of those arguments or just let the poem speak for itself.
How does this poem speak to you?
Artwork via Wikimedia
