Express yourself at any age with poetry of any style.
By Valerie Suttee, Richard Byrd Library Branch Manager
Poetry is a great way for kids to play with language, use imagination and express their emotions. According to ReadWriteThink.org, helping a child recognize different ways to write their own poems gives them a chance to improve vocabulary and sentence structure, to better understand the meaning of words, and to “discover a limitless world of expression.”
Along with providing these educational benefits, poetry can also be lots of fun. As 2011 U.S. Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis said in an interview with the Poetry Foundation, “Great poetry is a circus for the brain.” But with such a wide variety of styles and structures — from haiku and free verse to poems with meter and rhyme schemes — children may have a hard time knowing where to start. Simplifying the art to just a few words with no other rules can be a great introduction.
With that in mind, in April we’re celebrating the 25th observance of National Poetry Month — started in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets to recognize the role of poets and poetry in our lives — by inviting kids (and kids at heart) to express themselves using only six words.
Writer and journalist Larry Smith started the six-word memoir project in 2006. Six-Words™/ Six-Word Memoirs® by SMITH Magazine encourages people to tell the story of their life using just six words. In TIME for Kids, Smith explained the popularity of the six-word project: “Blank pages and websites are scary. But when you have the constraint of six words, it fuels creativity.”
Get Inspired
These six-word poems were composed by library users from around Fairfax County:
“Shy no lie I like snakes.” - Connor, Age 8- "I am the oldest of three" - Maeve, Age 8
- “Black Lives Matter supporter named Tamia.” - Tamia, Age 12
- "Exciting, Fabulous, Biting, Mad, Enlightening, Not-so-bad." - Bethany, Age 10
- “Being a Daisy [Girl Scout] makes me happy.” - Caitlin, Age 5½
- “Video games and Legos, making stuff.” - Winston
- “I seek beauty I find it.” - Lisa
- “Just moved to a new home.” - Elena, Age 4
- “I like to go to school.” - Lana, Age 7
- “Peppa Pig makes me joyful!” - Sophia, Age 10
- “School Red Panda Books My Family” - Cayden, Age 6
- “Loveable, Incredible, Fantastic, Fun Fabulous, Everything, LIFE” - Abigail, Age 9
- “Mysterious, strange, curious, deranged (means crazy).” - Bethany, Age 10
- “Books, Superheroes, Monsters, Paper, Colors.” - Calvin, Age 3
- “I love to be with friends.” - Vincent, Age 9
- “Yummy, fun, colorful, awesome, love, the best.” - Ava, Age 8
- “I can’t wait to see my cousins.” - Syeda, Age 17
- “Friendly, fun, funny, happy, excited, nice.” - Sandy, Age 6
- “Fun, lovely, experiments, school, work, happy.” - Sama, Age 10
- “Solace weaving light reflected from within” - Carmen, Age 63
- “Rushed, organized, surprising, dreamy, cozy, awesome.” - Anonymous
- “I wanna play with my friends.” - Anonymous
- “I like to read books a lot.” - Anonymous
- “So far betrayed, forsayken.” - Anonymous
- “Life keeps going, until it doesn’t.” - Anonymous
Now It’s Your Turn!
Can you describe your life story in six words? Submit your six-word poems to branchout@fairfaxcounty.gov! These creative writers already have:
- “Peaceful, Exciting, Sweet, Adventures, Action, Lighted.” - Priya P., Age 8
- “Not yet talking but always listening.” - Brady W., Age 8 (written by his brother)