Writers in the Schools, Houston, Poems on my Facebook page, and an Amazing Poem by a 3rd grader

Friends, Poetry month is in full swing--a great occasion for us to nurture our inner poet.
In honor of the occasion, I'm putting up lines from my favorite poets on my Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/chitradivakaruni, and inviting readers to do the same. Some we have so far: Milton, Tagore, Akhmatova, Wu Men, Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Frost, Swinburne, Emerson, Maya Angelou. Please come by and add yours.

Today I was sent a poem by Writers in the Schools (WITS). This is a great Houston organizationpromoting creativity and literacy in Houston Area schools. I've blogged about them before. (Many of our University of Houston Creative Writing graduate students teach for them.) They sent me this poem -- by a 3rd grader!! I certainly wasn't putting together work like this in 3rd grade--were you? Congratulations, Camille--and kudos to WITS! If you like the poem, please post a comment for our young writer below. And check out WITS at http://www.witshouston.org/.

Collage

The cage was covered in an
elegant cloth,
with a practical bird
inside.
The sign was actually a
picture,
with a person fleeing
in the forest.
To the villagers this was
common, as ordinary
as can be.
A miracle was
necessary, to have
a success.
A sound reflected
in the silence
from the shallow
water,
a ripple
made a gentle
sound,
an equal to the world's
finest picture,
the freshness of justice
and the evergreen
scent of nature.
Fire never wanted
a truce with water
but thought it was
foolish otherwise.
Oh, the wonders!

by Camille, 3rd grade