Full Moon Poetry

How do I get a group of 9 middle school kids excited about poetry?

I have no idea. I would love some suggestions.

This is my task for the remainder of youth theatre camp this summer. Between four group leaders, we have to create 10 minute performances that center around the impact one choice can have on your life. Each group has a different mode or area of performance, i.e. Step/Stomp, Music/Rap, Modern Movement/Dance, and Poetry.

Again I ask: How do I get a group of 9 middle school kids excited about poetry?

I still don't know. But it is all I can think about tonight as I attempted to go to bed. I didn't get that far, obviously.

It doesn't take much for me to get excited about poetry. I love words, I love performance, I love the way poems seem to dance when you speak them out loud, when you enact them, when you hear them, not just read them. I love the rhythms of poetry, the beats, the journey they take you on. I love the freedom poems give us, the life they bring to words, to our souls.

How do I get a group of 9 middle school kids excited about poetry? How to I get them excited enough to enjoy writing and performing their own poetry? How do I allow the introverts to break out without the extroverts stomping on them? How do I connect them to the way words can change lives? How do I show them that what we are doing is good work, important work, beautiful work? How?

I don't know.

But somethings I do know: I am excited for the answers to these questions to be discovered. I am excited to get to know these 9 middle schoolers. I am excited for the work we are doing.

And guess what -- It's a full moon tonight. It's been roughly a month since I've started this blog. And tomorrow marks the third week I've been in Texas. I love it here, even if I am finding more questions than answers.

Until next time, check out that moon, read a poem, get excited.