Module 1 Poetry Break

Poetry Break Module 1

566321 Poetry

Diana Stephens

Introduction: “Today, I am recommending art books and poetry books, and art-and-poetry-combined-together books. Can a picture inspire a poem?”

After giving students a moment to think and agree, project the following image from the data projector, (which is not in the book, I had to find it,) then quote from the poem, “What is going on here?” and wait for and receive responses.

***George Bellows. (see note below)

Read the poem from the book:

“Ringside” by Ron Koertge,
[from Heart to Heart, New Poems, Inspired by Twentieth Century Art, edited by Jan Greenberg, Henry H. Abrams, Inc., 2001)

It all started when a new teacher held up
this picture and said, “What’s going on here?”
Everybody said how pretty the yellow house
was, the pink blossoms, the blue sky.
I said, “It’s creepy. The sidewalk leads
Right to the cellar.” The teacher beamed
And the McKenzie brothers made fists.

I ran for the library faster than usual.
I asked Miss Wilson for more by the same guy.
She could only find one—Stag at Sharkey’s.

[Show the image in the book and on the screen.]

George Bellows. Stag at Sharkey’s. 1909. Oil on canvas.
(used by permission, www.the-atheneum.org)

I looked at that painting every day. I looked
at every inch. I looked until I was at ringside,
until I was the fighter in the modest black
trunks.

When Bobby McKenzie finally caught me
and bloodied my nose, I put my head against
his and hit him with my right and to my surprise
he winced and went down.

“Stag at Sharkey’s,” I bellowed. He looked
at me like I was crazy, scrambled to his feet,
and ran.

Ask students to summarize what happened and why. Project the poem, and have a student volunteer for each verse, to read it a second time.

Extension: Flip through Heart to Heart briefly to show other images and their poems, occasionally reading a title of an image or a poem to pique interest, asking students to think about how that image might inspire writing a poem. Ask students to look at the art in the books on the tables for an image about which they could write a poem.

“Ringside” by Ron Koertge,
[from Heart to Heart, New Poems, Inspired by Twentieth Century Art, edited by Jan Greenberg, Henry H. Abrams, Inc., 2001)
This is a Printz Honor Book.

***George Bellows. I found this image late at night after along search; I was copying and pasting when my husband came in and started talking, and I neglected to copy the location. BAD. BAD. I have searched back through 51,000 Google images of George Bellows paintings TWICE, (I did it a third time yesterday) but it’s not there now, so I tried the first ten pages of a regular Google search and went through lists of art galleries. After four total hours-NADA. I will take it off if you tell me I should.