Poetry Break Module 2
5663 Poetry
Diana Stephens
NCTE Poet Nikki Grimes
Introduction: I want to share a poem today from this book, (hold up), My Man Blue by Nikki Grimes, who is an award winning poet. She is also African American, and you remember that we are still celebrating the African American Heritage month of February. Here’s her picture, (shown on data projector).
I want you to know before I read it to you, that ‘indigo’ is a dark blue color.
Can a man be both tough and gentle?
“My Man Blue” from the book, My Man Blue, by Nikki Grimes
His leathery skin’s
Like indigo ink
This rugged dude
Who some folk think
Looks fierce in clothes
Of midnight black.
Then there’s his teeth:
One gold, three cracked.
And I suppose the shades could go.
He wears them night
And day, I know.
Still, underneath
This shell, Blue hides
A harmless
Gentle-giant side.
What do you like about that poem? Look at the illustration. Do you think it captures both the tough and gentle qualities mentioned in the poem? Would someone please read it again?
Listen while I read the second poem, and be ready to tell me why the poem is called “Second Son.” I need a volunteer to read the part of the son.
“Second Son”
from the book, My Man Blue, by Nikki Grimes
[ Son]
We’re leaning on the stoop, see
counting wedges of blue sky
Sandwiched in between the roofs
and white clouds drifting by.
“Why’d you want my friendship, Blue?”
I blurt out there and then. [Blue]
“I had a son named Zeke,” Blue says.
“These streets became his friend.”
“He needed me but by the time
I came, it was too late.
He’d passed the point of trusting his
old man to steer him straight.
“Your missing daddy also left
a hole in you,” says Blue.
“If friendship fills it, there’s less chance
The streets will eat at you.”
[ Son]
“That’s cool,” I say, all serious.
“But I can’t take Zeke’s place.” [Blue]
“I know,” says Blue. “but your laugh sure
helps conjure up his face!” (Show illustration.)
Who is the Second Son? Would you be willing to be a Second Son to Blue? Let’s read it again, with two new readers.
Extension: Give a nickname to an adult in your life that is or has been important to you, and write that nickname inside a circle. Now, for one minute, creating a bubble map, write words or phrases that describe this person and/or their relationship to you. You may use the words you place on your bubble map to write a poem about this adult.
***Many young people need the affirmation that the person being parent to them doesn’t have to be their actual parent. The poems and pictures create a very positive and effective true-to-life relationship between a young boy and a man that is not his father.
Grimes, Nikki, and Jerome Lagarrigue. My Man Blue : Poems. Ed. Toby Sherry. New York: Dial, 1999.
5663 Poetry
Diana Stephens
NCTE Poet Nikki Grimes
Introduction: I want to share a poem today from this book, (hold up), My Man Blue by Nikki Grimes, who is an award winning poet. She is also African American, and you remember that we are still celebrating the African American Heritage month of February. Here’s her picture, (shown on data projector).
I want you to know before I read it to you, that ‘indigo’ is a dark blue color.
Can a man be both tough and gentle?
“My Man Blue” from the book, My Man Blue, by Nikki Grimes
His leathery skin’s
Like indigo ink
This rugged dude
Who some folk think
Looks fierce in clothes
Of midnight black.
Then there’s his teeth:
One gold, three cracked.
And I suppose the shades could go.
He wears them night
And day, I know.
Still, underneath
This shell, Blue hides
A harmless
Gentle-giant side.
What do you like about that poem? Look at the illustration. Do you think it captures both the tough and gentle qualities mentioned in the poem? Would someone please read it again?
Listen while I read the second poem, and be ready to tell me why the poem is called “Second Son.” I need a volunteer to read the part of the son.
“Second Son”
from the book, My Man Blue, by Nikki Grimes
[ Son]
We’re leaning on the stoop, see
counting wedges of blue sky
Sandwiched in between the roofs
and white clouds drifting by.
“Why’d you want my friendship, Blue?”
I blurt out there and then. [Blue]
“I had a son named Zeke,” Blue says.
“These streets became his friend.”
“He needed me but by the time
I came, it was too late.
He’d passed the point of trusting his
old man to steer him straight.
“Your missing daddy also left
a hole in you,” says Blue.
“If friendship fills it, there’s less chance
The streets will eat at you.”
[ Son]
“That’s cool,” I say, all serious.
“But I can’t take Zeke’s place.” [Blue]
“I know,” says Blue. “but your laugh sure
helps conjure up his face!” (Show illustration.)
Who is the Second Son? Would you be willing to be a Second Son to Blue? Let’s read it again, with two new readers.
Extension: Give a nickname to an adult in your life that is or has been important to you, and write that nickname inside a circle. Now, for one minute, creating a bubble map, write words or phrases that describe this person and/or their relationship to you. You may use the words you place on your bubble map to write a poem about this adult.
***Many young people need the affirmation that the person being parent to them doesn’t have to be their actual parent. The poems and pictures create a very positive and effective true-to-life relationship between a young boy and a man that is not his father.
Grimes, Nikki, and Jerome Lagarrigue. My Man Blue : Poems. Ed. Toby Sherry. New York: Dial, 1999.
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