{poetry cafe}

Last week Katie's 5th grade class had a poetry cafe. The required items to bring was a box of cookies & a coffee mug. She pleaded & begged me to come. I said...."OK".

So I went.

I arrived to her class, and it was changed into a poetry cafe.... literally. There was a black/red brick colored paper behind a stool where the kids would sit & read their poetry. There was a bongo drum where a girl sat & banged on the drum softly with the tips of her fingers, wearing a beret & sunglasses. There were fabric tablecloths covering the desk, complete with a small flower arrangement, and then there were the coffee mugs around the desks. You really were in a dark, jazzy poetry cafe setting. A projector was on, showcasing the poetry reader, while the lights were off.

All kids & parents snapped their fingers when a poet was done reading their work.

::snap:: ::snap:: ::snap:: ::snap::

Then, a visitor came in, played some jazzy music, and recited his poem "Hello (pause for 5 seconds) my friend. (pause for 10 seconds) I want you to know (pause for 5 seconds... listening to the jazzy music, moving head along to the beat of the jazz) how much you mean to me (pause for 7 seconds)." (surprisingly I remembered the first line of his poem!)

He did a great job, and showed the kids how a true poet reads his poem, complete with music, and the appropriate pauses.

Finally, we drowned our sorrows in our coffee mugs with pink lemonade, and ate our cookies in silence (not really... I was surrounded by 4 chattering girls).

It was ::awesome::

::snap:: ::snap:: ::snap:: ::snap:: ::snap::