POETRY IS MUSIC

Listen to the words inside of you and you will make music. For poetry is the music in your soul.

I take my Grade 5 and 6 students to the park to benefit from outdoor class time. I believe that this informal means of learning provides them with an opportunity to connect with nature and is a means of scaffolding their organic urge to explore it. It is an important experience, especially for the early adolescent, to enhance their creativity and further develop their intellectual skills. It also evokes the imagination by being aware of what exists outside of the self.

I encourage them to notice the beautiful old trees surrounding us, like stoic guardians of the world, towering over our growing bodies. I want them to grasp the firmness of their feet on the green grass just like the roots of the forest, firmly implanted into the earth. I suggest they compare the softness of their own skin to the thick bark, aged and cracked, covered in the dull green lichen. I ask them to look up and notice the sun’s rays as the light sprays across the leaves, changing colour of the canopy protecting us. “Close your eyes,” I say. “What do you hear? What do you feel? What do you smell?”.

This effective practice allows students to be mindful of themselves and to be aware of the relationship between humans and nature. Our in-breath is the out-breath of plants, shrubs and trees. Our out-breath is the in-breath of flowers, animals and birds. It is a beautiful cycle and when we look out into the world and our bodies feel present, our sensations experience real life.

Back in the classroom, I ask my students to capture their impressions, to link words to their emotions. Poetry is music in words. It is the whispers from the soul. They silently pen their reflections and the beauty of the compositions are overwhelming. Each student admires the work of those next to them. Each student has made their own music.