Here’s a poem I wrote in class along with the kids.
We brainstormed some emotions.
Our task was to write a poem that used a metaphor or simile to help us understand an emotion more deeply.
Embarrassment
Embarrassment is a bright searchlight
that sweeps the ground
around the prison yard fence,
searching
for a bit of cloth
in the grass,
a color
that does not match,
for any movement
to reveal
the prisoner who
might try
to escape.
–Steve Peterson
That searchlight finds me and makes my face BURN!
Mine, too!
I chose this because so much of the move into middle school is to try to avoid standing out, being embarrassed, while still trying to be true to oneself. It’s a hard wire to walk; I thought I would try to put some words to the feeling so they didn’t have to.