David says his soul
is like lightning. It lights up the sky,
is gone in a flash.
The italics suggest a separate image (although united in what it’s saying) that the author is attempting to impart. -Zachary Tomaszewski, age 21
This simile is different, but true. –Hannah Flemming, age 13
An interesting interpretation of his soul. -Olivia Ezinga, age 15
Taryn, Grade 3, is a tree
wavering and swinging.
This makes me think of the sharp, unedited imagination of a child; of how, as writers, we want to recapture this. -Zachary Tomaszewski, age 21
I like how the poet adds the grade the child is in, it makes it even more realistic. -Patty Schlutt, age 15
She whirls and jumps
in the sky at night.
Davetta's a candle
beginning to melt away.
This is a beautiful image with good rhythm. -Patty Schlutt, age 15
These children write
a path to the clouds.
They wave to you, Craig,
I think these children were looking through their “third eye,” seeing the world in a different way, which inspires Craig. –Aubrey Frey, age 13
from a body with a hundred limbs,
sing you onward from a mouth
with a hundred different voices.
It is interesting to think that the voices in these poems can sing him onward. –Hannah Flemming, age 13
May they make for you now
a bridge—a high walk across
to the other side.
The way the poet uses italics, it seems as though this may be a found poem, constructed from bits and pieces of the poems written by the aforementioned children. If it is a found poem, the poet does a stellar job not only celebrating the capacity to teach possessed by her friend, but also the capacity to observe, feel, explain, and express possessed by the children who’s lines are featured in this poem. This poem is further proof that language, which captivates us first as young children, never ceases to amaze. –Kyle Austin, age 22