Students in the third and fourth grade at Marquez Charter Elementary School showed off their poetry at a reading at Palisades Branch Library on Jan. 23.
Thirty students read poems they wrote as part of the California Poets in the Schools program, led by Michelle Bitting Abrams.
“You guys are all brilliant,” Bitting Abrams shared at the start of the readings. “You can do no wrong.”
Once per week for four weeks, Bitting Abrams worked with Marquez students, teaching a wide variety of poetic craft and content themes. Students listened to poetry from different cultures and epochs, finishing each session with 15 minutes of writing and sharing their works.
At the end of the workshop, the poems were printed in an anthology, “A Touch from the Gods.” Pieces that were shared covered a range of topics, from the passing of a family pet to an ode to a beloved pillow.
“You inspire me,” Bitting Abrams told her students at the conclusion of the event.
—SARAH SHMERLING
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
