Poetry Friday: Houdini

Happy early Halloween!  I wanted something other than pumpkins or vampires to feature today, and was lucky enough to have my book club friend, children's author Jacqueline Jules, offer me the chance to feature her poem about Harry Houdini.

Houdini, if you don't know, DIED on Halloween. (Cue the spooky music.) More than that, in this poem, Jackie manages to illuminate a little-known side of the great escape artist:  he loved books. Yup. Carted hundreds of them around with him everywhere, in a special traveling bookcase.

You can visit Jackie's web site to find out more about Houdini and her process in writing this poem, including pictures and links to original Houdini letters at the Library of Congress.

And, now, the main event!


ENCHANTED BY BOOKS
by Jacqueline Jules

A teenager nicknamed “Ehrie,”
raised by a scholar skilled at Torah,
but not English or earning a living,
and a mother, who more often
than not, had only love
to serve her son at the table,
opened a book one day
and pulled a new persona
from its pages.

He became “Harry Houdini,”
borrowing his idol’s name
the way a ravenous child
swipes an apple,
and taught himself to
escape handcuffs, hunger,
and homelessness,
with books collected by the hundreds
and kept as close as the buttons on his shirt
through years of traveling from stage to stage.

The Great Houdini,
who freed himself from locked trunks,
milk cans, straitjackets, and jails,
never tried to escape
the charm of a book.

(© Jacqueline Jules, 2009, all rights reserved

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Jennie at BiblioFile

Meanwhile, in other corners of the blogosphere, more interesting happenings....

Little green army men hurling raisins! Takin' down a pumpkin! All because Jama at Alphabet Soup is giving away TWO copies of OPERATION YES to support my book signing on Nov. 8th. And don't miss the best part: reading everyone's tributes to their favorite teachers. (My own shout out to a great teacher is here.)  Go, now, be amused and inspired.

Also, I tell Jody Sparks why I hate the smell of cardboard boxes, how many bags of little green army men are in my house, and how improvisation inspires me as a writer. Thank you for the interview, Jody!

That is all. Back to revisions.

"Never Use a Paperclip . . ."

Hey, there. I'm deep in revisions, so if you think I'm ignoring this blog, you're right. I get to a certain point in the heavy lifting where I become completely obsessed, and do nothing but write and eat soup (or cereal.)

Meanwhile, if you'd like something more interesting to read, check out my new teacher's guide for Operation Yes, written by talented teacher and former military kid, Natalie Lorenzi. You can can download it here or use the link in this blog's side bar or try viewing it at my new teachers page at the Operation Yes site. (If you have any ideas for items to add to that teachers page, please let me know.)

Here's a sneak preview of two of the fun imrov activities that Natalie created for the guide:

FLYING FARMER:  

In the spirit of the Flying Farmer, set up an obstacle course with students, chairs, tables, and low objects (such as blocks) on the floor.

One student is the Flying Farmer and must make it from one side of the stage to another while blindfolded. (You may use two X’s formed with tape on the floor for starting and ending points.)

An “air traffic controller” gives directions. If the pilot brushes or touches an object more than twice, the airplane goes down and the game starts over. You can set a time limit when the airplane will “run out of fuel.”

GOOD ADVICE:

Miss Loupe’s new 6th grade students could use some advice from Bo, Gari, and the rest of the Ugly Couch Players.

Brainstorm a list of “school” words—school supplies, teachers, objects found in school etc. Write the names of each object on an index card, and put the cards in a bag. Students go to the front of the class in pairs and draw one card each from the bag. Each pair must offer a one-line pearl of wisdom for next year’s students.

Rules:
1. One student begins the sentence, using the word on the card he or she drew from the bag.

2. The second student must complete the sentence using the other word drawn from the bag. The advice may be wacky, but it must make grammatical sense.

Example: If the following words are drawn from the bag: paper clip, water fountain... Student 1 might begin with: “Never use a paper clip...”

and Student 2 might finish: “...to fish your gum out of the drain in the water fountain.”

Hey! I thought of a good one: Never use a paperclip. . . . to eat soup.

See you guys on Poetry Friday!