Poetry Friday--"Shadow Dance"

I have a copy of Piper, Pipe that Song Again: Poems for Boys and Girls selected by Nancy Larrick (Random House, 1965). For years it was looked upon as one of the best anthologies for kids. I believe it could be reissued because it has a exceptional selection of poems perfect for introducing a child to poetry! Until then, you can pick up a good used copy for cheap through AbeBooks.com, which is how I got mine.

Piper, Pipe that Song Again has many oft-anthologized children's poems such as Carl Sandburg's "Fog," and Vachel Lindsay's "The Moon's the North Wind's Cooky," as well as others that are not so familiar, like the one I'm sharing today.

Shadow Dance
by Ivy O. Eastwick

Oh Shadow,
Dear Shadow,
Come, Shadow,
And dance!
On the wall
In the firelight
Let both of
Us prance!
I raise my
Arms, thus!
And you raise
Your arms, so!
And dancing
And leaping
And laughing
We go!
From the wall
To the ceiling,
From ceiling
To wall,
Just you and
I, Shadow,
And no one else
At all.

This would be a great poem for the classroom. Use a spotlight (flashlight) and you've got a science lesson, too! But, the best part is sharing the joyfulness--the dancing, the leaping, and the laughing.

Lastly, I want to share this bit from the introduction by Nancy Larrick, "By itself the printed page is a silent thing. But as you read the words of a poem, it becomes a musical thing." Yes, it does!

A Year of Reading is hosting this week's Round-Up, so dance yourself right over there.

--Diane

Photo by dvs.