The One About Gifts

Hi, friend! Have you ever been given a really good gift? Like the kind that still sort of makes you giddy to think about years later? Well I have, and I have a major confession about it… the gift that brought me the most joy in my whole life wasn’t even really a “traditional” gift at all. Instead, it was a series of letters from some of the people in my life who know and love me best. It was a huge surprise to not only receive the letters but also to read the thoughtful words that people chose to share with me. I still have them in their original envelope in a box stored under my bed at home, and I pull them out when I want to feel the joy of that gift again.

You see, we were challenged to give the gift of poetry to someone in our life this week, and it really got me to thinking about the power of our words. I knew that sharing some of my own poetry would force me to be vulnerable with my own writing, but I also knew that my words could be a gift to someone that I treasure. So, with a deep breath I wrote about the first thing that tugged at my heart strings: my relationship with my mom.

I like to write about things that I know a lot about. I think most writers do, and I know a lot about being a daughter to Lora Krpejs. I have been blessed with 23 years of practice at it after all. My mom and I are exceptionally close, so I knew that she would not only be the perfect person to gift my poem to, but she would also be the ideal topic. I found it easy to sit on my bed and write about the woman who I admire most in this world. I found it even easier to text her saying that I needed her to read something for me for a class. With more than 100 miles between us, I couldn’t share my poetry with her in person. Instead, I emailed her the poem and asked that she call me when she was finished reading. You can check out the gift of poetry that she found in her inbox below:

There’s a picture of us,

tucked away on a bookshelf,

in the living room.

I’m still a baby,

wrapped in a towel,

and you’re leaning in

close to my ear.

I bet you’re saying,

I love you unconditionally.

There’s a ring on my finger

that I took out of your jewelry box

after my first year of college.

Maybe I’ll give it to my daughter

some day.

There’s a dream I have.

I’m in a classroom.

You’re there too,

in the back of the room,

working with students.

I smile at you

knowing that you’re a big reason

for why I got here.

When she called me, she said that she had cried reading it. I wasn’t surprised. After all, I had cried writing it. I can picture her reading it as if I was there. She’s sitting in the corner of her classroom looking at her computer, wearing reading glasses, and leaning just the slightest bit forward. Pictures of our family sit just a few feet away on her desk and there is definitely a Dr. Pepper close by.

I like picturing my mom this way. She’s familiar and beautiful and all the good things that I have ever known. And honestly, that is what is at the heart of my poem. For me, writing this poem was like breathing in fresh air. It wasn’t hard or confusing. It was just natural. I hope that one day I can create a poetry experience like this for the students in my classroom.

While writing poetry can be intimidating for many people, I believe that by finding just the right topic, all writers can be refreshed and find power in their writing. I also think that it is important to create a space that encourages students to share their writing with people who they trust. Writers of all ages deserve to have their work read by others because writing is such a powerful way to share one’s truth and heart with the world.

Doing an activity like this with students would allow them to take ownership both of their writing and begin to “recognize their lives in poems” as Georgia Heard talks about in her book Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School (1999, p. 34). Ideally, I believe that the best way to structure this in my own classroom would be for students to choose who they are going to share their poem with and how they are going to do that. After those decisions have been made, I would likely add a note to the poem asking the recipient of the poetry gift to record their own thoughts, comments, or reactions for students to refer to later in the unit. I believe that by doing this, I would create a more respectful environment of students who wished to share their poems with someone who they may not have the opportunity to see on a daily basis.

So, there are a few of my thoughts about sharing poetry as a gift. I believe that given the right tools, poets of all ages can benefit from this practice. And I firmly believe that all recipients will be appreciative of someone thoughtfully sharing their words and thoughts with another person. I know my mom was.

Heard, G. (1999). Awakening the heart: Exploring poetry in elementary and middle school. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.