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| Douglas Wright, Argentinian Poet |
Phew! Having a really hard time keeping up with blogging and life right now! Every week, I promise myself, "I am going to blog at least three times this week." And then it doesn't happen! Darn! We have a day off today (comp day for two fourteen hour days of parent/teacher conferences, in case anyone is wondering), so I'm stealing a few minutes before I start in on housework and grocery shopping and bill paying and all of the other stuff that has also been neglected…
I am a literacy coach at a bilingual school. I really, really, really want people to incorporate poetry into the life of their classrooms. I have tons and tons of books of English poetry, and it's easy for me to offer people lots of choices, but I don't have nearly as many choices for people in Spanish.
About a year ago, I stumbled across an Argentinian poet and illustrator, Douglas Wright, who blogs at El Jardín de Douglas. He posts new cartoons, illustrated poems, and songs almost every day. He has some really short poems that he calls bocaditos (nibbles) that our little guys, who are just starting to speak Spanish (and also their literacy coach, who is only a little fluent), can access fairly easily. And our kids love him!
Here are three we have used with our kids. I've included a rough translation…
El árbol quedó sin hojas,
las ramas no tienen nada,
y contra un cielo de otoño:
sólo las ramas peladas.
Douglas Wright
The Tree was Leafless
The tree was leafless,
the branches have nothing,
and against an autumn sky:
only bare branches.
the branches have nothing,
and against an autumn sky:
only bare branches.
Douglas Wright
******************
Una poesía de parches
Una poesía de parches
de cuadritos de color,
como una manta tejida,
tejida con mucho amor.
Un parche azul es el cielo
y uno amarillo es el sol,
y un parche verde es la plaza
donde todo es resplandor.
Unos parches de poesías,
de poesías de color,
tejidos como una manta,
como una manta de amor.
Un parche negro es la noche
y un parche blanco es el día,
uno gris es la tristeza
y uno rojo es la alegría.
Una poesía de parches
de cuadritos de color,
tejida como una manta,
como una manta de amor.
Douglas Wright
Argentina
********
A Patch Poetry A patch poetry color plaid, as a woven blanket, woven with love. A patch is blue sky and a yellow one is the sun, and a green patch is the square where everything is shining. Patches of poetry, poetry of color, tissues like a blanket, like a blanket of love. A black patch is the night and a white patch is the day, gray one is sadness and one red is joy. A patch poetry color plaid, woven like a blanket, like a blanket of love. Douglas Wright Argentina
A Patch Poetry A patch poetry color plaid, as a woven blanket, woven with love. A patch is blue sky and a yellow one is the sun, and a green patch is the square where everything is shining. Patches of poetry, poetry of color, tissues like a blanket, like a blanket of love. A black patch is the night and a white patch is the day, gray one is sadness and one red is joy. A patch poetry color plaid, woven like a blanket, like a blanket of love. Douglas Wright Argentina
**********
La primavera está aquí
La primavera está aquí,
la primavera se siente
—en los pájaros, las plantas,
en el aire, en el ambiente.
La primavera está aquí,
la primavera se siente,
y los pájaros, las plantas
—el aire, el cielo, las nubes—,
entonan todo a coro:
“la primavera, ¡presente!”.
Spring is Here Spring is here, Spring feels -in birds, plants, in the air, in the environment. Spring is here, spring feel, and birds, plants -the air, the sky, the clouds, all sing the chorus: "Spring, present!" Douglas Wright
7 comments:
I know you're busy, but maybe we can get together before Thanksgiving? I love these, Carol, especially that one about "patches", clever and I imagine it is so accessible to those bi-lingual readers. Thanks!
Beautiful, thank you for sharing these! It's so important for children to explore writing from a variety of cultures and countries, and in languages that speak to them.
Lovely poems, Carol - the first one signals November, for sure.
Hi Carol, those are wonderful poems. My uncle is from Mexico, and he has bookshelves full of Spanish-language poetry. It is harder to find in this country if you are not a collector of it, though. How great that this Argentinian poet is putting poetry on-line.
Love these. Short poems using simple, accessible language to create something new are fabulous for language learners. :>)
How very important to share poetry in many languages!!
Love that Patch Poetry one, Carol. It's a busy time now for sure, but the blogging community helps keep us connected...and sane.
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