Poems Inspired by Emily D.

My new school will be doing a Bee Authentic fundraiser -- basically selling honey and spices and honey-related products.  As part of the promotion, the Language Arts teachers do a curriculum unit on bees and teamwork.  In preparation, I found a couple of cool bee poems, both by Emily Dickinson.  One in particular lends itself well to a mentor text assignment -- writing a poem in a similar style.  Here is Emily's poem, written 1788:

Fame is a bee.
It has a song --
It has a sting --
Ah, too, it has a wing.


I practiced writing a couple of my own, creating a metaphor for something intangible, using repetition of sound, and one rhyme at the end.  At first I stumbled with this, but soon it smoothed out.  Here are my versions:

Freedom is a butterfly.
It is loose --
It is light --
Ah, too, it is bright.
 *
Betrayal is a snake.
It has sorrow --
It has sight --
Ah, too, it has bite.
 *
Generosity is a tree.
It has roots --
It has reach --
Ah, too, it can teach.

Okay, I admit I'm no Dickinson. However,  it was a fun little activity.

If so inspired, write your own and share it with me!  I'll share some good ones here from my students when we get to this lesson, which isn't until next week.