Here’s The Best Poem Ever Written By A First Grader

I remember my brief, ill-fated stint as a kid poet. I mastered the limerick fast – ABAB rhymes were cake – but as soon as ‘sonnets’ came on the scene, I was toast. But some among us grow the knack for pretty language early – like one anonymous New York first grader. For National Poetry Month, (s?)he lent the world this elegant piece of freeverse:

We did the soft wind. 

We danst slowly. 

We swrld Aroned.

We danst soft.

We lisin to the mozik.

We danst to the mozik.

We made personal space. 

Photographer Jason Gardner happened to capture this gem on the wall of a classroom, and immediately thought to share it with the internet. It’s since been circulated on sites like Jezebel and Yahoo, and hailed as the best poem of the month by NPR’s Studio 360.  Creative spelling aside, this young artist clearly has a gift for creating a scene. I think “We made personal space,” is an especially lovely thought – only all the more impressive, coming from a six or seven-year-old.

So as we bid Poetry Month a fond, long goodbye/Remember: even the youngest among us can fly! (Apologies to William Shakespeare.)