Creating Comparisons

Poetry is a game for crazy liars. If a child breaks his mom's good china, he should stand up and tell his parents the truth. After all, nobody likes a lying child. But a crazy lying child is a gift. The crazy lying child is the boy in the back yard in an oversized helmet pretending it's fourth and goal at the Super Bowl. It's that child who grows up and makes the varsity team. The crazy lying child is the girl putting band-aids all over the pet dog, pretending she's a doctor. It's that child who goes on to medical school. In the end, nothing good happens without a crazy lie. In poetry, we call these crazy lies metaphors.

A Million Metaphors
You’re a million metaphors all at once –
A billion metaphors wouldn’t be too much.

You’re a lion
You’re a tiger
And Oz is full of munchkins.

You’re a flower
You’re a rose
And your grandma calls you pumpkin.

Like a comet
Like a star
Like a galaxy you shine.

You’re a mountain full of silver
And gold yet to be mined.

So stand up straight, soldiers.
We are trees with deep rich roots.

We are songs
We are symphonies
Drums, tubas & flutes.

Yesterday is mist
Tomorrow just a dream,
But today we will live in metaphor
We only need believe.

A Metaphor is a comparison that talks about one thing as if it were another. When your dad says, "Go get 'em tiger!" He's using metaphor to show how fierce you can be. When your mom calls you a "bright light," she's celebrating your brilliance. And when your Uncle says, "You're a pig!" he's telling you to put the pork chop down. Give your child a piece of cardboard to make a metaphor mask. Tell them they can be anything they want - an animal, a force of nature, a powerful or valuable object. It can be strange, scary, weird, or funny. Let them go wild.

.....what sort of beast?

.....what sort of elf?








.....what sort of something can I be?





Ask your child to make a long list of words, images and phrases associated with their metaphor. For example:

Elephant

Stomping, Trunk, Tusks, Jungle, Big, Huge, Humongous, Gray, Wrinkled

Now challenge your child to arrange these words into lines announcing their new identity. For example:

I am a huge humongous stomper.
With a big-tusked wrinkled trunk.
Tigers and leopards better run!
I am a huge humongous stomper.
Get out of my way!

Encourage your child to end their poems with a dramatic exclamation that captures the spirit of their metaphor.

A Child's Voice has published a book called Strange World - A Poetic Journey. It's filled with poems, prompts, inspirational quotes, strange artwork and lots of room for children to find their own poetic voices. Check it out in our Poetry Shoppe.

To read about Creating Tension, click here.

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