Praise the Writers

I've written in the past about the praise poems my students compose as part of our poetry challenge. I've been assigning them since 2013, and every year I am blown away by the honesty and beauty of the writing.

Praise Poems come from Western Africa and celebrate an individual's identity. They are often call and response, with the audience chanting a chorus between lines.

The formula I suggest is to write six lines and a chorus. The first line is your name, the second about your place of birth or ethnicity, the third about your family, the fourth and fifth compare you to natural elements or entities, and the last chooses a positive, defining quality about you and repeats it three times. The chorus is an expression of what you hope might be said of you by your community, and so it is written in third person.

Here are some of the choruses from this year:

Rhythm is in her soul.
Dance skips in her heart.
Her light shines through.
Nature is in her soul.
Competition is in her blood
Animals are in her heart.
Outside for life
Intelligence runs in her veins.
Happiness is her strength.
Determination in every step.
Singing is in her heart.
True to myself.
Sports are in his soul.
Playing with his dog every day.
Happiness in her soul.
Free soul
Friends in her heart
Kindness in her soul
Gymnastics in her veins
A true pessimist at heart
Perfection is what she strives.
Kindness in her heart
Being loud is in her soul.
Drawing is her soul.
Helpful is her heart.

It's a shame my time with these kids was cut short, because they really deserve the praise.