Module 3: Poetry Break - Poem That Does Not Rhyme

INVITATION FROM A MOLE By Alice Schertle
(Found in: Schertle, Alice. 1999. A LUCKY THING. Ill. by Wendell Minor. San Diego, CA: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 0152005412)

INVITATION FROM A MOLE is an amazing poem that really capitalizes on the power of sense imagery. This poem does not rhyme, but readers will be hooked immediately by language that allows them to practically see, hear, taste, smell, and feel a mole’s world simply by reading the words of the poem. For example, readers will “smell / the sweet damp feet of mushrooms” and feel “the cold face of a stone” pressing against their cheeks with ease. Schertle uses no capitalization or punctuation in this poem, allowing readers to quietly focus on the strong sensory images evoked by the words. Also, Schertle cleverly utilizes line breaks and spaces to help convey meaning and draw the reader’s attention to important images. Wendell Minor provides a captivating painting of a mole, a worm, and a pencil in the dirt to accompany the poem. While Minor does a good job portraying the earthy world of a mole, the language of the poem itself is powerful enough that readers will have their own images from a mole’s perspective in mind.

INTRODUCTION: Since all kids love going outside, take them outside and tell them that today they are going to explore dirt and mud! Bring along shovels, rakes, and smocks or aprons to protect clothing and ask students to start digging and studying the earth. If the dirt is dry, try adding some water to it to see how it changes the way the dirt feels. Tell students to uses their senses to pay attention to what they see, feel, hear, and smell as they play with the dirt and mud. After students are cleaned up, write down what the students observed as a group and briefly discuss. Then tell them to close their eyes as you read the poem to them.

INVITATION FROM A MOLE
By Alice Schertle

come on down

live among worms awhile
taste dirt
on the tip of your tongue

smell
the sweet damp feet of mushrooms
listen to roots
reaching
deeper

press your cheek against
the cold face of a stone

wear the earth like a glove
close your eyes
wrap yourself in darkness

see

what you’re missing

EXTENSION: Since moles may be somewhat unfamiliar to students, this poem could launch an interesting investigation into moles and their characteristics and habitats. Additionally, the illustration that accompanies this poem appears to be of a unique type of mole called a star-nosed mole. Children will most likely be very curious about this mole’s distinctive nose, and they may enjoy reading further about this type of mole and exploring real photographs of star-nosed moles online. Pictures of star-nosed moles can easily be found online (such as the images on the following websites: http://www.livescience.com/imageoftheday/siod_050207.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star-nosed_mole). Finally, after listening to INVITATION FROM A MOLE, children may be motivated to write their own unique animal poems following the “Invitation from a ______” format. For example, students may choose to write invitation poems from a hummingbird’s perspective or a sloth’s perspective. Children might really enjoy writing poems from interesting animals’ perspectives, and listening to everyone’s poems to “see what you’re missing” could be a lot of fun!