Learning about Poetry

1. Have You Ever Seen? by Anonymous Learning about Poetry  Have you ever seen a sheet on a river bed? Or a single hair from a hammer’s head? Has the foot of a mountain any toes? And is there a pair of garden hose? Does the needle ever wink its eye? Why doesn’t the wing of a building fly? Do dancers go to a soccer ball? Can you open the trunk of a tree at all? Are the teeth of a rake ever going to bite? Have the hands of a clock any left or right? Can the garden plot be deep and dark? And what is the sound of the birch’s bark? This humorous poem will challenge you to explore the relationships between uncommon items through homographs. How is a river bed and a bed that you sleep in are alike? Can you think of which kind of bed a sheet would be used on? Picture in your mind what a river would look like if it were covered in a sheet . The entire poem plays with words. As you read this poem, listen carefully to find the silly pictures. Where is the foot of a mountain? What is the foot of a mountain being compared to? Why is this poem funny? Which word play do you like best? Vocabulary: birch- a kind of tree dancers- people who dance needle- a metal tool with a point and a hole that is used for sewing pair- a group of two plot- the events in a story river- a stream of water soccer- a game in which players kick a ball into a goal sheet- a covering for a bed that is made of fabric Poetry Comprehension Skills by Steck-Vaughn