Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different VoicesSelected by Paul Janeczko
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
HarperCollins, 2001
When Paul Janeczko came to Hollins, he read poems from this book. I am a huge Janeczko fan, but this is one book I didn’t own of his. It is a collection of poems written by various poets. They are written from the point of view of something. That something might be animals, inanimate objects, or other. There are poems from the point of view of vaccum cleaners, crayons, mosquitoes, washing machines, turtles, and many more. I love sharing these poems with my students so that they can start thinking through the eyes of something other than themselves. In the spirit of the book, I wrote my own poem from the point of view of a picture hanging on the wall.
Picture, Picture on the Wall
By Marcie Flinchum Atkins
I hang out for a living,
I’m a picture on the wall
I always have pain in my neck,
Strangers stare at me in the hall.
Do they see the beauty I behold
An image of the baby, Mother in her veil,
The Daddy in his tux,
I know them all so well.
For they have been spread upon this wall,
I show them off with pride,
And hold myself upright
Not tip from side to side.
It’s a thankless job, I must say
To sit up straight and tall
To show off the family moments
That dwell among these halls.
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