How to Write a Color Poem
Have you ever thought about the way colors sound or how they taste? Ever
imagine how your favorite hue would move or what kind of music it would
represent? Start thinking of colors in a whole new way and writing poetry to
describe those colors in vivid detail. This is an exciting way to introduce children to
poetry in a way that is non-threatening.
Color Poems
Students write COLOR POEMS based on color poems from Hailstones and
Halibut Bones by Mary O'Neill and the music “Blue Cathedral” by Jennifer Higdon
METHOD:
1. Listen to an excerpt from “Blue Cathedral” by Jennifer Higdon.
2. Read selections from the color poems in Hailstones and Halibut Bones.
3. After each poem, discuss the author's use of imagery, personification,
unique expressions, the senses the author uses to write about the color,
etc. depending on age / ability of students.
4. Then have each student select a color, maybe their favorite color, or the
color of their favorite poem from the book, or a color that wasn't included in
the book.
5. Give each student a copy of the pattern below for writing their own poem.
You can easily add lines to make the poem more complex - or change or
take out lines to make it simpler - depending on your students.
6. After writing their first draft, have students go through the editing process,
make changes and improvements, until they have a final complete copy of
their poem.
7. Then students can type their poems, choosing a font, and print it on colored
paper, or use color ink and print on white paper, or make a creative
display/background for their poem. They make a beautiful spring display for
bulletin boards. Students could also combine the poems to make their own
color poetry book and then illustrate it.
POETRY PATTERN:
(selected color) is ....
(selected color) is ....
(selected color) is ....
(selected color) is ....
(selected color) tastes like ....
(selected color) smells like ....
(selected color) sounds like ....
(selected color) feels like ....
(selected color) looks like ....
(selected color) makes me ....
(selected color) is ....
2 Student examples
Red
Roses are red, the cap on my cup is too.
Excitement is red all bubbling inside,
When someone says "it's a surprise!"
The valentines we exchange , the ribbon on my gift.
Yes, those are all red. But there is more!
On a hot summer day when a little breeze blows,
The smell of smoke and fire is red.
My favorite party dress with lace on the collar is all red.
When I am angry, if someone calls me names,
I am boiling with madness all through my body.
Love is red too.
All warm and sweet.
These are all red, and mostly all sweet.
Yellow
Yellow is the color of a star,
It is also the color of the sun.
Yellow makes me feel shy,
Yellow is a duck that goes "Quack."
Yellow makes me feel happy too,
Yellow is a scoop of butter popcorn.
Yellow is a little flame,
Don't forget soup! That is yellow.
Yellow makes me get joyful,
It is the color of honey too.
Yellow is a color that shines inside me,
Yellow is feeling fun.
Do you remember, from your early education days, how you used to select
colors from the Crayola box to color inside the lines? Maybe later on, your
grade school teacher, to stimulate your imagination, asked you what any
one color looked like, or smelled like, or tasted like.
Poets and composers, too, use their colors to trigger their thinking in similar
ways. Most of the time, colors may be used as symbols implying intangibles
or concepts.
Here is a short list of color implications in poetry during the recent
centuries:
green = jealousy, rebirth, money
purple = royalty, enlightenment, fantasy
pink = happiness
brown = earthly qualities
orange = curiosity, wisdom
gray = depression, defeat, monotony, boredom
gold - happiness
red = anger, danger, war, seduction, passion
black = sorrow or death
white = purity but also death (implied from shroud)
blue= sadness