Our Favorite Poem For National Poetry Month Came From a First Grader

On the last day of National Poetry Month, our favorite poem we saw all month came from an unnamed first grader:

We did the soft wind.
We danst slowly. We swrld
Aroned. We danst soft.
We lisin to the mozik.
We danst to the mozik.
We made personal space.

This poem was spotted in a New York City public school on the Lower East Side by photographer Jason Gardner. The school had received a small grant for Gardner to take portraits of families that might not otherwise have the means to do so. While waiting for one family to set up, this poem, penned by a first grader in the after school program, caught his eye. So, he took a picture and shared it on Facebook, where it caught our eye, too. Especially that last line — in a crowded city like New York, you cannot underestimate the value of personal space.

HT Amy Pearl.