Helen

[Leanne]

Todd, I lose my temper every time someone "who knows about things" tells me that I should teach poetry to kids by likening it to song lyrics to hook them in... the day that "baby you're a firework" becomes a good example of the poetic line is the day I blow up the world. Lyrics ARE NOT poems -- there are similarities, and they have poetic elements, and indeed some lyrics could stand alone as poems, but they are not the same thing. And what the hell is wrong with hooking kids into poetry by showing them some bloody good poetry? We don't need to dumb it down, we need to keep the bar high and offer them a hand up.

Rowen, I dream of Billy Collins being engaged by a rabid bull...