I wanted to share a personal experience with poetry this week. My best friend passed away last November and I went home to the funeral which was beautiful. The entire service was perfect in capturing his spirit. During the service his mother read an Irish Blessing that has stuck with me ever since. For me it is the perfect way to relate such an emotional piece of literature with the memory of someone so dear to me. It goes like this:
May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind always be at your back
May the sun shine warm upon your face
and the rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
This poem will stick with me forever in a way that no other text has because it holds a special place in my heart. And I think that is how poetry is meant to impact us whether we are reading it or writing it. In a way this is a mentor text for me because it is one that I continually come back to whether I am scaffolding for my own writing or just need to connect again.
Let's Talk Lit 
Hi Kaitlyn! It definitely feels like poems have almost a song-like quality about them in the way that they can be attached to people or moments. It is far more impactful when you can be genuine when talking about your connections with your students. They will absolutely see this in you if you share this with them. I am sorry for your loss, yet thankful you have a positive thing to take away from it. Thank you for sharing this!
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Hi, Kaitlin! Thank you for sharing about your best friend, I am so sorry. Poetry, I think, is a way to be so vulnerable, even more than any other type of writing. Through poems and writing we can share ways with our students to share their thoughts and feelings by either writing their own or finding something that has already been written. Poetry can be happy or sad or any other emotion and I think that students need to see that. Thank you, again, for sharing.
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Kaitlin,
this post is more relatable than ever. I believe that in a circumstance like this, Poetry serves to be a way to relate to someone through text. When we see something like this we do not feel so alone. Especially with this poem being something that was presented to you in such a memorable time. I think it is quite inspiring that this poem serves as a mentor text for you. I love that poetry can help us release emotion in a silent way. Thanks for sharing girl!
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