February 23, 2005

Poetry in motion

Norris students take part in three-day workshop with Terry Wooten

By
Herald staff writer

      Hearing language like it's music - that's how Terry Wooten describes the art of creating poetry to aspiring young writers.
      Fifth- and sixth-grade students at Norris Elementary learned how to hear the music when Wooten, a well-known northern Michigan poet, conducted a three-day writing workshop there last week.
      "Ideas for poems are going on all around us," said Wooten who instructed the would-be poets to create a memory map of the area around their neighborhood.
      "Sad, scary, even dumb memories - anything that stands out as significant can be the subject of a poem," said Wooten, adding that a little exaggeration to make it more interesting is OK.
      "That's what we call fiction in this business," Wooten noted.
      Once an idea is formed, the next step is getting the story down on paper.
      "I have them tell me the story, then retell it using their pencil to talk," Wooten said.
      Stories of broken bones, bloody noses and bad dreams were transformed into lyrical poems with the help of Wooten's guiding hand. Friendly ponies and loving llamas came to life through the spoken word.
      "It's your poem, I'm just here to make suggestions," said Wooten as he listened to first and second drafts. "You have to play with the words like they are a song," he added.
      Using "power words" to create a picture, and eliminating "nerd words" like 'about' or 'very,' helped to hone the simple stories into compelling poems.
      "You have to tap into what a wonderful, magical thing language is," Wooten said.
      With only the slightest appearance of nervousness, the students performed their poetry to rounds of applause from a packed house of parents and teachers at the culminating Poetry Cafe held at the school Thursday evening.
      Wooten, after sharing some of the 492 poems he has committed to memory, praised the young authors for their debut performance.
      "I have been writing poems for 42 years and have only written four of five in a day or less. This was a big proposition for these kids and they did a fantastic job. They'll be taking my place someday," Wooten said.