SAL/ON

A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures

Category: Writers in the Schools

“Yes, My Skin,” by Hinari Denebo

Yes, My Skin Don’t like this poem because I’m telling you to But let me tell you a story about this girl Named Hinari Just ’cause I want to Came from Ethiopia when she was seven Was considered black As a girl she chose her way But as a Christian it was hard to say […]

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“Bosque,” by Marie Andrews

Bosque El bosque es maravilloso, calmado, bonito. Es un lugar con miles de árboles gigantes. Adentro de un árbol puede ser que haya Una familia de animales lindos y chiquitos. El bosque tiene ríos rápidos Donde puedes beber agua rica y fresca. Cuando estoy en el bosque me siento valiente. En el bosque hay tierra […]

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WITS Voices: Saying Goodbye to Hutch School

By Samar Abulhassan, WITS Writer-in-Residence Shout Out Poem (after Sekou Sundiata) Melanie, 3rd Grade, Washington, Hutch School Here’s to the greatest words this morning to one of the best places going down, Here’s to the blue noodles in one of my poems To the kids who have come and gone To the kids who are […]

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WITS Voices: The Courage Lessons

By Jamaica Baldwin, WITS Writer-in-Residence I’m learning so many different ways to be quiet. There’s how I stand in the lawn, that’s one way. There’s also how I stand in the field across from the street, that’s another way because I’m farther from people and therefore more likely to be alone. There’s how I don’t […]

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Three Poems by Wei Wei Lee

dear sweet sister. A language can span the widest gaps – political, social, agewise or other. She’s pleasantly surprised and so am I, our words tripping, tumbling, spilling like a spring, like sweet, cold water, slaking the thirst for something we have no name for and soothing an ache we didn’t know existed. In this […]

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The Hearts We Carry: Poetry at Seattle Children’s Hospital

By Ann Teplick, WITS Writer-in-Residence For seven years, through SAL’s Writers in the Schools, I have been writing poetry with children and teens at Seattle Children’s Hospital. For seven years, I’ve witnessed celebrations, indecisions, contemplations, and anguish of students and their families. For seven years, I have learned how to be mindful, how to attend […]

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WITS Voices: Coming Out Trans While Teaching

By Cody Pherigo, WITS Writer-in-Residence   I had the opportunity to come out as transgender in my classrooms this year, an action that was never on the table when I was in high school and still isn’t for students and teachers in most areas of the country. Seattle is special, sometimes. But, it is still […]

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“To Whisk the Moon,” by Audrey Papineau

To Whisk the Moon To whisk, to whisk, to whisk the moon To fly, to soar, to light up the moon, whoosh! Tap! Rattle tap tap! The tree, the tree, the tree under the moon. Try everything! To soar, to soar, to soar in the light! To fly, to whisk, to make light, whoosh! Tap! […]

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WITS Voices: Speaking rights in the writing classroom

By Alex Madison, WITS Writer-in-Residence   On one of the final days of my fall WITS residency, I stood before a full class of seventh graders, hurrying to push through my fiction lesson so students could experiment with the new skill on their own. So little time remained, and I wanted them to apply some […]

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“Palimpsest,” by Suh Young Choi

Palimpsest   2016 A large church sanctuary. In the past few weeks, it’s seen too much. New pastor since the last one left for Fayetteville. New youth minister, since he’s leaving for Cabot. New music minister, since this one left for Orlando. New organist, since she left for Alabama. The choir still sings. The orchestra […]

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