I Feel Like Touching Something That’s Not There

 

During the school year of 1975-1976, the Montana Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts, sponsored a statewide “Poets & Writers in the Schools Program”.  The program produced and collected poems from students in elementary and secondary schools throughout the state of Montana.  The poems were published in a book of poems titled: I Feel Like Touching Something That’s Not There.

I am fortunate enough to have a copy of the book in my poetry collection.  Honestly, this is one of my favorite books.  This morning, I pulled the book from my poetry shelf, as I do from time to time, and read through a few poems.

My favorite poems are the small works written by elementary students.  They are bright little flowers, these poems.  Today, I am sharing three examples:

Out in Roundup the stars are all bunched together.

Cindy

Garfield Elementary

Billings

 

If I were a piano I would be elation-elation-elation

Reuben Bear Tusk

Pryor Elementary

 

Dad I want

A quiet voice

I want one

Dad

Nichole Neibauer

Whittier Elementary

Bozeman

 

—Mitchell Hegman