Introduction by Terri Glass

I have always loved coming out to Point Reyes. The rural scenery instantly soothes me. Whenever I have written grants to fund certain poetry projects, many times I have included the schools of West Marin. Rural schools typically do not have funding for extracurricular programs. When I met up with Fund For Global Awakening to collaborate on a poetry project, it was only fitting that I chose West Marin School in Point Reyes Station, CA, as the offices of Fund For Global Awakening are located there as well.

My mission as a poet and teacher has been to make poetry accessible to everyone: to bring poetry into settings where poetry did not have the opportunity to be taught or shared. This has included schools, senior centers, hospitals, and healing centers. Poetry is an incredible art form to work with, as it has the ability to bridge left and right brain, thought with feeling, and the unconscious to the conscious mind where new insights can be made. The act of writing poetry helps one embrace one's whole self. I first encountered this place of "wholeness" at age 13 after I wrote a haiku. By playing with the exact syllabic structure of that poetic form, it allowed me to say something I would not have thought of otherwise. I surprised myself and found it incredibly rewarding. I found the play with words was infinite, and that in itself connected me to something larger.

After meeting with FFGA, I created a curriculum that would give children the opportunity to express their knowledge and wisdom on topics ranging from generosity to forgiveness to envisioning a new future. I had no idea how children ages 8 - 13 would respond to such material. I was in a school where there were a lot of ESL children, a wide range of writing skill levels, and many children who were quite rambunctious. However, the children responded amazingly well to the poetry and subject matter; many enthusiastically went on to take an elective class. I was also quite surprised at how many of the poems revealed the soul of the child: the unique thread of light that connects them to the universal.

"Compassion is a first bloomed rose
shining brighter than all the other flowers.
Yellow, a yellow rose taller than the rest.
This is a special rose,
It doesn't flow in the wind like the others.
It is strong."

-- Amanda, 5th grade