Acrostics and Poems of Childhood

 Acrostics and Poems of Childhood

Reading the poem Childhood recently in class had me thinking about my childhood. When I learned about poetry in elementary school, it was a really different experience in comparison to how I learn about it now, or how I learned about it even in middle school. My elementary school english classes focused very little on the deeper meaning, language, or insight that it offered, choosing instead to highlight the type of poem that it was, or what the poem was literally talking about.

The forms of poetry I hear, see, and read now are also different. The most popular poet of elementary school was Shel Silverstein, but he is rarely mentioned now. Most elementary poems had lots of rhyme and rhythm. Haikus and acrostics were popular, while free verse was seen only sparingly. Almost the opposite is true now. In particular, the acrostic is something that I’ve haven’t seen yet since starting high school. In elementary the majority of my acrostics were themed and simple. I wanted to revisit that type of poetry today to try something I haven’t done for a while.

Yogurt, popsicles, allergies and spring

Outdoors, nature, camping in summer

Umbrellas, leaves, rainy fall

Thankfulness, presents, cold winter

Happy memories of childhood

Admittedly for me, acrostics are fun to write, but because of their form, make it hard to convey sophisticated thoughts and ideas. Even though that’s why they are likely less used, especially in higher education, they were a huge part of my english curriculum growing up, and a very great way to begin learning about poetry.