Something On My Mind

As you can see by this picture, I am a fan of Nikki Grimes' poetry.  I have been collecting her books for many years, and there are many more titles in my Kindle. I've given her books as gifts, donated them, and used them with my students as writing prompts.
                                                   

SOMETHING ON MY MIND was the book that started off my Nikki Grimes collection.   I love this book. The poems are full of heart and conversational.  Tom Feeling's art is expressive and lovely.  It's a book I've read and shared more times than I can remember.

                                                             

When I was teaching, I often used SOMETHING ON MY MIND in my classroom. The title, illustrations, and poems made wonderful writing prompts for my elementary and middle school students.  The poems invite young writers to express their own feelings and experiences through poetry. 

Here is my favorite poem from the collection:

remembering

Grandma filling up this porch

with laughing

and stories about when

Mama was a little girl

and Grandma would hug me

and say

I was her very special own granddaughter.

But now she's gone.

I miss her--

Although SOMETHING ON MY MIND was published 1978, the poems are just as relevant today.

A big thank you to Irene for hosting this very special Poetry Friday at Live Your Poem.