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By David Sehat On Aug. 6, Texas Gov. Rick Perry will lead a prayer rally in Houston despite criticism that his event violates the separation of church and state. Though Perry said recently that he felt “called” to run for the presidency, he also told a Christian radio show that the rally will not be political. “This is simply people calling out to God,” he said.

On this day in 1879, Thomas Edison demonstrated the electric light successfully. Celebrate with this poem.

Poem to Be Read at 3 A.M.
by Donald Justice
(excerpted from American Sketches)

Excepting the diner
On the outskirts
The town of Ladora
At 3 A.M.
Was dark but
For my headlights
And up in
One second-story room
A single light
Where someone
Was sick or
Perhaps reading
As I drove past
At seventy
Not thinking
This poem
Is for whoever
Had the light on

For more poems about light, look for Joan Bransfield Graham’s collection, Flicker Flash (Houghton Mifflin, 2003). Joan Bransfield Graham’s poetry books are wonderful examples of shape or concrete poetry in which the words of the poems are laid out on the page to suggest the subject of the poem. In both Splish Splash (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) and Flicker Flash, the graphic illustrations combine with the verbal descriptions of water or light in their many, varied forms.

The rhyming shape poems of Flicker Flash explore the different ways that light appears in our world, from the flicker of birthday candles to a flash of lightning. The ingenious illustrations by Nancy Davis feature bold graphic images that play with shape and type in creative ways and add to the impact of each poem. These are perfect selections to incorporate into science or art lessons. Read them aloud by flashlight for added effect. In particular, read “Lamp” seated with the book near lamplight to demonstrate the poem’s “lamp-shine.”

A natural complement is Anna Grossnickle Hines poetry book, Winter Lights (Greenwillow, 2005) or Marilyn Singer’s Central Heating: Poems About Fire and Warmth (Knopf, 2005). Her poem “Lights Out” is ideal for sharing with Graham’s “Lamp” poem—both about reading by the light of a lamp or flashlight. One note: several of Graham’s poems in Flicker Flash deal with fire, including candles, matches, campfires and fireworks. Each is beautifully described and illustrated and can lead to a helpful discussion of both metaphors as well as fire safety! Be very clear about proper procedures for handling fire-related objects like matches and candles, of course.

Here are a few more poetry collections that feature poems about light in its various incarnations, either directly or indirectly.
Bruchac, Joseph. 1996. Between Earth and Sky: Legends of Native American Sacred Places. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace.
Bruchac, Joseph. 1992. Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back: A Native American Year of Moons. New York: Philomel Books.
Dotlich, Rebecca Kai. 1998. Lemonade Sun and Other Summer Poems. Honesdale, PA: Wordsong/Boyds Mills Press.
Esbensen, Barbara Juster. 1984. Cold Stars and Fireflies: Poems of the Four Seasons. New York: Crowell.
Fisher, Aileen. 1980. Out in the Dark and Daylight. New York: Harper & Row.
Graham, Joan Bransfield. 1999. Flicker Flash. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Hines, Anna Grossnickle. 2005. Winter Lights: A Season in Poems & Quilts. New York: Greenwillow.
Hopkins, Lee Bennett, comp. 1983. The Sky is Full of Song. New York: Harper & Row.
Levy, Constance. 1998. A Crack in the Clouds. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books.
Lewis, Richard, comp. 1988. In the Night Still Dark. New York: Atheneum.
Livingston, Myra Cohn. 1984. Sky Songs. New York: Holiday House.
McCord, David. 1962. Take Sky: More Rhymes of the Never Was and Always Is. Boston: Little Brown.
Merriam, Eve. 1986. A Sky Full of Poems. New York: Dell.
Moore, Lilian, comp. 1992. Sunflakes: Poems for Children. New York: Clarion Books.
Moore, Lilian. 1980. Think of Shadows. New York: Atheneum.
Mora, Pat. 1998. This Big Sky. New York: Scholastic.
Ochoa, Annette Piña, Betsy Franco, and Traci L. Gourdine, Eds. 2003. Night is Gone, Day is Still Coming; Stories and Poems by American Indian Teens and Young Adults. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick.
O’Neill, Mary. 2003. The Sound of Day; The Sound of Night. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Rosenberg, Liz, ed. Light-gathering Poems. New York: Henry Holt.
Singer, Marilyn. 2005. Central Heating: Poems about Fire and Warmth. New York: Knopf.
Singer, Marilyn. 2000. Fireflies at Midnight. New York: Atheneum.

Kelly Fineman has more gems at the Poetry Friday Roundup this week.

Picture credit: home.cogeco.ca

When my son was in the second grade, his teacher suggested he have an evaluation for Attention Deficit Disorder.
Coping with the consequences of a divorce, our home had become an organizational disaster area, throwing my son into an emotional orbit. There were changes in his daily routine, and children go haywire, when their environment affords them little, or poor structure. It seems we would have something to gain by changing our environment, as opposed to changing our children.

Educators, child psychologists, and parents alike, often blame the child, instead of looking at what our kids may be experiencing at a certain given time. What happens when we blame the child, is the possibility they will internalize the thought, and act on the idea.

This is not to suggest we ignore teachers and child psychologists advice, or not pay close attention to our childrens' behavior; however, you have to be careful, when considering putting your child on a potentially harmful medication.
Moreover, we have to watch being over zealous in our attempt to help kids who suffer from both, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. With so many children on drugs (ADHD medication) that have a street drug value, there is certainly cause for alarm.

However, it seems regardless of the consequences, parents, physicians, and educators, are quick to assess, and medicate children with social and behavior problems, misdiagnosing these kids with ADD or ADHD.. This raises concern over the question, that we may be overlooking better treatments, and options for children with ADD or ADHD..

After the opposition to an evaluation, my sons' teacher insisted on the completion of a written list of symptoms, confirming his behavior. However, the questions to the evaluation were general. For example, " Is your child easily bored or distracted?" Now, how can you answer that? Especially, if you are opposed to putting your child on medication, and your answers may suggest your child has ADD or ADHD. It's easier to prescribe medication instead of looking at all the options, especially when it has been suggested by a professional.

Why do we make it our children's problem, then define them as having something wrong with them, simply because they are higher strung than other children? When many of these kids would benefit from a highly structured environment, with daily routines. We need to stop being indolent, and start looking into the many alternatives that are producing positive results.



Alternatives to medicines are out there; although like children taking medication, these alternatives should be part of a comprehensive treatment program. Parental counseling, educational plans, and social training, are the essential ingredients to any successful treatment program, which needs to be in place with or without medication.

We need to focus on the whole picture when it comes to treating and diagnosing ADHD.
You know your child better than anyone else, so listen to your own instincts, especially on an issue as important ad ADHD.


(Today my son is a well-adjusted adult. He never took any medication)

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