Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans: 1999 Edition, Volume VII

Poetry and children are a perfect fit. Youngsters embrace the freedom of poetry and push and pull it in infinite directions exploring every nook and cranny of their life. During the Anthology of Poetry's first decade of publishing these collections, some authors have developed and grown year after year, while current events, sports stars, and other celebrities have been added and dropped from the collective consciousness of these young authors. Yet the same themes - concern and delight about nature, thoughts about God, family, pets, and friends, feelings about first loves, and leaving things behind - have all been explored with the diversity and individuality of each child. Poetry is open to all children at all levels, from the academically gifted to the child-at-risk. Expression is not limited by their developing knowledge of sentence structure, punctuation or form. Poetry can give us a glimpse of each author that is as timeless and specific as any photograph. Poems are presented here as the author wrote them, in their format and punctuation. This is 1999 Edition, Volume VII.