there are flowers,
roses and daisies.
They’re beautiful.
There is a garden.
There are a lot of flowers
and cute cats.
There are butterflies.
Sometimes there are parties.
When my neighbors
have a party,
they have dances
and pink flowers,
and there are bubbles.
Pajaros saying tweet, tweet and flying away
because the music is too loud.
Even if we don’t go to the party,
we can hear
the loud music.
My papi worries about
my hermana’s asthma
so we don’t go
to the parties that often.My papi Hector Manuel,
he works cement at four o’clock in the morning,
and sometimes
he stays and works until midnight if there’s snow.
When I was eight, he showed me how to ride
the motorcycle
at my cousin’s house.
There was a cookie in my mouth.
I accidentally
started driving the motorcycle.
He almost
fell backward.
My papi said, “Stop driving. Now it’s my turn.”
-Janeth H., Rare Air/ Aire raro
Rare Air / Aire raro is 826michigan’s Young Author’s Book Project for the 2015–2016 school year written by the fourth-grade students of Ms. Lowe’s class at Roberto Clemente Learning Academy in Detroit and it is FULL of firsts for us. It is the first YABP written in Detroit. The first YABP of poetry. And the first that is completely bilingual (English and Spanish).
With a foreword by inaugural poet Richard Blanco, and introduction by volunteer and retired teacher Sandy Karolak, Rare Air / Aire raro is full of exceptional and charming poems on family, neighborhood, and memories. Poems were translated into Spanish by students, family members, and volunteers to allow for students to share their voices with their community. So join fourth-grade writers of Roberto Clemente Learning Academy in feeling the rare air in this beautiful book of bilingual poetry.
A bilingual collection of poetry written by fourth graders at Roberto Clemente Learning Academy in Detroit.
