Shirley Xiao, Shenzhen College of International Education

My pounding heart slowed its pace as my students greeted me with enthusiasm; my fear vanished as their timid eyes sparkled with excitement. I grew strong and confident, anticipating the first session of the Rad Poets Society, my project for the winter vacation.

I taught myself poetry, which is why it took me half a decade to understand that not all poems need to rhyme, and not all poems need to follow a form. I didn’t want similar miseries to torment other children, whose passion for poetry might be easily daunted without good guidance, so I started the Rad Poets Society, a camp for teaching Chinese children to write English poetry.

The two days of class went far better than I had expected. I taught my students some different forms of poetry: rhymed poetry, free verse, sonnets, acrostics and haiku. I provided them examples and analyzed each poem’s rhyme scheme. I also slipped in my examples terminology of poetry techniques, making it understandable and not too boring. I designed games for my students. For instance, I would give a rhyme ending such as “-at,” and the students would come up with the words that rhyme with “-at.”

Of course, the most important part of my lesson was to teach them to write their own poetry. I gave tips that I myself found useful. For example, to write nonsense poetry, make up a fictional character or end the poem in a humorous and unexpected way.

My students were attentive and earnest learners. Given their young age (8 to 11), I thought some of them would quit because my lessons were too advanced, but everyone stayed till the end and each wrote at least two poems.

To make it easier for them, I wrote three half-finished poems, with rhyme schemes and topics predefined, and had them finish the lines. For students who were more skilled, I encouraged them to write their own poems and helped them improve their works.

After I shared William Blake’s “The Tyger” with the class, one student who loved the rhythm and meters so much mimicked it to come up with “The Lion.” Her poem stunned us with its powerful tone and pace, and I felt that I’d spotted a diamond in the rough. Who would have believed that a primary school student could write such a powerful poem?

My students read their poems in front of the camera. As I watched them read, happiness and pride filled me from head to toe. This was a feeling greater than the satisfaction gained from writing my own poetry, as I had turned from a campaigner to an advocate for poetry, planting the seeds of poetry in the kids’ hearts.

As I said goodbye to them, I thought, this is the whole point of the Rad Poets Society. People hustle and bustle but we gather to baptize ourselves in poetry; the powerful play goes on and we may contribute a verse.