Revision

Try the ending as the beginning.
The beginning as the ending.
Play around with the lines like a puzzle.

Cut out excess words when and where you can. Make sure each and every word is the best word that you can find for that line, that meaning.

As you read the poem together, think and talk about these things: Does the poem make sense? Does it flow easily when you read it, or do you stumble? Can words be cut without losing the meaning? Are there plenty of good verbs (and not too many adjectives)? Is the title interesting? (Play; invent alternative titles.)

One of my high school English teachers, Mrs. Bradford, would pick up a book at the beginning of class, read a poem from that book long and slow, then throw her head back, close her eyes, close the book—and begin class. I loved those first few moments of being in her class, with her, with her love of language. She sparkled up the day. (As opposed to Miss Walters, who thought it most important to start those first few moments with glasses lounging on the bridge of her nose, inspecting skirts and where they fell in relation to the knee. There are priorities, you know.)

How might it feel, years from now, if your students go out in the world, remembering you as their own Mrs. Bradford?