This is Quentin. He is a Bobbledy club member.
He is also a poet, which means he writes poems.
In the photo above, Quentin is holding a poem he wrote, which he shared with us in our booth at AWP.
AWP is a big conference for people who like words, books, poems, stories, and the like. Which is why we were there. And which is why Quentin was there. Being a poet, he likes poems and words.
Quentin did a live reading of his poem in our booth, which made us really happy. Robbi was so impressed that she demanded to have her picture taken with him.
I’ll leave it to you to determine whether Quentin enjoyed having his picture taken with Robbi. That sort-of smile could go either way, if you ask me.
Just the other day, Quentin’s mom resubscribed him to a second year of Bobbledy Books. Attached to her email was a new poem by Quentin, which she said we were welcome to share with you.
Quentin’s Life
Who, what, where, why, how?
Those are my questions.
I sing songs. Here is a common line:Who what where why how
what’s the reasonin’ from now?
Why my life is like this—because
it is kind of an ancient curse.I am very sad that this ancient curse is,
and very happy.I own a very special stuffed animal.
His name is Nemo, and is a way to remember
the death of a dog that I loved.I have a jar of money
and I think it’s very funny
that I have all that money.My mom is the one who typed this poem.
I am the narrator. I love you so much
that I can’t explain right now.
I would have to explain in one hundred years.
I am going to type the word “Quentin”
in a font that I think is cool.
QUENTIN (Note: in Quentin’s mom’s email, “Quentin” was formatted in a really cool font)I own a cool pink flamingo.
This poem is done
for the life of me
and to the reader a gift is given.
Goodbye my friends.
I love Quentin’s poem. I love the free-form style interspersed with the occasional rhyme. I love the line “the death of a dog that I loved.” (Keep in mind that Quentin is a kid), but my absolute favorite is the line “and to the reader a gift is given.”
It’s just right. Quentin’s poem is a gift indeed. It piques my interest, it pleases my sensibilities, and it makes me smile. What else can one ask for from a poem?
So thank you, Quentin. For sticking with us Bobblers for another year. For sharing your work with us. And for making me smile today. It makes today a good one already.