On Day 7 of National Poetry month, for VerseLove at Ethical ELA, Chris Goering invites teacher-poets to compose around song structures by borrowing syllables, meter, rhyme scheme, etc.
My youngest son came immediately to mind.
Before he was born, he would get very still when the piano was played in church; he would become active again when it stopped. I was sure he was listening to the music. At five he said he wanted to be a choir director when he grew up… he now has a degree in worship ministry.
Here’s a scene from long ago, about his first favorite song.
Amazing Grace, Age Three
My boy hummed the song before he knew
What it meant to weep for grace
What could he know of a shattered soul
In spite of his solemn face?
At the whiteboard he stood, making marks
Counting every beat he heard:
“Adders deedle-dee, adders, adders…”
-For at three, grace needs no words
lit bits and pieces 
Every word penetrates, but especially the last line. I will be quoting this when I speak to parents and to people who work with small children.
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Thank you for reading and for your reflective response. So, the boy used to sing ‘Amazing Grace’ in made-up words, ‘adders-deedle dee, adders, adders,’ etc. – in perfect keeping with the syllables of the real words. So much to be said for listening and for sound, reiterating the vital nature of phonemic awareness to reading… Neglected to say here that the boy (now 24) can play the piano by ear – as the locals say, he can “tear up a piano.” The hymnal in the photo was my grandmother’s. She left me her piano – my grandfather got it for her during WWII. I don’t play, but the boy learned how to play on it. She would be elated beyond belief.
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Hmmmm…I suspected more to the story. I am grateful that you shared. I can tell you are proud.
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