Chameleon / How I Know I’m Duke Ellington’s “Fleurette Africaine”
Chameleon
There is a chameleon in me I am stealthy
I like hiding in the night
I feel unstoppable
Me and the chameleon hide in shadows The shadows keep us hidden
I like wearing black
Shadows protect me from being seen I’m like camouflage
I like this feeling
I’ll never give it away
—Ethan from Del Valle Elementary
♦◊♦
How I Know I’m Duke Ellington’s “Fleurette Africaine”
Because I’m mysterious and
I do things that are
unexpected. I don’t
sound like Lil’ Wayne.
I could be
as old as 1962.
I sound peaceful.
—Juan from Del Valle Middle School
Read more poetry by kids in this series.
Read more poetry on The Good Life.
—Photo credit: engelcox/Flickr
I asked Juan’s Badgerdog instructor, Brian Nicolet, about how Juan wrote the poem. (And I goofed! Juan goes to Dailey Middle School, not Del Valle–sorry about that! Dailey is in Del Valle, anyway). And here’s what he wrote: One never knows what kids will latch onto, especially when one is trying to teach those kids a thing as decidedly esoteric as poetry. I mean, I’m here to tell you. One of the best poems any of my students ever wrote resulted from an exercise that had virtually zero input from me. There was some preamble, sure, but basically I just… Read more »