A poem written jointly with my 7-year-old daughter
The poem below is a joint effort, written by me and my daughter, after having watched the new Disney movie ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’. It attempts to provide a general summary of the plot, but both of us highly recommend that you see this movie for yourselves, if you’ve not yet done so (it’s delightful)!
The druuns turned most people to stone;
Five dragons fought them off alone
They poured their powers into a gem,
And let the druuns overrun them
With the gem, Sisu wiped out the evil,
But there followed an awful upheaval
Folks named their lands after dragon parts,
And the people grew really cold hearts
All the trust everyone had once was gone;
the lands were no longer one
Then a girl named Raya was born,
Who found a dragon with a small horn
This dragon was the last of her kind
~ So, this was a really lucky find!
Sisu thought things had gone as planned;
She held the gem up in her hand
With the gemโs magic, she did glow,
Feeling her dragon powers grow
Together, they came up with a plan
To unite every child, woman, and man
They needed every other piece
So that cold stone would all men release
They would travel to each dragon land,
but things did not work out as planned
From โTailโ, โTalonโ, โSpineโ, and โFangโ,
They assembled a small, motley gang
Raya, Boun, Noi, Tong and Namaari
Worked together, learning to say sorry
They combined their gems into one jewel
Proving people were more kind than cruel
A bright light flashed; great rains came down;
Returned the dragon race of much renown
Dragons and humankind were delightedโฆ
โTailโ, โSpineโ, โTalonโ, โFangโ โHeartโ united!
Let’s write poetry together!
When it comes to partnership, some humans can make their lives alone – it’s possible. But creatively, it’s more like painting: you can’t just use the same colours in every painting. It’s just not an option. You can’t take the same photograph every time and live with art forms with no differences.
–Ben Harper (b. 1969)
Would you like to create poetry with me and have a completed poem of yours featured here at the Skeptic’s Kaddish? I am very excited to have launched the ‘Poetry Partners’ initiative and am looking forward to meeting and creating with you… Check it out!
The Skeptic's Kaddish ๐ฎ๐ฑ 
I loved your partnership with your daughter. A great poem.
๐๐ค Lauren ๐ค๐
Simply beautiful! Love, love, love it!
๐๐งก Anca ๐งก๐
This is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing David! You need to take out a print out or indulge in some calligraphy and frame this brilliant poem! Don’t forget to sign your names. Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig hug to both of you!! ๐
๐๐ Harshi ๐๐
How precious a collaboration this is ๐
๐๐ Pragalbha ๐๐
“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world” – Malala Yousafzai
Love the collaboration ๐
๐ค Paula ๐ค ~ thank you so much!
Sincerely,
David
How beautiful…how adorable…how creative…such lovely poem from daughter & father โค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธโค๏ธ
๐๐ Navin ๐๐
So sweet of your daughter to write a poem with you! I think I can get my oldest on board with that idea; he’s becoming a bit of a wordsmith himself. ๐
๐ Sarah, they’re the same age, so I don’t see why not!
โค
David
This is wonderful โค๏ธ
๐งก๐ Chris ๐๐งก
what a wonderful poem shared and father daughter bonding.. superb you two!๐
๐๐ Cindy ๐๐
You and your daughter did a great job on this poem. You should write together more often.
๐ค๐ Molly ๐๐ค
I love story poetry like this, David. Bravo for you teaching the love of poetry to your daughter. We are all richer for that. โค
๐๐ Colleen ๐๐
Love this collaboration and I wholeheartedly endorse the movie! The story is engaging and the animation top notch!
๐๐ Muri ๐๐