The Unexpected Encounter

So as Becca (another student teacher I car pool with) and I were driving to Sandcreek MS where we teach, we suddenly became aware of a disturbance, which very quickly became a great, big moose running across the road right in front of Becca's car! I didn't realize how big moose are until I saw this great, limber beast dash past us and leap over a high fence, which guarded an adjoining field. Becca was so freaked out she had to turn off the road to catch her breath; she was shaking so bad. I would have reacted the same had I been driving. It's not everyday a moose crosses your path on a major highway (US 20). Anyway, the experience inspired this narrative poem. The kids learned how to model after a narrative poem, "Casey at the Bat", that we read in class. Since they had to tell their own stories through verse, I decided to make my own. It's not much, but it was fun to write along with the kids.

The Unexpected Encounter

By Mrs. Dyer

The rising dawn spoke of a clear, crisp airy day

The road was fine and clear, not foretelling any fray

The cars ahead hesitated like ants before a tear drop

Not a tear drop but a moose screamed our car to a screeching stop!

Surreal and airy seemed the great lumbering old fellow

I half expected to hear a tremendous, great bellow

proceed from his great and hairy chops. For the presence of old pops

made our fragile existence appear as rocks

crumbling before our eyes. But we had a prize

that day, for we did not collide with the gigantic beast,

a gift that we did not yet fully realize