Once

Students read the following poem by Siv Widerberg:

Once

Once I liked pablum
Once I couldn't find the way to Tommy's house
Once I didn't know how to skate
Once I thought my mama
was the only Mama
though other people had mamas too
Once when I was little, smaller, littler

Among the many poems generated by this model are the following:

Once by Miguel Quiroz

Once I liked Gerber peach sauce
Once I couldn’t eat pizza with extra cheese
nor hotdogs with ketchup
Once I didn’t know how to ice skate
Once I thought my mom was an alien
Once when I was little

Once by Giselle L. Rodriguez

Once I lived in Spanish Harlem
Once I was an angry child
Once I had a brother
Once I hated shrimp
Once I didn’t want to go to school
Once when I was little

Once by Danny Santiago

Once I liked tuna fish
Once I couldn't find my way to the N.B.A. store
Once I didn't know how to play basketball
Once I thought I was the only one
who knew about Street Fighter
Once when I was young, short and skinny

Once by Dipa Begum

Once I liked to play with straw dolls
Once I couldn't make any friends
Once I couldn't speak or read English
Once I thought Bangladesh was the
only country in the world
Once when I was little, smaller, littler