Once again, I was reading Laura Purdie Salas on poetry Friday, and she wrote about acrostic poems. I haven’t written very many of these that weren’t aimed at defining vocabulary words for my students, but I was looking for a structure that would help me write about Hawthorne, our new baby African Pygmy Hedgehog — the first pet our family has been able to have beyond our three well-loved fish (“but you can’t SNUGGLE them!” –Avery).

It started with the surprise of going to get her two weeks before the boys thought she would be ready to go home. We told them we simply had a surprise for them. D told them to be “ready for anything.” We got in the car on a Tuesday evening and made the hour-long drive into Wisconsin. The whole time, the boys were curious, but both of them were pretty torn between wanting to guess and wanting to keep on being surprised. But when we were only a few miles away, I kept on saying the name of the town, talking about animals, giving them every kind of hint possible, and they did not guess. We drove into the breeder’s yard and saw the animals, so I turned on the video camera and recorded their response. I didn’t know exactly how they’d react, but the video shows me so much about their personalities — the way each of them sees the world and processes it. I can’t stop watching it, the moment El first realizes we’re there to pick up our hedgie, the way his excitement goes inward just as Av’s bursts outward!

Little Ms. Hawthorne is settling in pretty well. She’s curious — an explorer but also a snuggler, especially with David. El says she likes the size of his hands, the way they can hold her so securely. With the rest of us, she starts crawling around on us the minute we pick her up, but with D she turns around, settles in, and falls asleep. Have I mentioned she’s adorable???

So here’s my attempt at an acrostic poem, inspired by Laura’s page on acrostic poems.

Hawthorne

Hiss, hiccup–

Easy, little girl

Don’t be so

Grumpy. Your sweet

Ears emerge from spiny brow,

Head raised, wet nose wiggles

Oh, it’s only you. I

Guess you can hold me.