Look closely at this image of New York City in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy.
The following activities and questions are designed to help your students use their noticing skills to move through the poem and develop their thinking skills so they understand its meaning with confidence, using what they’ve noticed as evidence for their interpretations. Read more about the framework upon which these activities are based.
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Warm-up: (Teachers, as students enter the room, give them three notecards, or more if you wish.) On each of the notecards, write one thing that brings you happiness. No need to add your name, as these are anonymous, but they will be shared. Share your notecards with your teacher and look at the list of things that make people happy. What patterns do you see?
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Before Reading the Poem: Look closely at this image of New York City in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy. (Teachers, if your students need more context, you can find a timeline of events.) What stands out to you in this image? Look again. What questions do you have, if any?
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Reading the Poem: Silently read the poem “our happiness” by Eileen Myles. What do you notice about the poem? Note any words or phrases that stand out to you or any questions you might have.
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Listening to the Poem: Enlist two volunteers and listen as the poem is read aloud twice. Write down any additional words and phrases that stand out to you. You may enjoy this video of the poet reading the poem for Dear Poet 2026.
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Small Group Discussion: Share what you noticed about the poem with a small group. How do the resources from the beginning of class connect to the poem? What do you think of the title “our happiness”? How would you describe the speaker’s happiness, and how does it compare to what your class shared?
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Whole Class Discussion: As shared in the Dear Poet video, this poem was written about the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. How does that inform your reading of the poem? What questions might you ask the poet about this poem? Why?
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Extension for Grades 7-8: In honor of National Poetry Month, write a class poem that borrows the title “our happiness.” Ask each student to contribute one or more lines about something that make them happy. Then, divide students into groups to arrange the poem into lines and stanzas. Have groups share their different versions of the poem, and ask them to write their group poem on poster paper so that you may share the poems with your school community.
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Extension for Grades 9-12: In honor of National Poetry Month, read more poems. Find a poem that you enjoy and practice reading it aloud. Where does it have natural pauses, stops, and shifts? Where can you add emphasis and emotion? Share the poem you chose with the class, and say a few words about why you like it. If your school has the capability, work with another teacher to do a poetry swap with another class.
“You’ll meet people all over the world in person and through your work who will make it abundantly clear that what sails through your mind delights them, and the adventure of that encounter will bring you love and friendship and even some success but mostly it will bring you this crazy smiling part of yourself that will look back at you at thirteen or fifteen and even twelve (Hi!) and say honestly, you will be blown away by who you will grow up into.” Read Eileen Myles’s letter to their younger self, and write your own letter to Myles through Dear Poet 2026.
Free verse is poetry not dictated by an established form or meter and often influenced by the rhythms of speech. Read more.