Power of the Poet

It was like a scene from “Star Wars”--the one where wise old Obi-Wan Kenobi puts Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in touch with the Force. Except this time, there were 20 Lukes and Leias, and the Force was not that of a warrior but of a poet.

Last week Len Schill, a Ventura-based poet and photographer and at 85 a self-proclaimed “super senior,” conducted a demonstration of his poetry lessons for kids 7 to 12. (The regular session starts today at Ventura’s Barranca Vista Park.) “They were inside that lesson in 15 minutes, as though it was their 20th lesson,” Schill reports. “I had so far given them nothing, and they were giving me everything.”

Schill (pronounced skill) had begun the session by asking the kids what they knew about poetry, or whether they knew a poem. And then he listened. Really listened.

“Even if they knew half a poem, or didn’t know who wrote it . . . I never tell them anything until I find out what they know,” he says.

The secret of such a teaching technique is, of course, that many kids have lots going on inside their heads that can be coaxed out in the form of poetry--their own or something they have learned--and Schill is a master at this.

Asked if he wants the kids who come to his fall classes to bring something they’ve written, or even just a blank book for doing class exercises, he says firmly, “I want them to bring themselves. I’ll bring paper.”

Sessions will touch on haiku, classical poems and blank and free verse, using examples from all over the world.

Some sessions will involve writing poems during class and discussing them with the group. Kids will also recite what they have written. “Come up and speak loudly and clearly. Tell us what it means,” he tells the kids, “and if there’s something [that’s not working], we’ll correct it--find out what’s right.”

Schill developed this manner of conducting a poetry class through the years, mainly by teaching at local senior centers and colleges. (His next session at Oxnard College begins Dec. 3).

In his view, “You don’t teach poetry, you lead people into it. It has to come from within.” But he’s no Pollyanna about the process: “Some can’t be poets if they stand on their heads.”

Schill also brings to his class the insights of a professional photographer whose repertoire includes glamour shots of Doris Day and ‘60s album covers for the Rolling Stones.

“I watch the ones who are keeping quiet [when others are excited during a discussion],” says Schill, who observes their body language to gauge when they can be brought into the discussion.

Not shy himself about reciting, and not slowed down by a health condition called post-polio stenosis, Schill has been a featured reader at Ventura poetry venues such as Cafe Voltaire and the Daily Grind, as well as at Earthling Bookshop in Santa Barbara.

BE THERE

Poetry Writing for Kids, Thursdays, 3-4 p.m., ages 7-12, Barranca Vista Park Center, 7050 Ralston Ave. Ventura. Eight sessions for $40. First meeting is today, then weekly through Dec. 4, except for Thanksgiving. (805) 658-4726.