The Window: A Mentor Text

“The Window” is a poem by Summer Loh, age 8. In the poem, the speaker wipes the fog off of the glass of their window into the shape of a heart. The speaker then observes the people of the city: a girl with her dog in a baseball cap strolling, a young man performing a sad song, an old couple walking, and finally, a flower.

The poem’s form is unique. There are three long lines. Sandwiched between the first and second long line and the second and third long lines are three columns of three lines each. These can be read across or, in some cases, down. 

How does this poet play with poetic forms?

In “The Window,” Summer Loh is using a variation on a poetic form called a contra-punto. Contra-puntos are typically written in two columns and contain text that can be read either across or down. “The Window” has three columns, but the principle is the same. Though it seems like the poem can be read a bit more naturally from left to right, reading the columns from top to bottom can often create some interesting effects. 

Reading across, we get a picture of what the speaker sees: “an old couple / walking to a café / I see a brave flower blooming.” But when we start to read it down, the poem begins to really surprise us: “old / to a / brave flower” was one of my favorite moments. I also loved, “café / blooming.” By creating a grid of words, the poet allows the reader to choose which direction they read the poem. You can even zigzag around: “walking I see a brave flower” and “walking to a brave flower.”

Another part of the poem that could be read in an unconventional way is the three lines that were separated by the two sets of columns. Reading just the lines that go all the way across the page, the story of the poem completely changes: 

I look out the window and wipe the fog off the glass into a heart shape.

I see a young man in a polka-dotted shirt performing a sad song,

through the cracks of a city block, all alone, except for his friend, the shy moss

Of course, with columns, the story is more complex. The speaker sees a lot more—a girl with her dog, an old couple walking to a café, etc. With the columns in place, the ending of the poem is completely different: it is a brave flower that blooms through the cracks of the city block, all alone except for the moss. But it’s very exciting that the poem has these two readings: the young man performing a sad song all alone. 

Through “The Window,” Summer Loh reminds us that sometimes, poems can be read in directions other than left to right.

Discussion questions:

• What are other places in the poem where reading the words in an unconventional order gives you interesting results?
• Why do you think the poet only chose to put some images into columns?

The Window

I look out the window and wipe the fog off the glass into a heart shape.

I see a young man in a polka-dotted shirt performing a sad song,

through the cracks of a city block, all alone, except for his friend, the shy moss.