Birdfoot’s Grampa
Joseph Bruchac
The old man
must have stopped our car
two dozen times to climb out
and gather into his hands
5 the small toads blinded
by our lights and leaping,
live drops of rain.
The rain was falling,
a mist about his white hair
10 and I kept saying
you can’t save them all
accept it, get back in
we’ve got places to go.
But, leathery hands full
15 of wet brown life,
knee deep in the summer
roadside grass,
he just smiled and said
they have places to go to
20 too.
Making Meanings
Shaping Interpretations
1. What does Birdfoot’s Grampa refuse to accept? What do you think of his attitude?
2. Whom does Bruchac seem to agree with: the speaker or Birdfoot’s Grampa? How do you know?
3. Read the poem aloud. What uses of alliteration can you find in the poem? Which sounds in the poem do you like best?
Extending the Text
4. Many people, like Birdfoot’s Grampa, believe that their actions can make a difference, even if they can’t save everyone. Think of someone you know (or someone you know of) who has acted on this belief. What actions has this person taken?
Choices: Building Your Portfolio
Writer’s Notebook
1. Collecting Ideas for a How-To Essay
The actions of Birdfoot’s Grampa make a difference to the toads—and perhaps also to the speaker of the poem. If you were writing a how-to manual entitled “How to Make a Difference,” what steps might you include? Freewrite your ideas.
Creative Writing
2. Places to Go
Write a short rhymed or unrhymed poem describing the incident in the road from the toads’ point of view. Be sure to include the toads’ feelings toward Birdfoot’s Grampa. You might begin, “We were on our way to. . . .”
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