People are chained to leashes.
There are no golden M’s.
No shoe shops
or buses.
No lost newspapers
strewn in city sidewalks,
plastered on bus windows,
crammed under park benches.
No lonesome coffee cups
or green and black trashcans
or black and grey cars
or grey and white smoke
drifting out of factories.
I don’t feel happy or at home,
comfortable or carefree.
I can hear no conversations,
smell no fancy restaurants.
An elephant walks down the street,
the handle of a leash
grasped in its trunk.
By Andrew, 7th grade
[photo by drea bejing via flickr]
Una mandarina anaranjada,
como una cruz.
Huele de la selva suave,
el sol brilloso y por dentro,
una flor jugosa.
~
A mandarin orange,
Like a cross.
It smells of the gentle jungle,
the brilliant sun, and inside,
a juicy flower.
By Janet, 3rd grade
[photo by Kyra Camili via flickr]
The buds
of pansies
blossom
in the
muddy field
on a spring
mountain, as a butterfly
arcs
over a
blossoming rainbow
The spring breeze
picks up
dark clouds roll
in
A fawn
runs
for cover
A thin
mist begins to
rise
Water beats down on the
forest.
By Grace, 4th grade
Oh mom, without you,
I wouldn’t be able to get food.
I also wouldn’t have anyone
to play with.
Without you,
I wouldn’t even have my birthday.
Oh mom, how wonderful you are.
You are a wizard in the kitchen.
You are a great reader.
You cook me food.
You play with me,
you take care of me.
By Reeti, 2nd grade
[photo by mccluskey via flickr]
My mommy and I
went to the store
and bought cinnamon bread.
My mommy and I
went home.
When we got home
we ate some cinnamon bread.
My mommy makes me feel
like milk and cookies.
By Charlotte, 1st grade
[photo by nOvk via flickr]
My bee’s stinger is a sharp pencil that writes stories about stinging.
Her black stripes make the night come.
Her buzz calls other insects to her when she’s bored.
My bee’s legs are lollipops that steal nectar from flowers.
Her fur is fuzzy fire to keep her warm in winter.
At night she dreams she is a great, red robin who eats worms.
Her snowy wings help her fly through the sky.
By Allisa, 1st grade
[photo by yyelsel_ann via flickr]
12 pale silhouettes dancing
in a moonlit courtyard
glistening under a gossamer fog.
That is why the sky is blue. A rather
odd remark. The silhouettes were clouds
swaying in the moonlit courtyard of the sky.
The low, gossamer fog danced, made blue
silhouettes resembling the sky.
The sky danced in the tall, pale cedar tree
that shined like the gray chimes that
hung from it. In the magnolia tree,
flowers blooming with small petals
curling in circles like the sky in
which the blue world began.
By Zoe, 4th grade
[photo by kevin dean via flickr]
Originally published on July 8, 2009.
This poem is featured as part of the 2010 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.
They’re the darkest you’ll ever see.
I don’t know how, but you can see
hurricanes and tornadoes emerging,
you can watch blue fish swim
through the deepest rivers. Pay close
attention, and you can see glass as
it shakes from lightning. Don’t get
too close, or you will see the
whirling snow revolving around and
around. Watch as the clouds move
to show the moon reflecting off the water.
When you take your last look, be still.
You will see the spider web as it gets
tangled up in lies.
By Kadijah, 7th grade
[photo by remo via flickr]
Originally published on December 4, 2009.
This poem is featured as part of the 2010 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.
I hear…
girls laughing with deep voices like men.
clapping like you’re at church.
Lydia talking softly like rats at night.
birds chirping like they are talking.
hammers beating like a giant stomping.
airplane vrroooooming like an eighteen wheeler.
truck squeaking like a rubber duck.
These are the sounds of the Third Ward.
By Chelsea, 4th grade
[photo by tewink via flickr]
This poem is featured as part of the 2010 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.
Don’t sit down and watch TV all day
every day. Go outside and play basketball
with some friends and have a great time.
Don’t stay home watching Family Guy
or Sports Center and wishing you
are that LeBron James guy or the next
A-Rod or whoever.
Go make progress.
Go make things happen
like things have never happened before.
By Daazmen, 8th grade
This poem is featured as part of the 2010 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.
I smell paint,
……..water,
…………….smoke,
……………………candles.
I taste water,
……..sadness,
…………….ink.
I see blotches of ink and paint,
……..faces in doorways,
…………….fires,
……………………numbers floating.
I hear crying in the wind,
……..rain,
…………….dirt,
……………………flames.
I am in a city wrecked by a hurricane.
……..Trees I have known
…………….blown over.
Several houses
……..knocked down.
Patches of grass and flowers are still left.
Almost everything is wet.
Some people have no food or water.
……..You can taste the fear in the air.
I am now in a very colorful place.
Kids are laughing and playing at school.
No sense of sadness
……………………Anywhere.
There are poems on buildings
And flowers blooming.
By Abby, 3rd grade
[photo by Melinda Applegate via flickr]
This poem is featured as part of the 2009 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.
Earth, teach me to fly like the birds
And to love like them because they sing to everyone
Earth, teach me to grow like the trees and grow up to make paper
And to be tall like them so I can play basketball
Earth, help me camouflage and hide like all the clever animals
Earth, help me to be strong like the bear
And teach me to turn different colors like the leaves of fall
Earth, I just want to be silly like the squirrels that have no worries
As they run around and run around looking for acorns.
By Amos, 3rd grade
[photo by NASA from Apollo mission]
This poem is featured as part of the 2009 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.
I am a person who stays in your head when I’m not there because
I am the shield of a hero. Not the frail wooden kind that burns and splinters
but the sturdy metal kind
that stays on your side, used when needed.
I play it safe.
Unlike the sharp sword that cuts everything in its path,
Things are never what they seem with me.
I am the variegation of zebra stripes moving in every direction,
Leading to the open holes in which the intertwined laces lie.
I am the purple in the eye, but not the shimmering glint –
Because I am the space between spaces.
By Rebecca, 7th grade
[Photo by Tarrask via flickr]
This poem is featured as part of the 2009 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.
Para el niño que no esta fuerte,
amigo, levántate del sillón,
y súbete a la montaña
más grande del mundo,
y yo te voy a esperar
arriba de la montaña.
Demuéstrale al mundo
que tienes más fuerza
que un huracán.
No digas que no sirves
para nada.
Si tu quieres,
te puedo dar mis manos fuertes.
Jamás, amigo,
dejes tus sueños en la basura.
~
To the child who is not strong,
my friend, get up from the couch,
and climb the highest mountain
in the world,
and I will wait for you
on top of the mountain.
Show the world
that you are much stronger
than a hurricane.
Do not say that you are not
worth anything.
If you want,
I can give you my strong hands.
Never, my friend,
throw your dreams away in the trash.
By Alejandro, 3rd grade
[photo by NinaMeyers via flickr]
Originally published on May 20, 2009.
This poem is featured as part of the 2009 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by WITS that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click on the logo to the left to learn more.
