Little Window-detail2 (Photo credit: rosedeniz)
In the dark-ish night, deep in the
city, the sunset made blue-ish, orange reflections
in the calm river. The boats were heading
to the nearby dock. The tree in the
field with the ruffled shadow became clear.
The smoke from the burning bridge fell to peace.
By Michelle Smith, 5th grade
Calligram by Guillaume Apollinaire. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When a poet stares at time, everything stops.
When a poet loves, he freezes,
and his heart bursts open like an over-ripe banana.
When a poet thinks, he is so happy he will melt of happiness.
When a poet is angry, he will go crazy.
When a poet is sad, he will cry to death.
When a poet travels to a new land, he gets lost.
When a poet imagines, he sees himself as an astronaut
and then becomes one.
When a poet writes, he believes nothing is wrong
because he is at his best.
By Saadat Makki, 3rd grade
Airplanes Light Trails (Photo credit: JcOlivera.com)
Leaving land of lone star
of heat, humidity, and horses
on a huge white bird
over open ocean
in night’s ebony embrace
Out of the ominous
an amazing archipelago
the pearl of perfection
the majesty of mountains
home
By Samuel Samson-Williams, 7th grade
Congratulations to Laura Moulton in Portland, Oregon. She has worked with Writers in the Schools (WITS) as well as Writers Outside of the Schools (WOOTS) in Portland.
In 2011 she founded Street Books, a bike-powered cart that provides library services to the homeless.
She was recently awarded a National Book Foundation Grant for “passion, creativity, dedication, and leadership in the service of creating and sustaining a lifelong love of reading.”
Roar! Roar! I hear the sound nearby. I see 10,000 black stripes. I am scared. “I am in India. I must watch out,” I say to myself. There is the sound again. Roar! Roar! Roar! I look back, then yell like crazy. There is an entire herd of tigers. They charge at me and are close on me. “Help! Help!” I yell. I run to a tree and scamper up it. Caw! Caw! I hear a crow who warns me of the tigers. I jump out of bed and look around. Phew!
By Sahana, 2nd grade
A red creature against a heavenly couple
An infinite space is the battlefield
A deadly war will take place
The people are good at protection
We don’t know the solution
I think the people will win
The rays will come with flowers
And the gods win
By Anirudh, 2nd grade
El mar inclinando en los ojos de mi mamá
Los ojos de mi mamá son azul como el agua.
Las olas son como la felicidad de ella.
La corriente es como su enojo.
Las rocas son la soledad.
(Translation)
My mother’s eyes are blue like the water.
The waves are her joy.
The current is her anger.
And the rocks are her solitude.
by Liliana, 2nd grade
Photo by BN catchesthelight via Flickr
Photo by Kayli Rogers
If mi hermana were here
I could blow bubbles with her
She knows how to make
big, fat, round bubbles
that float up, up, up
She’s teaching me
everything she knows
about life because I’m
the little sister and she’s
the big sister and we’re
friends.
By Sandra, 1st grade
Yellow bulldozer. (Photo credit: MJ/TR (´･ω･))
I am yellow
a man who’s driving a bulldozer
an earthquake hitting the hard ground on earth
a crane with a ball that weighs 1 million tons
about to crash history
a light feeling coming from myself
I am blue
calm waves crashing
a quiet person walking
sprinkling rain falling to the ground
peaceful and quiet
I am red
lava coming from a volcano
the amber of a fire
the mad feeling of angriness
By Owen, 2nd grade
I’ve always been interested in music. One of my earliest memories was getting my first drum set. I was seven. My parents got it at a garage set, and as soon as I saw it, I was ready to start. I taught myself just by listening to music and then trying to play what I heard. When I was about 12, I started playing at school. I had to audition to play the drums. When I started, it was a lot more structured. Instead of teaching myself, I had others teaching me. I found out that I had developed some bad habits, but I still think the time I spent teaching myself was worthwhile. Over the next few years I kept improving. When I was 16, I joined a jazz band. It’s the hardest thing I’ve done so far. It’s a completely different style of playing, and it’s a lot harder. The only teacher I had was another kid. I love it. We play at the school and at competitions. I think you’re born into drumming. Only about 8% of the world has the brain capability to drum well. You have to be good at multi-tasking and being steady. In drumming the terminology is based on sound. For example, you might play a flamadiddle followed by a ratamacue. If you don’t have a good drummer, you can’t have a good band. I want music to continue to be a part of my life.
By Haden, 11th grade
We are lucky to live in a city with so much poetry action! Here is the latest announcement from our friends at Public Poetry:
Public Poetry continues in May with an exciting group of featured poets - Eric Ekstrand, Jasminne Mendez, John Pluecker and Robin Reagler. Our special guest is artist Arielle Masson. There will be a talented young WITS student, too. The Jungman Regional Library, 5830 Westheimer, 77057 (not far from the Galleria) is our library partner for this event. See you there, Saturday, May 5 at 2 PM.
Writers in the Schools (WITS) will celebrate some of Houston’s most talented young artists at its Young Writers Reading, an annual literary event held May 6th, at 3 pm at Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston. The event is free and open to the public. 
WITS Young Writers Reading event enriches the lives of students ranging from elementary to high school age by giving them the chance to read the work they have written under the guidance of a professional writer. Each student has been chosen from a juried competition. WITS publishes the best work in a bound anthology called Blooms.
The Young Writers Reading Series began in 1989 as a way to celebrate the achievements of the city’s most gifted young writers. For more information, visit www.witshouston.org.
You won’t want to miss this wonderful event at Discovery Green! Arrive early to play with our friends from Playworks Houston. Please come out on Sunday to support Houston’s youngest poets and writers!
Thank you for participating in A Poem a Day with Writers in the Schools (WITS). If you enjoyed reading these poems by WITS students during National Poetry Month, here are some options for staying in the WITS “loop” throughout the year:
We would like to thank the Houston Arts Alliance, the City of Houston, and the Texas Commission on the Arts for sponsoring A Poem a Day 2012. The following organizations distributed poetry bookmarks: the Houston Public Library, Harris County Public Library, the Houston Zoo, Houston Grand Opera, Copy.com, Houston Visitors Center, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Half Price Books, Hobby Center for the Arts, Houston Museum of Natural Science, Menil Bookstore, Museum of Printing History, Downtown Aquarium, Children’s Museum of Houston, Books-a-Million, and Hotel Indigo. Thanks to HEB Montrose grocery or Georgia’s Market Downtown for displaying poems in their stores.
A very special thanks goes to the staff at KPFT 90.1 FM, Parker Elementary School Principal Drew Houlihan, his students, their teachers, and Producer Susan Phillips for featuring the poems on the radio each weekday. You can hear each poem by clicking the audio link underneath the text.
Creativity is what makes each day yours. We hope you will stay in touch.
Photo by Tracy Clifton
I will spin you a story from the air
you breathe, each word shining
with tiny silver drops.
I will mold this story
in the shape of the clouds,
so that when you look up,
the phrases will blow in your ear.
I will spread this story through
the fierce blowing winds
so that when they rustle the leaves
you will think of your courage.
And before I leave our story,
I will share it with the sun,
so that when I leave this world,
the sun’s bright light will pass my story on.
by Sarah, 5th grade
Click this link to listen to the poem read on KPFT radio by Mary Phillips, a 4th grade student at Parker Elementary in Houston.
This poem is featured as part of the 2012 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by Writers in the Schools (WITS) that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click here to learn more.
Image by donnjmck via Flickr
If there is a cat on your head
scream
If there is a feather in your spaghetti
laugh
If there are ants in your pants
freak out
If there is love in your heart
pass it on.
By Johana, 4th grade
Click the link (above) to listen to the poem read on KPFT radio by Kathryn Chavez, a 4th grade student at Parker Elementary in Houston.
This poem is featured as part of the 2012 A Poem A Day campaign, a National Poetry Month celebration by Writers in the Schools (WITS) that features a different poem by a WITS student every day during April. Click here to learn more.
