By: Samantha Borromeo

Oh, ice cream!

You are a piece of Heaven on Earth

My addiction

My counselor

My love

My favorite food!

I am attached to you like the strongest magnet on Earth

You come around on the hottest of days

And I come to you on the worst of days

You are a perfect icy delight

With flavors of plenty

You are as diverse as America!

There’s strawberry

With a surprise of bloody red berry

Hidden in your frozen delight

There’s vanilla

Plain, yet the most iconic taste to exist

There’s chocolate

A glimpse of a slobbery two year old

Devouring his first chocolate cake

That is put into a frozen paradise

There’s cookie dough

There’s mint

There’s rocky road

There’s thousands of tastes

Thousands of ingredients

Thousands of feelings

That are all a part of

Our beloved ice cream

By Alexis Mendel

Another yelp of thunder

boomed from above

like God scolding us for being

so mischievous

The radio gurgled one song

after the other

making us scream along

to inaudible lyrics

Dancing Queen

Blared in rhythm

As the rain pitter-pattered on the windows

and danced along our skin

The world was crying

but we were laughing

Fresh rain swam through our bodies

and the wet grass tickled our feet

Water splashed our feet

drenching us with cold water

Cloudy skies hovered above

taking the spotlight away  from us

But the thunder howled cheers

And the lightning applauded  in joy

A tirade struck the joy

And the lightning licked the sky

Making us squeal,

Running towards shelter

Towels of warmth

Wrapped around us

As  an ABBA’s CD

Played their songs on replay

The tirade continued

But our smiles

Were glued onto our

Shining faces

Reflection Questions

1. The poem type that I published was my sense poem.

     2b. I chose this event for my poem because I feel that this story shows the truth behind the quote, “Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain” (Vivian Greene). This event does give this quote a literal meaning, but it shows that life isn’t about all the needs you have to complete of the wants people would like for you to complete. Life is about making all the mistakes you don’t want to make and breaking all the rules that are meant to be broken, it’s about learning to dance in the rain. It can also be interpreted by it meaning to stat as yound and childish for as long as possible.

   3. The tone of my poem is childish and playful.

   4. The theme of my poem is to be young and/or childish for as long as possible.

   5a. The first type of figurative language quote is “But the thunder howled cheers, and the lightning applauded  in joy.” The second one is “But our smiles were glued onto ours shining faces.”

   5b. The first type of figurative language I used was personification because I said the thunder howled cheers and the lightning applauded in joy. The second one is a metaphor because I am saying that our smiles were stuck on our faces like glue being stuck to paper. It could also be considered a hyperbole because I am being dramatic at saying that our faces were stuck with smiles on them.

   5c. This figurative language contributes to the tone and the theme because “the thunder howled cheers” and “the lightning applauded in joy” gives a childish feeling because it seems like they are imagining it. “But our smiles were glued onto our faces” makes the poem seem playful because they are still giddy even though they had been just yelled at.

   6a. Two example of a revision I made was that I changed “yelling” into “scolding” when writing “God was scolding us for being mischievous.” The second one is that I changed “clapped’ into “applauded” for when writing “the lightning applauded in joy.”

   6b. I chose to revise those words because they emphasize on the sound that the action that happened. Instead of God just yelling at them, he scolded them for being so childlike. Instead of the lightning just clapping, it applauded the kids, almost as if it erupted in joy.

   7. When thinking of this poem, it came to mind very quickly. It wasn’t hard to think of all the sensory details or figurative language because this story means so much to me. The story is just one of the few that my cousins and I share so the meaning to me is very deep and personal.

   8. I am very satisfied with my final draft because I have worked hard to keep this memory strong and all the details make it seem like it comes to life whenever I read it. The poem seems like it happened yesterday and the music that was in this poem is all of my childhood.

By Charity Witcher

Pillow.

You keep

my head warm

you provide

a soft

cussion

beneath my

tired skull

you drown out

the

sound of

thunder,

on a

stormy night

you sheild

my face

from

the darkness,

just enough

so I still see

the moonlight

You smell

like

everything

I love

But yet

you

have

no fragrance

You greet

me

when I

awake

every morning,

like an old friend

You watch,

endless episodes of

Friends

by my side

when I should

be

sleeping

But you don’t mind

You are

my silent

best friend

I am

grateful for

your understanding

You absorb my tears

like a sponge

when I cry

I will

take you

with

me

to college, when I’m

older

to my first home, when

I’m much older

than that

Because you

where there

for me

when I

first

met you

By: Christine Jang

I slowly open my groggy eyes.

Swaddled by my feathery covers.

The murmur of each raindrop falling onto the hard rooftop

Fills my ears.

My colorless,

Yet simplistic

Room is dimmed by the half opened curtains,

Looking out to the gray sky and faintly painted clouds.

I pull my curly, coarse hair up like a bird’s nest.

My clumsy hand hovers over the cold, hard bed stand

Obtaining my awkward-fitting, smudged glasses,

That sits comfortably on my small nose.

The subtle sound of quiet breathing coming from my sister’s room

Fills the empty hallway.

Vigilant of making a loud noise,

Cautious of disrupting the peaceful silence of roaring stillness.

I walk down the narrow staircase,

My nose following the pervaded aroma of gingerly, warm honey tea.

The glimpse of the small living room lamp,

Reflects off my father’s glasses,

Who was rushing out of the house,

Grabs the keys with clashing rumble.

He looks up with a surprised and affectionate smile,

Kisses my cold, untouched forehead with a warm kiss.

The wooden, front door is creaked open.

The sound of the pouring hard rain emits through the whole, silent house.

Soon after, the door is closed.

Immediately hushing the interrupting buzz of the busy outside.

Reflection:

1. I published a sensory detail poem.
2. I chose a rainy Saturday morning as the basis of my poem because this was still a very vivid, clear, fond memory I could remember well.
3. The tone of my poem is serene.
4. The theme of my poem is that a memory does not have to be extravagant.
5. a) “I pull my curly, coarse hair up like a bird’s nest”
6. b) This is a simile because it uses the word “like” and is comparing my hair to a bird’s nest.
7. c) This figurative language contributes to the tone and theme development by talking about an unimportant, daily part of a typical day contributing into a fond memory.
8. a) “Swaddled by my feathery covers”
9. b) This is personification because it uses a human action, swaddling, to describe a non-human object, the covers.
10. c) This figurative language contributes to the tone and theme development by showing a calm, harmonious tone to add onto the serene tone and a daily action into peaceful memory.
11. I changed “sound” to “murmur” because it shows a more calm, peaceful mood and a sensory detail to better understand the story.
12. I added “empty” to hallway because it showed a more sight detail and added a neutral tone.
13. This was a fairly easy poem for me to write because this memory was easy to remember and I was able to add much sensory detail within the story.
14. I am satisfied with my final draft because it showed all the emotions and tone I was feeling while living the memory, and I am content with small, yet important exaggerated events that happened within the poem that helps give much detail.

By: Peter Hoenig

Down 7-3

The bases loaded

The bat handle greasy

The crowd silent

Butterflies in my stomach

The pitchers eyes beamed at me

Then the pitch

CRACK!

The ball shot into the air like a rocket

The other team in shock

I blazed around the bases

Gleaming at the crowd

The team with me on their back

Excitement all the way around

We won

1. I published a sensory detail poem.
2. I chose this event as the basis for my poem because it was an amazing moment in my life and I remembered every moment of it.
3. The tone of my poem is victorious. Some lines that support this are “Excitement all the way around”,”We won”, and “The team with me on their back”.  These support the tone because they have vocab that happens when you win such as excitement and the team carrying me on their backs.
4. The theme of my poem is Every chance you don’t take is a missed opportunity. It is this because if I were to have told my coach to not put me in and that I was scared I would’ve never had one of the greatest moments of my life but I decided to take the chance.
5. One piece of figurative language was, “CRACK!”, which is an onomatopoeia. This contributes to the development of the theme and tone because it is the first part where the reader realizes that I actually came through and succeeded in the chance I took. The second figurative language I chose was a hyperbole in “The ball shot into the air like a rocket” and I chose this to really show that I crushed the ball and it was going a long way.
6. One revision that I made was changing joy to excitement in the second to last line. I did this because I felt like joy didn’t really fit my poem and excitement was a better fit. My second revision was I switched the order of “The crowd silent” and “Butterflies in my stomach”. I did this because it seemed more right when I went over reading it.
7. It was pretty easy to write this poem because I remember this moment very vividly and could write about it easily.
8. I am pretty satisfied with this final draft because it is pretty much the first poem I have written and I think I did a decent job.

By Audrey Hood

I picked you up for the first time

When I was only five years old.

From the moment I started

I knew it was right, as if it was destiny.

You were with me when my father was trying

To teach me how to throw a ball for the first time.

You were with me when I had my first game

And was learning the ropes of softball.

You were with me all my years of house league and travel softball.

You were with me even when my team was

Constantly changing like a revolving door.

You were with me for all my games, even if I won or lost.

You traveled with me all over the East coast when I had tournaments.

You were there for all my late weeknight practices

When I probably should’ve been doing homework.

You were like the rock in my life

That was always there for me.

You were one of my closests companions

Who helped me make my plays and my outs.

You were the one thing I could look forward to everyday

like a toy to a kid.

Now you’re like an old family member.

You’re something I take for granted sometimes

But I will always love.

Even when I don’t have practice

I pull you out and grab a softball to throw with

Just because I love the game.

You have become a lifestyle

Not a hobby.

You are something I don’t ever have to doubt.

When I have a glove and a ball in my hand

I am my most confident and best self.

You’re one of the most concrete things in my life.

Softball has become my home.

1. The poem I published was an ode poem.
2. I chose softball as the subject of my ode poem because I have been playing softball for almost ten years of my life. I have also found that softball has been my best stress reliever through middle school because it is something I will always be good at.
3. The tone of my poem is a mix between heartfelt and appreciation because this ode poem is showing my gratitude towards my ability to play the game.
4. The theme of my poem is that if you find something you love, you should work hard to be your very best at it.
5. “You were like the rock in my life” is a simile that shows that softball was always something I had in my life and “Now you’re like an old friend” is also a simile that shows that I have grown comfortable with softball through the years of playing it.
6. I changed “tournaments” to “games” so that there wouldn’t be unwanted repetition and “friend” to “companion” for a more elegant word.
7. It was pretty easy to write this poem because I didn’t have to think about why I love the game of softball or having the ability to play softball.
8. I am very satisfied with my poem because it reminds me of all the reasons why I love softball.

By: Lauren Wilson

Hundreds of lives taken from children at a place they are supposed to feel safe

Their parents despair like a thousand bullets to the heart

Feelings that shouldn’t be felt but are

Letting this happen we are ruining our future

A problem that is getting bigger and bigger but not better

Lost and confused we try to find our way to the light

We search for something to patch up our hearts but nothing works

My heart is sorrowful and cries for the families that are grieving

Our future is in danger and we need to start fixing it

We are letting these pure souls go

Begging for them to be saved but doing nothing ourselves

It is time to stop the number of lives taken from going up

It is time to take action

1. I chose to do an inspired poem.
2. The source of my inspiration was the recent problem with school shootings.
3. The tone of my poem hopeful.
4. The theme of my poem is it’s time to take action and prevent school shootings.
5. A. “Their parents sorrows like a thousand bullets to the heart”

1. The type of figurative language is simile
2. This figurative language contributes to the theme development by explaining how the parents feel about losing their children and why it is important to take action.

1. “ My heart is sorrowful and cries for the families that are grieving”
2. The type of figurative is personification.
3. This figurative language contributes to the theme development by explaining how I feel about this issue and another reason why it is important to take action.

6. One revision I made was I changed the word “sad” to the word “sorrowful”.

Another revision I made was I changed the word “sorrow” to the word “despair”.

7.  It was easy to write this poem because I felt strongly about this subject and had a lot to say about it.  
8. I am very satisfied with my final draft because I think it has a lot of emotion.

By: Logan Boddie

Tall standing trees dancing in the breeze

The sun peaking through its bright green leaves making shadow puppets on the grass

Joyful solitude

Waking up naturally to birds singing at your window

With the energy to start the new day

Reading a book without distractions and the ability to become part of it

Sleeping in tranquility

Peace calms the weak-hearted like a mother

Peace is like an eternal hug

Peace is a sunset beach on a clear day

With no one else but you

1. I published an emotion poem.
2. I chose this emotion because I think that people overlook it because they’re so busy pursuing something else and don’t realise how powerful it can be.
3. The tone of my poem is peaceful.
4. The theme of my poem is that peace is all around us, we just need to stop to enjoy it.
5. One example of figurative language in my poem is “Tall standing trees dancing in the breeze” which is a personification. I chose this line of figurative language because when it it really nice outside, kinda hot with a cool breeze, the trees sway in a relaxing motion and relaxation is related to peace. Another example of figurative language from my poem is “peace calms the weak-hearted like a mother” which is a simile. I chose this figurative language because when someone suddenly feels peaceful, one could describe it as a wave that washes over them. I would describe the way a mother makes you feel as a wave of peace, also.
6. The first revision I made was that I added the line “the sun peaking through its bright green leave ps making shadow puppets on the grass” to add more detail. The second revision I made was that I changed “trees rustling in the breeze” to “trees dancing in the breeze” to add a personification.
7. It was easy to write this poem because peace is so abundant that it isn’t hard to understand what it feels like which is why it was easy to make others understand what peace feels like.
8. I am very satisfied with the final draft of this poem because I think that I have conveyed successfully what peace is to the reader with the help of figurative language which is a win in my book.

I glance over the rows of seats

And below the glaring lights

Is a restless crowd.

As my hands fly back

And forth across the keys while the others frantically

Bow back and forth,

The minute movements of shuffling feet

And squeaking strings

And ruffling sheet music,

Are all under the watchful eye

Of the conductor.

In the midst of the melodies,

A stumble occurs.

The crowd doesn’t notice

But the perceptive ears of the musicians

Catch all falters.

Yet still we push forward.

As the show comes to its close,

And the players slow to a stop,

Rising out of the looming silence

Like a phoenix from the ashes,

Is a thunderous applause.

1. I published a sensory detail poem.

      2b. It was full of many vivid details that I could describe with a chronological order.

3. The tone of my poem is nervous.                                                                         
4. Theme of my poem is that even though people make mistakes, if you take them in stride, you can turn them into something wonderful.
5. “Rising out of the looming silence, like a phoenix from the ashes, is a thunderous applause” is a simile which i used to contribute to the change in tone towards the end from nervousness to triumph.

          “others frantically Bow back and forth” is an example of imagery. The figurative language contribute to the development of nervousness by expressing it in the musicians.

6. Revision #1: I changed the “roaring applause” to “thunderous applause” to help communicate the magnitude and extremity of the sound.

          Revision #2: I added “in the midst of the melodies” to add both alliteration and to help transition from one point in the story to another.

7. It was easy for me to write this poem because i have both a big vocabulary and remember a lot of the details of that concert.
8. I’m pretty happy with the final draft because it tells a story with multiple parts, has lots of sensory detail, and fulfills the requirements for my type of poem.

by Max Muldoon

My Hopes

I hope for a day when all have food

I hope for a day when everyone greets each other with an affable mood

I hope for a day when birds always sing

I hope for a day when a husband and wife are united for eternity by a golden ring

I hope for a day when friends are always true

To friends oldest and ever so new

I hope for a day when the country is one

Like a synchronized orchestra that plays to the beat of a drum

I hope for a day when everyone’s the same

Like a photograph of honeycomb encompassed in a frame

I hope that no one will ever shy away

To the challenges they face with their friends day by day

Poem Reflection

1. I published an inspired by poem.
2. My source of inspiration for this poem was my hopes for a better future.
3. My desired tone for my poem was a hopeful tone.
4. The theme to my poem is that unity and love is the foundation to a successful future.
5. Two examples of figurative language used in my poem are,”I hope for a day when the country is one, like a synchronized orchestra that plays to the beat of a drum”(simile) and,” A husband and wife united for eternity by a golden ring.”(hyperbole)  Both of these quotes from my poem contribute to the overall theme of unity and love because they describe working together in unison.  These quotes also support the overall hopeful tone because unifying the country will bring about peace and love and so will being married for eternity represent how, as a couple, you are one, committed and hopeful for your future, which is what my poem is about.
6. One example of a revision I made was to add my last two lines of the poem, “I hope that no one will ever shy away, to the challenges they face with their friends day by day,” to  reinforce the theme of love and unity. Another example of a revision I made was that I took out,”And no one will ever be the source of blame” and replaced it with,” Like a photograph of honeycomb encompassed in a frame.”  I did this to add figurative language and draw likeness between a honeycomb and comparing the same views and likeness in the world.
7. It was fairly easy for me to write this poem because I was inspired by my own hopes and dreams.  All I had to do was think about my own optimisms and changes I wished to see for the future and write about them in a poem.
8. I am very satisfied with my final draft because I exceeded all expectations listed in the rubric. I think it has good flow and I even was able to make it rhyme!