A Saturday morning

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.

The Walk Off

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.

 

Capitals vs. Lightning Game 7

By: Lisa Vu

It has been 20 years

Since we went to the Stanley Cup finals

Excitement was in the air

The game was endless

Fans screaming their heads off for the Capitals

We never gave up

We lost but we kept on going

It was so close yet so far

But the last game changed everything

We have another chance to win

And take home the cup

Work hard

Play hard

And never give up

 

 

1. I publish a Inspired by poem.

2. My source of inspiration was the Capitals game because they’re going to the Stanley Cup finals.

3. The tone of my poem is hopeful.

4. The theme of my poem is never give up.

5. “The game was endless” hyperbole, I put this figurative language in my poem to show how the game was nerve wracking and how it felt like it wasn’t gonna end.

“Fans screaming their heads off for the Capitals” hyperbole, I put this figurative language in my poem becasue it shows how excited and mad the game made the fans feel.

6.  Revision 1: I changed “we work hard” to “work hard” because I think it sounds better.

Revision 2: I added “the” in between “but” and “last” because I think it would sound better.

7. It was easy to write this poem because I was really inspired by how hard the Capitals worked to get to where they are now.

8. I am very satisfied with my poem because I worked really hard on it and it’s about one of my favorite things, which is hockey.

To Growing Up

by Isabel Yabes

 

“All grown-ups were once

Children…

But only a few of them

Remember

It…”

How dim

The future

Will be

Should we lose

That innocent child’s voice

That cries out to us

“Come back! Come back!”

As we grow up;

How sad

The future

Is to be

Should we stop

Smiling

And

Laughing

And

Loving

As dearly

As we do

Now.

Like a

Bird,

A mere fledgling,

Grown up

And

Soaring away,

Your youth

Must not be.

As we grow up

Do not let it

Be lost

To you;

Do not let it

Be the

Keys

To your

Childhood,

Lost

And

In the dark.

Do not

Grow up,

Dear child;

Not entirely,

Not ever

Fully.

Your

Inner child,

You must not

Lose.

Yes,

Grow,

But

Never

Forget

The child

Within.

 

Poetry Publication Reflection

  1. I published an Inspired By poem.
  2. The source of my inspiration was the book, The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, specifically, the italicized quote in the beginning. It inspired me because The Little Prince had such a big impact on how I viewed life after I read it as a seventh-grader last year, but the above quote by itself left me in awe and wonder. So many people don’t know about how important this is, and I used this as an opportunity to voice this.
  3. The tone of my poem is somewhere in between nostalgic and protective, but I can’t exactly define which one it specifically is. When I wrote this, I was mostly thinking about how I would address someone I watch grow up, like a child or younger cousin — someone who looks up to me for advice.
  4. The theme of my poem is ‘Don’t lose your inner child.’ It may seem quite obvious, but that was how I felt it needed to be conveyed.
  5. Two examples of figurative language in my poem are:
    1. “Like a/Bird,”
    2. Simile
    3. The comparison of the one the poem is addressed to and a bird allows the reader to understand, as continued in the next few lines, the one addressed cannot lose their youth in the way that a fledgling so easily flies away from its nest.
    4. “Be the/Keys/To your/Childhood”
    5. Metaphor
    6. The comparison of one’s youth to keys was my way of symbolizing how easy it was to lose, akin to the way a person loses their car keys or such.
  6. Two specific ways I revised my poem are:
    1. I made a significant revision when I added in the entire section of “Like a/Bird” to “In the dark”. I made this revision because the poem itself seemed to lacking more figurative language and insight on what I meant in the remainder of the poem.
    2. In comparison the revision mentioned above, this one may seem very minor, but I took out the word “car” which, as I initially planned, was supposed to come before keys, but then I remembered people don’t always lose car keys, but mostly just keys in general. Simply, I took it out to make the metaphor more general.
  7. For me, this poem was somewhat easy for me to write, because, while the quote itself was really inspiring and riveting in the sense that it helped the words flow really easily, the figurative language was hard to implement, and it took me a few revisions to get them in.
  8. I am actually very satisfied (while Alexander and Angelica aren’t) with the final draft of my poem. Everything turned out the way I hoped, and it was really fun to write. I thought this was a great end-of-the-year project! But, if I could do something different, maybe I’d make more of a point on how grown-ups and kids differ from the point of view Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s characters, just to make it a little different.

Ode To A Book

By Sneha Rajaraman

I see you

lurking on the

brown, dusty

shelves.

The one

who provides

beautiful hallucinations

to one’s mind.

 

You are

the inspiration

to children,

laughing as

they hear you.

Your bright, vibrant

words, shown

With your

imagination,

your inspiring thoughts,

endless

as they turn

the pages.

 

For many,

you are their

elixir of relaxation

for their glum

is never

caused by you.

 

As alluring as

the most beautiful

lavender flowers

As soft as the

softest pillows

You are like

music notes

wistfully flowing

as our youths

fall asleep,

dreaming in their

somnolent slumber.

 

You help them

imagine,

beckoning to them

“Open Me!”

For what

you carry

is not just

a welcoming cover

but an offering,

the gift of story

 

You feel this,

the texture

of soft paper

flitting through their

fingers

as their

senses of imagination

come from

your felicity,

as your incipient,

conflating words

only lead to

A sumptuous ending,

one that calms you

for the satisfaction

of books.

 

Reflection

1.Which poem type did you publish?

I published an Ode.

2f. Why did you choose the subject of your ode?

I chose to write an ode about books because I feel that books should get a lot more appreciation than they currently recieve. Books are one of the main things that provide inspiration so I felt that this was a good topic.

3. What is the tone of your poem?

The tone of my poem is awestruck as I am explaining how books make people feel wonderful and in awe.

4. What is the theme of your poem?

The theme of my poem is to never forget about the small things in life that inspire bigger things. Books inspire people to write more or try new things. While they may not seem like something big, but in the long run, they make a big difference.

5. Choose TWO examples of figurative language in the poem.

a. Like music notes wistfully flowing

b. This is a simile.

c. This helps the reader understand how calm but wonderful this makes people feel. Music notes convey a sense of peace and satisfaction, also giving a person a sense of awe in the music, exactly what I am trying to say in my poem about books.

d. ‘…beckoning to them, “Open Me”….’

e. This is personification.

f. This helps the reader understand that books are somewhat appealing in the sense that what a person sees from the book lures or inspires them to take and read the book, therefore forming a sense of satisfaction as they go through.

6. What are two specific ways you revised this poem?

a. I changed “yelling” to “beckoning”.

b. I changed “feel” to “texture”.

7. How easy or difficult was it to write this poem? Why?

While writing this poem, I thought this was somewhat easy because I seemed to bounce off a lot of ideas based on what I already had and didn’t have to think a lot about them.

8. How satisfied are you with your final draft? Explain.

I am very satisfied with my poem because I thought this correctly represented the way I feel about books; illuminating and relaxing.

Ode To Softball

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.

Falling Down

By Matthew Hembrador

 

 

I’m dying inside

Everything inside is aflame.

There is no breeze as I descend.

I’m falling.

The feeling of neglect like a withering plant

Like an abandoned toy.

Was messed around with no care.

I’m falling

I was a sword being put to good use

Become dull and was discarded.

I forged a new blade

Only to be screaming as I shatter.

Thrown into a furnace

Only to feel the fire again.

Plunged into the dark abyss walking aimlessly

I want to get out

I can’t get out

But I go back to the start

Finally waking up with a sense of relief.

But reality cannot be remolded.

My soul is being corrupted.

My soul is at disarray.

I’m empty like a hollow shell.

I’m falling down

To see the fiery hell

Why can it not stop

It’s never ending

I want to rest

I want to be released from these chains

My life was twisted

Looping back to where I started

But now I can sleep

And be at ease.

CRACK

 

Reflection

 

  1. I wrote an Emotion Poem.
  2. I chose to write on depression because it gives me the feeling that life isn’t fair.
  3. The tone of this story is melancholy.
  4. The theme of the poem is that you can’t recover from everything.
  5. “I was a sword being put to good use, became dull and was discarded,” is a metaphor comparing a person with a sword. This figurative language contributes to the poem because it shows that the person thought he had a purpose, to only find out that he was being used.
  6. One revision I did was adding “I’m falling,” to show that the character’s problem is getting worse. Another revision I did was change “a mess” to “disarray” to deepen the vocabulary.
  7. Writing this poem wasn’t hard or easy, because the poem was able to flow, but coming up with the story got me caught up a bit.
  8. I’m satisfied with the final draft because the poem turned out a lot better than I thought it was going to be.

 

Ode to Tom Hanks

Nuvin Bazid

61 years of age

Six feet and sage

Thomas Jeffrey Hanks

I felt the need to say thanks

You have so much masculinity

You make me question my sanity

I’d travel many miles

Just to see your smile

You’re as iconic as Olivia Wilde

You are as pure as a child

You have no room in your heart for hate

You will forever be great

You have so many wrinkles

Your eyes are as bright as diamonds, always have a twinkle

You’re amazing from your big round nose

All the way down to your old man toes

I will always love your iconic movies

I love them like sweet strawberry smoothies

You are as cool as ice

Your attitude is always nice

Your smile is as bright as the sun

You’re as sweet as a cinnamon bun

You’re as unappreciated as milk

Your hair is as smooth as silk

I love your movie, “The Post”

Except, I love “Forrest Gump” the most

If I meet you one day

I know exactly what I’ll say

I will start off with a plea

“Please adopt me”

Poetry Publication Reflection

 

Copy and paste this table into your blog post. Respond in complete sentences.

 

Questions Responses
  1. Which poem type did you publish?
The type of poem I decided to publish is an ode.
  1. Answer the ONE question that goes with your poem type:
    1. Emotion Poem: Why did you choose this emotion?
    2. Sensory detail Poem: Why did you choose this event as the basis for your poem?
    3. Inspired by poem: What was the source of your inspiration (poem, song, issue)? Why?
    4. Nature/environment poem: Why did you choose this environment?
    5. Allegory: What is the literal meaning (story)? What is the figurative meaning?
    6. Ode: Why did you choose the subject of your ode?
I chose the subject of my ode because I think Tom Hanks is a great man and deserves to be appreciated.
  1. What is the tone of your poem?
The tone of my poem is admiring.
  1. What is the theme of your poem?
The theme of my poem is Tom Hanks is a great man.
  1. Choose TWO examples of figurative language in the poem.
  1. Quote the figurative language: An example of figurative language I used in my poem is, “You’re as unappreciated as milk.”
  2. Type of figurative language: The type of figurative language is simile.
  3. Explain how this figurative language contributes to tone and theme development: This figurative language shows that he is one of those small things in life you don’t take the time to  appreciate .
  1. Quote the figurative language: An example of figurative language I used in my poem is, “You’re as sweet as a cinnamon bun”
  2. Type of figurative language: The type of figurative language is simile.
  3. Explain how this figurative language contributes to tone and theme development: It shows that Tom is sweet and lovable, like a cinnamon bun.
  1. What are two specific ways you revised this poem? (Example: “I changed “happy” to “content.”) Why did you make these revisions?
Revision #1:”Your eyes are as bright as diamonds, always have a twinkle”

Explanation: I accidentally said “has” instead of “have.” I had forgotten that since “eyes” is plural, it has to be have.

Revision #2:”You’re as iconic as Olivia Wilde”

Explanation: I had originally used Adele but it didn’t rhyme with child.

  1. How easy or difficult was it to write this poem? Why?
It was very easy to write this poem because i had so much to say about him.
  1. How satisfied are you with your final draft? Explain.
I am very satisfied with how my poem ended up because it shows exactly what I wanted to say.

 

Time to Take Action

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.
  1. 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”.

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

Shoulders

 

By: Emma Comerford

I wear clothes my parents approve

Not worried what they’ll say,

Just worried about you

You sit and judge me like a show dog

 

Dressed to cover my shoulders

Because we are solving the problem for you

My shoulders might offend you

Possibly because mine look better than yours

Or just because you have the power of a king

To tell me to cover my shoulders

 

But I’ve seen you

Go ahead,

Hide behind your rules like a toddler to its mother’s leg

Maybe we expose you

Just like my clothes expose my shoulders

 

  1. I published an Inspired by poem
  2. The source of my inspiration was the women objectification, a lot of teachers assume that girls wear these off the shoulder tops, crop tops, or tank tops because we want to impress guys. That isn’t true, we wear it because it is hot outside
  3. The tone of my poem is mostly agitated
  4. The theme of my poem is Enough is Enough
  5. “Hide behind your rules like a toddler to its mothers legs” This is a simile, and it contributes to the tone by saying that they know what they are doing is a bit over the top but they don’t want to come out and admit it.
  6. “You sit and judge me like a show dog” This is another simile and it contributes to the tone of the poem by making the school seem like they are picking on us for everything
  7. It was pretty easy to write this poem because it is a topic I feel very strongly about
  8. I am very satisfied with my final draft because it explains and portrays the school board exactly the way I was hoping