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.

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.

By Avery Parker

The sweet smell of popcorn and slushies lingered in the air

With every sound of a wrapper crinkling and crunching

My fists grew tighter together and the skin on my fingers felt as if microscopic

pins and needles were puncturing them

The final minutes of the movie we’re coming to an end

Apparently so were the cups of diet coke

as I could clearly hear the straw scraping the bottom of the cup searching for the last sip

Every set of eyes were glued to the colossal screen

Nobody wanted to miss the next iconic Marvel cinematic moments

The movie workers were even hanging near the door, with just enough room to see the screen clearly but still capable to bounce off their feet and began working

I watched as Thor flew into the air, crashed down onto Thanos, and drove his axe deep through the enormous, purple chest

My chest pulstated faster and faster

My stomach fluttered leaving a sore ache

My mouth fell open itself leaving me physically breathless

Finally my eyes filled with water making the screen and everything around me blurry

My hand temporary fixed the problem of the tears flowing down my face

I waited in anticipation for the Avengers to defeat Thanos but was only let with disappointment

As the credits began to roll on the screen

What was the point of ending with a loss?

Reflection Questions:

1. I published a sensory poem about the Marvel movie “Avengers Infinity War”.
2. I chose this topic for my sensory poem because I have always seen every Marvel movie and am a huge fan of the actors, the story lines, and superheros in general. I am also a huge fan of Chris Hemsworth who plays Thor.
3. The tone of my poem is suspense/anticipation.
4. The theme of my poem is you may be left with disappointment or something that you would never expect.
5. Two example of figurative language in my poem are imagery and simile. I used the sense sound, “I could clearly hear the straw scraping the bottom of the cup searching for the last sip.” The simile I used in my poem were, “My fists grew tighter together and the skin on my fingers felt as if microscopic pins and needles were puncturing them.”
6. Two specific ways I revised this poem were by changing the word “small” to “microscopic” because bigger words make writing sound more mature and more descriptive. In my first rough draft I didn’t go into as much detail in my final about the food at the theater but it makes for very good imagery writing so I added more details. For example, “The sweet smell of popcorn and slushies lingered in the air, I realized that with every sound of a wrapper crinkling and crunching…”
7. This poem was easy to write because even though a movie theater is quiet and dark there are still so many imagery senses to write about like taste, touch, and sound. Another reason why this poem was so easy to write about was because I am very interested in Marvel movies and typically it is easier to write about something that you take an interest in.
8. I am very satisfied with my final draft because I think that it portrays my senses and thoughts about the movie as well as my experience in that movie theater.

By: Trisha Kamdar

“BANG” goes the gun shot right at the student as I’m headed home

The antagonist says “freeze”, and I stopped in my tracks

and felt something in the pit of my stomach

My teacher stood right in front of me

As the bullet is headed out from the gun

Blood is everywhere as if fruit punch spilled out of the bowl

“BANG” BANG” “BANG”

I go inside the classroom and the door locks

I tell everyone to calm down

I text my mom and told her what happened

My friend calls the police

I thought my life was over

Everyone was shot and dead and there was no help

25 other kids and I were just sitting, hiding in the closet, and crying as if we were at a funeral

I hear my mother walking into the room and waking me up

I ask her “Can I please stay at home today”

She gives me a hug and wipes away my tears as if knowing what had happened

Her sweet morning voice says “Yes” “Yes you may”

I sit on my bed pondering “Why”, “Why does it have to be like this”

1. I wrote a Inspired By poem
2. My source of my inspiration was an issue that has been revolving around this world for very long time. I choose to write about school gun violence because I wanted to show my feelings for this topic and how I don’t appreciate this.
3. The word I chose for tone is melancholy
4. The theme of my poem is “Shooting is not the way to show violence.”
5. “25 other kids and I were just sitting, hiding in the closet, and crying as if we were at a funeral” This type of figurative language is a simile. This contributes to the tone and theme because it shows the sadness and how frightened the kids are.

    “BANG” This type of figurative is a onomatopoeia. This contributes to the tone and theme because it shows how gun shots sound and how frightening it is.

6. Revision #1: I added in figurative language like, “Blood is everywhere as if fruit punch spilled out of the bowl”

       Revision #2: Instead of using the word wondering I used Pondering.

7. It was easy to write this poem because since I was writing a Inspired By I thought about issues around the world, and school gun violence was a issue.
8. I am satisfied with my final draft because my poem makes sense after editing and revising it.

By Isabel Layman

The trickster

Brother of Thor Odinson

Adopted

Brinigs chaos

To every planet

Like a newborn

Left alone

Or a nightmarish

Snowstorm

The God of Mischief

Determined

Never stops

Until he’s free of the reins

Keeping him held back

Like and animal

Always creating touble

Just wanting to be

An equal

Born on another planet

Jotunheim

World of the giants

Cold and dark

An outcast

Like a new kid

Or the kids in the less popular clubs

Misinterpreted

Only ever desired

To be king

And ruler

In charge

As in a dictator

But as of now

He’s gone

Never got

What he wanted

The outsider

Trying so hard

To be something special

Only to

Bequeath

The universe

To death

1. I wrote an ode
2. I chose this subject for my ode because I love Loki and his story.
3. The tone of my poem is melancholy.
4. The theme of my poem is that people trying to be something special can try so hard just to fail in the end.
5. “Brings chaos to every planet like a newborn left alone”. This type of figurative language is a simile. It contributes to the tone and theme by showing that Loki brings a great amount of trouble wherever he goes.
6. “An outcast, like a new kid”. This is also a simile. It contributes by showing that Loki is different like a new kid at a new school.
7. Writing this poem was fairly easy because I know a lot about him and I liked writing about him because he is one of my favorite marvel characters.
8. I am pretty satisfied with my final draft because I feel is showcased my best work and I tried my hardest to have good elevated word choices.

By: Joshua Kwan

Thud,Thud,Thud

Hearts beat away

Sounds of leaves crackling at night spread your mind apart.

It is a faceless devil with no soul or heart.

It’s like a monster in a closet at night.

Running out of the situation makes you feel alright.

It growls at people at the dark of night.

Fear cures hiccups with the sound of rushing scares.

The sounds of fear can even scare a full grown bear.

A figure arises out of the dark, it chases kids into a chain of hugs.

It forces buckets of hands to reach for a small switch.

Snap,Snap,Snap The crunches grow closer.

Fear is the worst part of every child’s dream.

1.I chose to publish my emotion poem I wrote.

2a. I chose this emotion because I wanted to bring up kids fears to help them overcome them.

3.The tone of my poem is Fear.

4. The theme of my poem is Fear causes many terrifying thoughts in your mind.

5.A.”It’s like a monster in a closet at night” B.It is a simile. C. It shows how most kids are scared of monsters in their closets and that causes fear.

2A.”It growls at people at the dark of night” 2B.It is a example of personification. 2C. It helps strengthen the thought of being scared at night all alone outside.

6. Revision 1- I changed creeps to arises on the 10th line because it helped me imagine it more realistically and it sounded more clearer. Revision 2- I replaced breaking to crackling on the 3rd line because it helps when you imagine someone with leaves breaking in the woods.

7.It was kind of easy because it just flew out of my brain to write about things that relate to fear, but it was difficult finding sensory details to match the words I used.

8.I am satisfied with my final draft because I went over my poem over and over and read it to myself to find any errors if there was any.

By: Michael Corej

It’s cold, it’s dark, it’s all alone,

your mind, blank, slowly going,

it is laughing all day.

Time, taste, touch, smell, sight lost, none found.

It’s like an endless void, that you can’t escape,

leaving you the one alone.

You are lost, but not afraid, all you leave is dust and decay.

It is solitary confinement, life’s lost purpose,

but you still live on.

It makes you feel nothing at all, lost emotions, no family, no friends.

You see someone lying on a bench, peacefully.

You’ll never find peace, anymore, anywhere.

Later passing by a TV store, you see

on the news, someone has died.

That person was lying on a bench.

You wonder who, with blood on your hands.

You have been driven INSANE, far gone.

Tick, Tock, Tick,Tock.

The mouse ran up the clock.

The clock struck one,

The day was done, and you have had your fun.

1.I decided to publish my Emotion poem.

2.I chose the emotion of Insanity because I am able to describe this emotion better than some others that I’ve read before.

3.The tone of my poem is Insanity.

4.The theme of my poem is that Insanity can cause you to do things that you don’t want to do and feel things you don’t want to feel.

5a.”It’s like an endless void, that you can’t escape.” This type of figurative language is a simile. This figurative language contributes to the tone and theme development by leaving the reader with a sense of being lost and trapped.

5b.”It makes you feel nothing at all, lost emotions,” This type of figurative language is a sensory detail. This sensory detail contributes to the tone and theme development because it causes the reader to feel a sense of emptiness.

6a. I changed meaning to purpose because it is a more affirmative word that gets the point across in the poem.

6b. I changed there to on a bench because it gives the reader a sense of being able to look through the narrator’s eyes.

7. It was easy to write this poem because I have gone through experiences of very temporary moments of insanity before so I know how it feels. I also found it easy to write this poem because I have done some research on what people who are insane feel in their mind.
8. I am satisfied with my final draft because it turned out to be very descriptive of my emotion and it will give you the feeling of being in the narrator’s place and how the narrator feels.