by PHIL CARTER
Orcas Middle School teacher
Each spring my seventh grade class sits on the grass, reads lots of amazing poems and proceeds to write their own. We play around with meter, rhyme, line spacing, and repetition. I smile serenely while they battle with the hard structure of verse…iambic….trochaic….anapestic meters. We all laugh at goofy creations of poetic repetition. At the end, I asked them to choose one to share with the world.
Here is a small sample of those creations. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Weeds
by Millie K
Evasive beings take claim of my yard
their roots entangle my plants.
I watch the raging war from above.
The carrots don’t even have a chance.
Some stealthy dandelions work their way in,
their beauty a disease of evil.
Weeds snake under the ground
then pop up to take what was mine.
Thistles launch their tiny seeds like
Paratroopers from a plane.
I fight for my garden bravely.
I brandish weed killer and torch;
blackberry brambles sprout up to attack.,
I worry my garden is lost:
weeds, attacking the cabbage,
weeds, conquering the roses,
weeds claiming everything.
The garden is a minefield of thorny brambles
conceded by crackly, dead plants.
But there is still hope.
The sun shines
and the battle resumes once more.
We All Need
by MegW
There is something that we all crave.
We will carry it down to our grave.
We all desire and even aspire
To have it all through our days
Sometimes we don’t even know
We have it ‘til it does go.
away, away, away
It leaves us broken too often.
Always it causes some joy.
What do we need?
What do we want?
I think you already know.
The Ocean
by OliviaB-G
Spread as far as the eye can see
The oceans sits as still as can be,
resting in its peaceful bed.
But then
the storm comes
loud, fast, and angry
The storm roars
beating the ocean
tearing and ripping up the waves
crashing down and breaking the peace
so angry it’s like an aggravated bull ready to charge!
but then it’s over
the storm has moved on
back to its peace the ocean sits
quiet like a small flower,
smooth like frosting on a perfect cake,
happy like a baby with candy,
spread as far as the eye can see,
the ocean sits as still
as can be.
On a faraway Planet
by BenP
On a faraway planet
Many light years away
There is a woman named Janet
Whose skin is bumpy and gray.
She has seven ears
Bright spiky green hair
More than two rears
Her species is rare.
She has a brother named Greg
With eleven eyes.
He has only one leg
And feasts on meat pies.
They own a cat
That looks like a whale,
Has wings like a bat,
And doesn’t have a tail.
They all play guitar
Even the pet
They drink hot tar
And sleep in a net.
by RonanK
There once was a cat
that could fly like a bat
through the night, filled with starlight
then he got fat
and fell to he ground
then was taken to the pound
where he was picked up
but fell and bounced like rubber
all the way home where he ate lots of flubber.
Stronghold
by LukeP
This island is our stronghold
a lifeline that rushes by, with trees
and birds that fly, and frogs that sing.
All along the island few voices sing or ring.
This island is our stronghold
Where few voices sing or ring,
With valleys green – like the trees –
that ring – our kingdom’s keep –
with trees as our wall
and people as our King.
This island is our Strong Hold
where few voices sing or ring,
our kingdom’s keep
Our island Jewel
This island is our stronghold.
Flowers
by RaynaC
Flowers are starting to bloom
all through the night and
the morn.
They’re so pretty
and pink
sometimes I just want to shriek!
Spring has sprung
and has just begun.
It’s nice to feel the sun’s hot rays
They’re so warm and so nice
nice like rice
but not like lice
because lice is so gross
and rice is so nice.
The morning dew
makes the grass all moist
as it wettens it down
in the morning.
The rays and the dew make the flowers bloom all through
the night and the morn.
The Wintery Blanket
by ParisW
I could hear it whispering my name.
I watched it coat out fields in white dust.
The smell of the blanket washed over me like peppermint.
I let one of the particles land on my tongue; it was icy and sugary.
The fragments fell on my face so gently it was like they weren’t even there.
But they were.
Winter and its snow had come.
by DominickW
There once was fish
Who loved to swim
With a swish of his tail.
swish swish swish
He dives down deep
Deep beneath the surface of the sea.
He finds all sorts of things in the depths before
He shoots straight back up and breaks the surface!
Now he is in the air.
Now he comes back to the sea
And he notices that he is hungry.
But he also heard something come up behind….
And he moves out of the path;
It is a harbor seal, a harbor seal after him!
They have a big battle;
He frantically tries to escape!
But eventually the seal gets him.
With a last breath
He is gone.
Write me a poem
by EmmaT
“Write me a poem”
He says
“That makes the sky fall and the seagulls cry as the wind whips through their feathers.
“Write me a poem”
He says
“That stops the currants in the deepest ocean and yanks the tide from the shores of all the world.”
“Write me a poem”
He says
“That perfectly describes the fierce love that a mother has for her baby.”
“Write me a poem”
He says
“That is clung to in desperate hours after an explosive fight that shakes the crystal chandelier and break a priceless vase.”
“Write me a poem”
He says
“That is a conquered mountain in all its glory.”
“Write me a poem”
He says
That is the tears of trying so hard to do something right and make a difference.
“Write me a poem”
He says
That outlines all the countries and echoes in the valleys of California and rushes in the streams of the Amazon and dances on the Alps.
“Write me a poem”
He says
“That is a masterpiece.”
The ocean’s waves with white rims
by KatS
Fishers’ nets with white tins.
Silver fish with milky eyes.
Octopus ink like cloudy skies.
People on the beach with toes in sand.
Across the street a lemonade stand.
Kids are running, money in hand.
to see the whale sprawled upon sand.
People are crying, tears in their eyes
looking to see such a horrible sight.
by AlyssaJ
I wish I couldn’t feel
and end all the pain
to be without my soul.
But a person without a soul
I hear is hardly a person.
So I will just suffer
and am painfully Alive.
