Casimir Pulaski Fine Arts Academy Poetry

Odes to Good Things

2008-04-23T20:04:00.001-05:00

8th Grade 303

Maritza G.
Ode to apple

Your color makes me
think of a
rose
I look up in a
tree and say
soon you will
come back
you have so
many colors
you are a rainbow
when someone
bites into you
I see your inside
that can
be sweet or
sour I
see you when you're
hurt and
see I must
give you away
sweet and sour
apple I can't wait
till you
come back to me.

Demi R.
Ode to an Orange

That soft outer core
a peanut shell waiting
to be opened
your sweet nector puts
me in a hypnotic trance

You are like a big sun
shining down upon
the land when I look
at you, I feel
all warm inside

Every part of
you is so gorgeous
I would just like
to stare at you
all day.

Bridgette B.
Ode to Oreo

Oreo is a milks best
friend, and mine
When you dip it in
milk the world sops and
doesn't turn anymore
Its delicious two layers
white and the best part
the cookie
It is beautiful with it
and scary without it
I is good when You
have one, but it is better with
the whole box!
When you are finished
you have a size that
you need back in.
Goodbye earth's creation
that shouldn't stop.

7th Grade 309

Jesus U.
Ode to Pizza

I love your triangular curves
The softness of your bread.
Fluffly like a cloud.
I haven't even mentioned your cheese
assign beauty and dressing to
the soft fluffy bread
When I see you
My heart jumps in joy
I grab a plat and eat
But during those amazing minutes
that I enjoy you
I am also in agony
because I see other people
eating you
You should belong to me and no one else
Don't worry my pizza
One day we will leave together
Just you and me

Ana U.
Ode the Cherry pie

It's the king of delights,
The fruit high up in the tree,
Glowing, a topaz covered with
mercury or blood
A blanket surrounds it's glory.
A treasure on the countertop.
You're sweet sweet sweet!
I need your sugary goodness.
Dipping my face and hands
into the softness of your surface.
But when you're gone only a
porcelain plate is remnant.

Henry C.
Ode to Mango

I look at you
my mouth starts to drool
A tropical island
Sun in my hand

You look like an
over sized olive
You surface is slippery
slimy but sweet too.
You're cotton sandy
with more than one color

I could have you sliced
I could have you as one
I could have you plain or
with salsa, limon and some salt.

7th Grade 311

Tashay
Ode to candy

Candy I love you
so sweet, chewy, soft
Hard, hot, cold
A sweet ball of sunshine
A hot ball of hell
A chewy square of heaven
a soft cloud of cotton
candy, I love you!

Brian M.
Ode to Arroz con lo Pobre

Arroz con lo pobre I love you.
Why? Because you have meat.
Why? Because you have eggs that
taste so tasty that I love it.
Why? Because you are hot
and so yummy to my stomach.
Why? Because you taste that
I am an in my country.
Why? Because when I smell you
you make me hungry.
Why? Because you make
me so good and happy.

Melissa S.
Cookies

It's a treat from the heavens
It's the chocolate from night

Your are the sand over the beach
with fresh coconuts all over.

Cookies I love the chocolate in your chips.
I love your warmness and how
you melt when you get out
of the stove.

Odes to Good Things

2008-04-23T20:04:00.000-05:00

"The Fork", or everyday monsters

2008-02-23T11:48:00.002-06:00

We read Charles Simic's grotesque take on silver ware "The Fork." The poem re-imagines this common object as a monster - and so students looked to things in their classroom to see if they could bring any of the monsters out.

8th grade 303

Jorii W.
Lonely Crying Sink

The crying sink
sheds a tear once in a while
because no one touches it
or shows it care
so it just sits their
rusting and crying its
life away

Eduardo S.
The radio

radio got to black
eye that send you Devil
message you hear the
message you go to Devil
cribs

Gabina S.
Garbage
It has a big mouth that anything could fit in
nasty and smelly with toilet paper in it
Get rid of it, it comes band and gets
bigger each time you see it.
The used only smelly stuff makes
your room stink like your enemy.
It would eat all the stuff that
you don't want no more with you or even
think of it…so if you want to dump your boyfriend
you know what to do with it.

Luis S.
Windows

It keeps staring at me
with its eight eyes.
Blows the wind in my face recklessly.
Squishes my fingers with its small
sharp claws.

7th grade 309

Anjelica A.
The walls

They're there, blind, yet watching us.
they're just there absorbing loads of information,
They're hearing all our lies and laughing
They're so quiet we can't hear them,
But I know they're there making fun of us

Sometimes when you leave something on the floor too long
They swallow it, and it becomes part of them
I am afraid that maybe,
One day, when I disappear
just know the walls have taken me,
they all closed in and took me,
and now you should be careful I can
hear you, I can see you, I'm just like
The walls

Alberto G.
U.S.A.

It is a horrible place
It has a person in the middle
A frogs head right by the sea
Monsters stomping over out grounds

Giving us no peace at all
Always screaming never letting is sleep
We'll never know what will happen the next day
Until it happens…
Hopefully it will stop someday

Jair O.
Mindeater (T.V.)

A little box sleeping 'till your
arrival.
Awakening and enticing you to
look into its eye.
Going through the doors
that are your eyes.
Rotting you brain, strangling
creativity, poisoning your mind,
Everyday it awaits your
return to continue
where it left off.
Nipping away at your mind 'till
there's nothing left.
Even then there's still
a cure…
the outside.

Glenda C,
Ode to Anger

When anger falls upon you
like a strike of
lightening, don't take it out on
anyone. The only one you're
hurting is yourself.

Anger is like lightening
that can strike at any
moment. But after the rain
and lightening is gone, a
rainbow falls upon you with
happiness, joy and forgiveness.

So don't forget when the
rain and lightening passes
all that is left is a beautiful
rainbow!

Estephanie B.
Ode on guilt

Though shall not let
thy conscience get to thee
you dwell with guilt -
that must disappear
so easy as it appeared.

7th Grade 311

Xadrien M.
The stack of chairs

The body is like four hungry
beaks with jaw gropping teeth
the legs are about two dozen
knives that
step on you
the eyes are like
the fiery boiler in
basement.

Zacarra S.
Monster B.

This scary creature must have
crept right out of the library
It represents pages with
thousands of big words that have
lots of meaning
As it chases you
he or she screams out big words
It is not even possible to even think
of what happened to the rest of the words
buried under the monster gooey green
glob melting or shrinking with
every step it takes!

This is Just To Say

2008-02-23T11:45:00.001-06:00

We read William Carlos William's "This Is Just To Say" - a brief epistolary poem in the form of an apology note that manages not to be sorry for doing anything. Here are student responces:

8th grade 303

Justin A.

I have talked
in the hallways
while the teacher Ms. Jackson
said not to.

You said
not to talk
for like a
hundred times

I am sorry
I had to
It's hard
So I talked.

Janelle S.
This is just to say

I have used
your phone
that was
on the table

it was looking
at me but
I knew it
wasn't free

please forgive me
important phone call
needed to an
important person.
Briana S.
This is Just to Say

I did not listen
to you Ms. Jackson
I talked to Crystal
In the hall

We just had
to talk about
our myspace music
page

with all new
songs no one
in school even
knows about duh!

7th grade 309

Diana P.
This is just to say

I put gum
in your hair
during your sleep

And which
probably you hat to cut
bald

I'm sorry
It was funny,
is it too late to
APOLOGIZE?

Estephania B.

I took over
the world
that was inside
your mind

And which
you were probably
in charge of
before I came along

Forgive me,
but now
I own
your world.

Emmanuel R.

I have sold
your phone
to the
neighbor

and you
were probably
going
to buy a new plan

Forgive me
I got a lot of
money for
that phone.

7th Grade 311

Edwin D.

I have taken
your gel
from your room

I know you
only had a
little
I used
it all.

Forgive me
the gel made
my hair
Really spikey.

Seciley V.

I'm sorry

I have taken
your boyfriend
and which you
were wondering
where he was
and forgive me
he was so fine
now he is mine.

Lissette S.

I have taken
your dollar
from the
table

I needed
one more
dollar
for me

I am so
sorry but
I enjoyed
wasting your
money.

More new uses for old words

2008-01-29T09:56:00.000-06:00

7th grade 311

Lissette S.

Memories
When I
was a
kid I
played and
laughed and
talked and
didn't want
to stop

Daniel M.

Man, school
usually makes
me angry,
it is
cold outside,
don't want
to be
here today.

Samuel G.

I was good
in school
eating chips
like wood
next to
class locker's
look like
grass.

8th grade 303

Jenise K.

Love Poem

I walk
down the
street wanting
to see
the one
for me
but I
see nothing.

Bridgette B.

Love

The girl
saw a
boy kool
but all
about trouble
the same
thing feeling
weird, school.

Jay C.

Love

Love is
a golden
couple with
the color
of morning
and the
fun of
school, Love.

Found poems - finding new meaning in words

2007-12-07T12:44:00.000-06:00

We discussed the idea of a palimpsest - of writing over words, reusing text to find new meanings. Students spent ten minutes on a free write about their school and their school day. Then I asked them to use the text they had written, and only that text, to create a new poem - either a poem on anger, love or an equally strong emotion, or a poem about a strong memory.

7th grade - room 309

Jair O.
Cold

Cold killing
off everything.
Nothing but
cold. Icy
chilliness filling
in all
the space
kill grass.

Jesus U.
Love poem

My inside
is cold
I don't
feel good
you left
and I
don't laugh
I've changed

Efrain S.

Feeling happy
a lot
of leaves
look trashy
in the
morning

Estephanie B.
Memory

And yeah.
It was
brown, cold
lonely, and
full at
the same
time, it
was grass.

Glenda C.
Love poem

You made
me run
to a
freezing alley
yelling nasty
blocking the
sidewalk to
happy hearts

Metaphors

2007-12-07T12:31:00.000-06:00

We read Sylvia Plath's wonderful riddle of a poem, "Metaphors" after which students wrote exploring aspects of their appearance through metaphoe

8th Grade - Room 303

Diana P.

I'm a riddle in six metaphors
My hair is a puffy coat, a dress
My hair is a wavy plant
My forehead is a pink polka-a-dot dress
My eyes are a honey river with cinnamon on top
My lips are a cracked side-walk
My teeth are a crooked desk

Liz M.
My Eyes

My eyes are the twinkle to my soul
My eyes are a microscope
My eyes play follow the leader
My eyes are animals inside
My eyes are two brown cookies
My eyes are the sun shining bright
My eyes are two bright light bulbs

Abigail C.
Metaphor

My hair is a long path
also calm seas
that fly in the wind
and the sweet, sweet chocolate
moves around, the seahorse swimming
I feel my hair, an endless path
my eyes wide cherries in spring
strings of sparkles against the sun

I am poems

2007-12-07T12:25:00.000-06:00

Students at Pulaski wrote poems using anaphora, or repetition of the beginning of the line, after reading M. Scott Momaday's "The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee"

7th Grade - Room 309

Diego B.

I am a pencil that is writing on this paper
I am a bottle of water that is sweating when it is tired
I am the sun that is active in day and dormant at night.
I am a building that is standing tall
I am a cheetah that is running through the forest.

Aimee P.

I am the shadows of everyone
I am the one who is always heartbroken
I am the wind who is always blown away
I am the complete opposite of my friends
I am the cloud who rains always
I am the tear drops of every adolescent
I am the echoes in your mind telling you to do the wrong things
I am the weakness of your mind
I am everywhere
I am your sorrow
I am in your mind, floating and waiting
I am here waiting.

Anjelica A
I AM

I am the gentle breeze in the fall
I am the maple tree in a field of pines
I am the roar of a crowd of many
I am the passion of music
I am the gentle song of a songbird
I am the great roll of thunder
I am the gentle strokes of a painters brush
I am all the colors in a rainbow
I am the simple beauty os a blooming flower
I am the mysterious presence of the moon.

I stand in good relation to the moons gentle glow
I stand in good relation to the steady pace of waves
I stand in good relation to the beauty of music
I stand in good relation to the peace of the world.

8th Grade - Room 303

Janelle S.

I am a baseball throwing people out at home
I am a bible loves talking about Jesus/God
I am a dog always happy
I am a car that won't start
I am a bank always quiet like a princess in trouble
I am a tree with all his colorful leaves on it
I am a whale swimming through the great beautiful ocean
I am a candle on fire with a good smell coming out of it
I am a dream that what I say comes true

Jorii W.

I am the moon taking the sun's shift
I am the only balloon sailing the sky
I am the insect in a lion
I am the last leaf on he decomposing tree
I am the rapid wind pushing a bag across the meadow
I am the lost bird in the wood
I am who you're not
I am who you think you are
I am those that are above
I am legit

Jessalyn C.

I am a bright star shining on a pitch black night
I am a bird picking on his food
I am a coqui in the night
I am the disco light at a club
I am a dog running with children
I am a bird flying with its flock

Book of Questions

2007-10-29T16:17:00.001-05:00

Students at Pulaski wrote group poems in response to Pablo Neruda's "Book of Questions"

Eighth Grade Room 303 Book of Questions

In the quiet room do you use your imagination?
What if you were in a meadow, but just any meadow a dark meadow, the only sound is the wind?
Where is the wind? Do you feel it when it blows in your face, runs through your hair?
Where does the dark come from what is it made of?
Crumbs are sad but why?
Do you see dead people in your room?
What books make noise?
If the little piece from the back of my earring held my heart where would you keep it?
What would you do if you saw a homeless man that has nothing but dust in his hand and lived in a forest?
Can a ladybug hear music?
Why is your room squeaky?
Does heartbreak lead to death in a pain of silence?
Would you kill the ant, who has baby ants in it, in my room?
How quiet is it where you really are and just hang out there?
Is a lonely puppy in the night as sad as a penny is shiny?
Is there anything sadder than a person stuck in a wheelchair?
Is my room really quiet or is there just no sound?
Why did god make this world? Is it to show us something or to change how we act?
Where's the best place to imagine and what would you imagine?
Why does the dog stand in the rain alone?
Who is the most beautiful person in the world?
Why does the night show its life but does not speak with words but with the wind?

Seventh Grade Room 309 Book of Questions

Why is there nothing but air in the sky?
How would you feel if you went into a diamond room, with its great quietness?
Does nothing involve dust or dirt?
Does your sorrow fall upon you like a grain of sand in the wind or does it overcome you like thundering waves in a storm?
In my own world in outer space?
How many jelly-like bacteria would I find in a mountain?
Why are there dust mites in church doing nothing?
Why does the dog like to dance to Jazz on the New York City streets?
Do all puppies have happiness in the forest?
Why do I picture my future with darkness and echoes?
Why does the ant's red stuff cause craziness?
Would a bug be loud or six flags?
Why did Sponge Bob go to McDonalds with sand on his feet?
Can you imagine heaven full of nothing of nothing?
What would a germ do with a ball in space?
Is there a rainbow in Venus as thin as a hair?
Is there water in my room that could turn into music?
Why does my head have nothing in it?
Does a t-rex sniff pudding while putting his toe in apple juice?
Are there and bacteria with cream filling inside my closet?
In the cave with nothing but you would you see your guts and eat them?
Why can I feel my heartbeat in my head?
Why did ants go to the bathroom quiet?
Does a spider open space to a parallel universe?
There's nothing in my close but my pencil.
Would you find a milling dollars in the guts of an ant?
I wonder is an ant in the sky would have blood popping out?
Why don't ant's heads fear thunder?
Is dust worth 1,000,000 dollars or nothing?
If the soothing ocean would be white, would you feel good?

Seventh Grade Room 311 Book of Questions

Do crumbs make noise in a quiet basement?
Tell me is a rock shiny world and quiet as an attic?
Why are peanuts so tiny and don't taste like nothing in my attic?
Why does my heart beat louder than a beating drum?
Why does a dice have more than one face, and if I opened it up, will I find a coin in a lovely place?
Do you know if there are ants in the attic, if so it's a nasty world?
What house has the scariest attic with the cuckoo?
Do you think a germ has a world that looks like paradise and has your own house with soft music and a waterfall?
If you were to make your own world, what would you put and do in it?
I wonder if there is like in heaven or heaven and love in life?
Bacteria is my hand, why don't I hear anything at my house?
Why in the library do people have books about ants?
Does the flea library go whoosh as quiet?
How many books about germs are in the library?
Are the germ in the city are in my room?
Are there any little rocks in pebbles that are in the TV?
In my intestines, are there cockroaches in the library?
Is there peace, is there a closet, is there anything to talk to me like an ant?
What has bacteria and germs that snores?
Is there anything in outer space that is nothing?
What is a rock and sand that snores?
Is there another world for germs that has a Columbia?
Tell me why doe a chocolate factory have lots of candy but no animals to help eat it up?
What house is the most ugly and smells like peanuts but nothing's in it?