POP! Poetry by JC & Tran

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LITTLE BOY By Sharlene, age 10, Daniel, age 9 & Tai, age 11

Little Boy deals cards 

under my feet.

Bleeds.

Little Boy full of cuckoo,

Little Boy full of talking,

Little Boy full of yellow,

Full of I don’t know.

Don’t care.

Little Boy full of pockets,

Full of apples,

Full of butter.

He got a stomachache and

his gut split into pieces.

One heads toward the sky,

One heads north,

Another to the middle of the earth:

1. Ocean

2. Zoo

3. Jungle

4. Space

Full of cuckoo,

Little Boy

Draws four jokers.

NIGHTMARE By Andrew, age 11

Skulls rain from the sky.

Quiet hovers in the air.

Lightning shimmers in the streets.

Mom! Mom!

Drake!

Are you there?

Yes, Yes.

Why did you leave me?

To save you.

Mom. 

Mom? 

Why is it dark?

DEATH BY Wendy & Jessie, both age 11

Leaves crinkle in the wind

A waterfall roars, 

Darkness drapes the sky.

Night falls in the forest.

Why am I dead inside?

I walk towards the beam of light.

Goodbye...

CHRISTMAS By Daniel & Erik, both age 9

It is December at Toys R Us.

An earthquake shakes and cracks my world.

Lights blink.

Dolls tumble down the shelves.

Hotwheels screech.

Rattles rattle.

Tricycles clatter.

FIREWORKS By Sharlene, age 10 & Tai, age 11

Sun beams through the window.

It is three o’clock at Gamestop.

Plastic cases clatter.

If I’m not buying anything, why did I come here?

When I’m sleepy

I will try to be happy and close my bedroom door.

Right now my heart pops like fireworks.

TROUBLE AT TARGET By Emiliano & Ricardo, both age 9

It is noon at Target

Legos shake and carts crash.

If we have no money, 

how are we buying stuff?

When we pay, 

we will try 

counterfeit dollars.

But we’re already in trouble 

right now.

PRESENT PERFECT By the Kids in Room 2

After being out sick for a day, I returned to Room 2 to find this poem along with a note from the sub about how incorrigible the class was. I think the note and the poem cancel each other out in some cosmic way. Before my absence I'd been struggling to teach the present perfect tense, assuming I had failed. But apparently not. The poem is written in the present perfect progressive, a variation on the tense I never mentioned. Nonetheless,  the class figured out it was "perfect" for this particular poem. The kids tell me each student contributed a line or two, and Alex takes credit for spearheading and editing the project. - Robyn

We’ve been lost.

We’ve been gay.

We’ve been controlled.

We’ve been bored.

Nothin’ to DO.

We’ve been cheated.

We’ve been crazy.

We’ve been growing armpit hair.

We’ve been eaten.

We’ve been fat.

We’ve been killing.

We’ve been dead.

We’ve been killed.

We’ve been starving.

We’ve been hungry.

We’ve been hurt.

We’ve been abused.

We’ve been controlling.

We’ve been in misery.

We’ve been miserable.

We’ve been paralyzed.

We’ve been staring.

We’ve been bullied.

We’ve been littering our lives.

We’ve been sacrificing them.
We’ve

been

nothing.