April is National Poetry Month and boys across divisions are waxing lyrical in their English classes. Here is a sampling of recent poems from Fenn English classes.
Smoke
by Tyler McGarry (grade 6)
It curls its wisps
through the air
climbing and
flying like a bird,
its path determined
by the wind's emotions.
Small puffs from a fire
paint the sky
like an artist about
to draw but not
knowing what to paint.
Smoke is a creature
Alive and well,
It has its feelings,
Like a person it thinks,
Creating ways around
anything in its path
To meet one goal,
to reach the top
Of the sky
The bird
by Mark Zhang (grade 4)
The small bird,
Soaring across
The clear sky
Heading toward
Its home in the
Old tall tree which
Never falls down
And roots are
Deep in the ground
Working to
Keep it secure
To the earth
The bird almost there
To its nest
Hurrying to feed
Its young
It never rests
Always working
Foraging around
For a good meal
To keep its
Children alive
To a day
When they
Can do it
Themselves
And then
The old birds
Die and the
New ones
Come to
Replace their,
Spot in the,
Big old tree.
Two poems inspired by William Carlos Williams’ “The Red Wheelbarrow”:
#1 by Panha Sam (grade 4)
So much depends
upon
a cup of
coffee
filled with cream
inside
next to a
bagel
#2 by Brazos Bebinger
So much depends
Upon
A piece of
Tape
holding together a
House
Beside a broken
Village
Sparta
by Andy Nguyen (grade 5)
Spartan army is superior
Powerful civilization
Agoge is harsh but a good teacher
Rage goes on and on in war
The beautiful wives that get to work
Always have to be a warrior
The Mountaintop
by Liam Kelleher (grade 5)
It’s cold up here
Maybe it’s the height
Maybe it’s the snow
I really just don’t know
The sight is beautiful up here
Maybe it’s the sunset
Maybe it’s the view
I wish you were up here, too
I wish I was up here
With you
The following is an N+7 poem by Liam Kelleher (The N+7 procedure, invented by Jean Lescure of Oulipo involves replacing each noun in a text with the seventh one following it in a dictionary. Variations involve N+1, which replaces each noun with the next one in the dictionary, to N+15, which takes the 15th noun following. Variations also involve choosing other nouns) Liam did not stick to a strict 7th noun formula, but instead began creating a spoof as he went along:
Jabberwocky N+7
by Liam Kelleher (grade 5)
'Twas tiring and the pain in the butt
Did chew and vomit in the bowl:
All queasy were my intestines,
And the siblings disgusted.
"Beware the cold my son!
The virus that sickens, the horrible evil!
Beware the Cat, and don't
Let him catch it!"
I took my medicine in hand:
Down the throat the infection it sought-
So it stopped somewhere in the vein,
And cleaned awhile in thought
And, as it kept thinking,
The Cold, with 200 limbs,
Came silently through the long intestine,
And whiffled as it came!
One, two! One, two! And through and through
The medicine went whip-slash!
It left it dead, and with nothing
It went swishing back.
"And, hast thou slain the vicious cold?
Come to my stomach, my glad little pill!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
Summer Days
by Edoardo Takacs (grade 5)
I remember the wind whipping on my back
I remember swimming in a pool
cooling off because it was a warm day
I remember sitting down in my backyard
reading a book in the afternoon
And hearing the birds tweet
I remember the golf club hitting a golf ball,
making the thack sound
I remember hearing the kids cheer their friend to do something
they have never done
I remember eating a hamburger that my father made
Even though the summer isn't forever
I enjoy it while I can
I remember summer days
But my favorite memory is
yet to come