Hands on Stanzas

Anthology of Student Verse
 
Welcome to the Hands on Stanzas Anthology of Student Verse. Thanks to the generous support of the Boeing Corporation this year's Hands on Stanzas Anthology has been published electronically allowing us to include a poem from each and every one of our students. That's close to 2000 poems this year!

To navigate the anthology either click the students’ grade level or the name of their school below.

Grade: 3  |   4  |   5  |   6  |   7  |   8  |   9  |   10  |   11  |   12

School:
Alcott Elementary
Belding Elementary
Bell Elementary
Burbank Elementary
George Washington Elementary
Richard Henry Lee Elementary
McPherson Elementary
Moos Elementary
Pilgrim Lutheran School
Price Elementary
Shields Elementary
Skinner Classical School
Solomon Elementary
Taft Academic Center
Tarkington School of Excellence
Walter Payton College Prep High School

 
Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


The Cheetah in the Jungle
a poem by Adrian C., Grade 6

Among the jungle
you kill your
like every day.
You run fast
just like
thunder striking
down.

You have sharp
teeth like
vampire fangs.
Everyone thinks
you're deadly and
runs away, so
that's why they
drive on a
highway.
I think you're
cool, but they
use you as
a tool.



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


How to Be a Good Sister
a poem by Alejandra F., Grade 6

Being a good big sister:
pay all of the attention
to them.

Defend them if they're right.
Try and think what they
want. Comfort them in
any way.

Sing a song when they
are sad. Play with them
like there is
no tomorrow. Try and
listen to their thought, with
your eyes and ears.

And the most imporant
one of all is to love
them.



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


Untitled
a poem by Alejandro C., Grade 6

Yesterday snow fell
A snowstorm covered us all
Snow was all over



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


Untitled
a poem by Alexis P., Grade 6

I see people walking and walking
slow all the time like if
they were turtles in the
street always.



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


Untitled
a poem by Alexis Q., Grade 6

People shoveling snow
in a snowing night
as it gets higher.

Kids going to their next class
as the bell is ringing when
they finally get there.

A woman cooking
as she is cutting carrots
when she cuts herself



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


Untitled after "Rodeo: Hoedown" by Aaron Copland
a poem by Angello R., Grade 6

Some guy on a horse on
his way to his family and getting
chased and he is almost there
and he is going and going and he escaped
the chase and he gets tired and he
makes it to home.



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


Untitled
a poem by Ariadna A., Grade 6

Then I remember
it's almost time for spring
I think to myself about it



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


Can't Sleep
a poem by Ashley J., Grade 6

When you are all ready to go to sleep &
you are all tucked in.
    you start to hear a little noise
that calls your name.
And you say leave me alone and
it says no.

                   I close my eyes
and you hear little raindrops on the
ground.
              And you hear a cat that meows.

               When I count sheep in
my sleep all I see is my cat
licking me.



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


She Was Like My Best Friend
a poem by Astrid E., Grade 6

I remember when
we made breakfast
for Mom on her
birthday.

We swam in the
kiddie pool and
played in the
snow.

You were like
a flower,
petals fell
off slowly,
and withered.

My dear flower,
gone.

And now I sit
in the snow
and kick the
water, wondering
what happened.

I'll be waiting
for you to
return.



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Rachel Javellana, Poet-in-Residence
Principal: Carmen Alicia Mendoza
Teachers: McCarthy
School: McPherson Elementary


Catalog of Memories
a poem by Brian B., Grade 6

I remember when I saw a black and gold bird flying into my neighbor's sunflower.

I remember when I felt the ocean as cold as Antarctica.

I remember when I went to a bake sale.

I remember the smell of a car crash.

I remember when I saw a thunderbolt strike on a tree.

I remember the feeling when you get nervous on the stage.

I remember the touch of an elephant.

I remember the feeling when you fall from a tree.

I remember when I first saw a cardinal.



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