50% Terrible, 50% Amazing

I was back for another week with Waters 7th graders, this time talking about the stanza. Maggie Smith’s “Good Bones” was our poem for the day, a poem particularly prominent around the time that Trump was first elected. We talked about what it means for the world to be 50% terrible, and what it means to “shorten” one’s life life in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways. Then, students were left to write their poems about the 50% good and 50% terrible. Take a look and enjoy!

7th Grade

50% terrible 50% ok Penny M.

The world is 50% ok.

Vacations, family, music. All fun things to help

block out or increase feelings.

The feelings that are bad. Maybe take 50 percent up.

50% of the world, even. Violence, war, crimes
it only gets worse

Thought Simon A.

Life is balanced evil to good.
No matter the time, the place, or
people with you, the world always has bad.

You can choose friends or enemies.

Grateful or depressed
Love or Discrimination
Life or Death

It’s up to you.

It’s your path to write

Good & Bad Lillian E.M.

“Half the world is good,
Half the world is bad”
That’s kid of true
Kind of not
There’s things that make it good
and things that make it bad
Dishonesty –
-Bad
A random act of kindness –
-Good
People dying for a bad cause –
-Bad
Having a good time with your friends –
-Good

Honestly
There aren’t such simple things as
good and bad
It’s simple to do something good….
or bad,
but to some people,
something good
might be something bad.
Or something bad
Might be something good
It’s different,
for me,
for you,
for everyone