Amazing Me... - The Chicago Poetry Center

Amazing Me…

This week we got started with Ms. Murray’s 4th grade class at Perez Elementary. After some short introductions, we talked a little bit about what poems are, and how they can make us feel. In the middle of our discussion, I realized these students know a whole lot about poetry and I found out many of them had been Mr. Luis’s poetry students last year. I told them, I was going to be digging into my boxes to find more challenging work for them to do since they were all such expert poets already! Next we read Leslie Reese’s poem I Am, and everyone got to work on their own version of it. There were so many amazing pieces, and as always it was a hard decision to pick which one’s to feature. Please enjoy this weeks poems!

Ms. Murray 4th Grade

Me Marina M.

I am me
I wonder what life could be as an animal
I hear the sound of my life going by so fast
I see other people having fun
I want everybody to be happy
I am me

I pretend that everything is easy
I feel all sorts of different emotions
I touch my cat when I am sad
I worry that I won’t be enough
I cry when I am hurt
I am me

I understand that life is hard
I say everything will be okay
I dream that everybody will always be love
I tried to make everybody happy
I hope to be a lawyer and be amazing
I am me

I Am Mateo

I am a happy Mexican-American boy
I wonder what I’ll be or become
I hear my mind racing through my brain
I see my thoughts when I close my eyes
I want to know just how far they go
I am happy but curious

I pretend to be calm
I feel stressed from me going from calm to hyper
I touch the warmth of my mom’s hugs
I worry about just how long until the end
I cry about my worries
I am happy but sad

I understand my surroundings
I say things to help me feel relieved
I dream about everything there is to dream
I tried to stop these thoughts
I hope to escape
I am happy but confused