Around this table - The Chicago Poetry Center

Around this table

In Ms. Budzileni’s 8th grade class, we read Joy Harjo’s poem “Perhaps the World Ends Here” about all the things, literal and figurative that can happen around a kitchen table or in the center of our homes. We discussed why she chose to include some things that wouldn’t really happen around a table and the power of figurative language. We then wrote our own poems about tables or places in the center of our family’s lives, with a focus on using specific detail. Check out these beautiful poems!

Ms. Budzileni 8th Grade

The Never Can Be Bought Again Table Johanna I

We judge news reporters for their

huge rings to annoy my mom.

My dad asks what they are

saying when she puts the Spanish news.

My mom translates it while my dad

makes remarks about it.

I laugh, cry, yell and be happy in

the corner of the table. That’s

my chair and spot.

We sometimes be quiet when we eat.

We can’t buy that table–

they don’t make it anymore.

At This Table Joselyn M

At this table we talk about how our day went.

We have a snack while we talk about the chisme in our family.

We eat the homemade tacos I helped my mom make.

At our table you can hear kids screaming, running, and laughing.

I do math homework in the table.

At My Living Room Abel R

My dad and I argue on whether to watch novelas or anime.

My sister already sleeping on the couch at 7pm.

Eating potato chips on the center table.

All 5 homosapians of my family

watching novelas because I lost the argument.

My family laughing at inside jokes.

A guinea pig squealing for food.

A pencil making new creations.