Dream Big - The Chicago Poetry Center

Dream Big

Last week at Shoesmith, several students were dressed-up to present at the school’s Black Activist Wax Museum! I was super excited to meet Black Activists from the present and the past. Frederick Douglass, Nikki Giovanni, Stokely Carmichael, W.E.B. Dubois, John Lewis, and Ruby Bridges were just a few of the many important figures I had the pleasure of working with that afternoon as we were venturing into our 4th sessions of the residency. We read poems and discussed the world of dreams before writing dream poems. We tried to bring in elements from previous lessons, such as: listing and repetition, sound, and comparisons.

Ms. Lehner Grade 4 - Group 1

I once had a dream Raven V.

I once had a dream
I once had a dream that it was thundering
I once had a dream I was walking through the rain
I was dancing in the rain
it felt like I was swimming
I was walking and dancing in the rain!

it felt like I was swimming
it sounded like a wave crashing slowly
it was like a dream come true
I was smiling in my sleep
Once again: it was a dream come true

My daydreaming Jack H.

I was just in math class
minding my own business and
I’m not going to lie
I was a little bored
and then
I just started daydreaming
about random stuff
and I dreamed about Elon Musk giving me
1 million dollars

My mind all day Alyssa M.

Once I dreamed I had a brother
(now I do).
I had a nightmare and heard footsteps
but couldn’t open my eyes.
I had a dream that
my closet was a portal
I had a dream I got stabbed
(it was my dogs’s paws on my stomach).
I had a dream I was a water bender from
“The Last Air Bender.”
I had a dream my uncle wasn’t dead
and I was sad when I woke up.
And once I dreamed about my great grandmother
holding me.

Ms. Lehner Grade 4 - Group 2

The Adventure of CTA Alaya L.

I once dreamed that I worked at CTA.
When I worked at CTA, I could drive the #2
I dreamed that some of the stops
went to Shoesmith
and sometimes I could take a break
my mom could also help me out
and when she did, there were double seats.
I might make the payment free
it would be as free as wild animals
I might be sad if CTA finds out
I dreamed that I worked at CTA.

Dream Big Kendall D.

Once I had a dream I went outside
and saw a white van
like an ice cream truck.
The driver ran
and picked me up
like he was holding a new born baby
I was scared
like if a mouse saw a cat
he threw me in the back of his truck
like I was a piece of garbage being thrown
in the trash
I looked out the window
and banged on the glass
I fell out
it felt like freedom.

One day I will Jordana R.

One day I will be a wonderful actress
I will work hard
Practice all I can
I dream to inspire people
I dream to be in tons of movies
I will write books of my journey
I will donate money to children’s hospitals
I dream I will start a shoe line
One day I will be a wonderful actress.