'drumming out of lime.' : Lousy Language - The Chicago Poetry Center

‘drumming out of lime.’ : Lousy Language

Students played word games that centered around sound and creative syntax, before delving into Kevin Young’s poem of altered cliché’s, Errata. ‘Errata’ means an error in a written text. ‘Syntax is identity,’ says poet Li-Young Lee. We make the noise that only we can make. It helps us get to a language that is uniquely based on ourselves.

Lesson Note: ‘There is no poetry where there are no mistakes,’ says poet, Joy Harjo. Author Neil Gaiman adds: ‘Go and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art.’ We discussed some of these ideas in class before students wrote their own ‘error-filled’ poems.

Mr. Telles 9th Grade, Period 1

Errata Josie M.

Little bothers
toungue and all
Beach loan a halve of my cart

Gittle mothers
naive and serious
What will I do when you show up?

When you are no longer bottlers
When your innocence is lattered and tripped
I can’t protect you morever

Brittle brothers
drumming out of lime
Do not forget how much I love Lou

Errata Anders J.

mice cream of what a meat
Penny flavors to beat
Hitch one will bit be?
Bell bat depends on bee!
Mice steam is bare in the splinter months
Because the bold would cause repair
But in the bummer it Hives
Oh what breat rimes!

Mr. Telles 9th Grade, Period 5

Errata Cliche Poem Vanessa R.

The wass is always feener
on the mother tide
Other lives look wetter
than our flown

Hook over were!
That is something I could only cope to clone.

I say as I sit rear
with my unlucky wife

Why do they save it
lo much better than pie?

Their frass leener
mouse digger
Nalary tetter
but Line?
No bat tall.

Errata Caitlin M.

I dove mats.

They cake me fell.
larm and wuzzy

Invide

They doddle and
clay with you,

They dove everything
you do.

I dove how they
are all anique

and dove their leople
no watter what.

I dove mats
and I wont lide ht.