Memories That Make Us

By now, Hale’s 6-8th poetry club students have read a breadth of poets spanning a range of identities. Each queer, Black, Latinx, and Asian American poet has offered wisdom and taught us a new way of approaching our poetic process, and this week was no different with words from Indigenous poet Joy Harjo on the important practice of remembrance. Through her poem “Remember,” Harjo inspired Hale poets to consider which moments of their lives were impactful and worthy of being captured in the written form. Following a lively group discussion about which elements of our favorite moments tend to stick out the most, students were challenged to create a snapshot poem. This poem freezes a moment, turning it into a vivid memory for readers who weren’t there. Our student Mireya shared a brilliant poem on their favorite memory, choosing to keep the memory itself a secret but painting an image so vivid, the reader feels like they were there.

On Thursday, we had a little leftover time after our open mic and decided to collaborate on a Foldover Poem. With these poems, students write a group poem, but can only contribute one line each based on the previous line. This activity always makes for some hilarious poems, and this time was no different. Check out our group holiday poem below:

Ms. Marasovich's After School Grades 6-8

Unus Annus Yeya R.

Its been a year since its end

The laughter still replays in my head like a beat you just

can’t forget.

The black and white suits

The clock that never stopped ticking

The sand that kept falling down into the glass below it

I watched as the 365:00:00 days turned into 00:00:00 (zero)

The screen turned black and I was left alone

The memories started to disintegrate

Now that it’s gone, it’s like trying to remember something that

didn’t ever exist

But now that’s all it’ll ever be, just a memory

Holiday Foldover Poem Group Poem

Oh! The weather outside is frightful,

And the fire is spreading, so delightful,

The ash filling up my lungs,

I start to choke,

I want my pen.

Happy Holidays!