Personification: To Ask a Star or the Universe

For our 4th week of poetry at Sayre with the 7th graders, their prompt was to write to something bigger than themselves like a star. We reviewed similes, learned the definition of personification, and read a student poem and “A Lament” by Percy Shelly for inspiration. For our pre-writing, we wrote down questions about things we would want to ask. This got them thinking about what they would ask if celestial bodies had human-like thoughts, feelings, and the ability to communicate with us. What would they see from their perspective? Say? How would it feel to float in space? Each week, the students are getting more comfortable flexing their poetry-writing muscles and they are becoming braver about sharing their writing in class, too!

Ms. Hernandez 7th Grade

Dear Earth Ashton A.

Dear Earth,
have you met other planets?
Do you get bored? Blue and green
you smell like rain.

Dear Stars Khloe C.

Dear stars,
What makes you shine so bright
every night?
Since you’re in the sky,
how does it feel watching planes
soar and fly?
You are like a lightbulb in the
world.

The moon Angel G.

Why are you so lonely?
Do you taste like cheese?
Why do you sometimes go out during the day?
You are always shining like a lone star.

The Moon Christian T.

Dear moon
How old are you
How have you seen the world
Have you ever met a star
Have you seen any aliens
How did the earth look like when you arrived

Mr. Charmelo 7th Grade

Dear Ocean Evan A.

Dear Ocean,
how deep do you go?
Smooth like water
do you like when people swim?
Could be hot like the sun or
cold like Pluto or
perfect.

Galaxy Lamine D.

Oh Galaxy,
black void
how are you?
how’s life like for you?
Galaxy, how many are like you?
Galaxy, so out there, why so far?
Galaxy, we are so small how do you
make a call, forget the call what’s
the prob?

Oh great heaven Geniyah E.

Oh great heaven
Up and above
Shiny like diamonds
Worth so much and so hard to reach.
Why are you so far away?
Are you real?
Could I ever get to you?
Oh great heaven,
Can you make my dreams come true?

O' Sun Richard F.

When you were born
were you alone
were you still burning

Dear Moon Mia N.

Where do you sleep at night?
How and why are you so beautiful?
Like a star in the night sky,
why do you shine so bright like glowing
eyes shining in your light?
How does it look with you being so
far away?
What is it like to be shining so bright
in the night sky?

God Lakiyah P.

God, so big and so strong, so nice
because you forgive people who
do wrong. All some do is sin
sin sin, and yet you still find it in
your heart to forgive them within.

Oh Moon... Benjamin T.

Oh moon, how do you glow so bright?
Oh moon, why only shine at night?
Oh moon, how does your beauty shine in the sky?
Shine, among the stars in the sky
like they’re there just to complement you.
Oh moon, when will I see you again…