Poetry As a Canvas - The Chicago Poetry Center

Poetry As a Canvas

This past Tuesday, I started my afterschool residency at the Gary Comer Center and met a great group of 8th graders. The theme for our first poetry session on was self-portraits. Artists create self-portrait paintings to express who they are and how they see themselves. I showed students slides of self-portraits painted by the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Kahlo is known for the strange, yet beautiful imagery in her paintings, that reflected her life and culture. Students noticed the exotic flowers, animals, and jewelry, especially necklaces made of thorns that Kahlo painted herself with. Kahlo also loved to show off her unibrow, that she believed made her beautiful and unique.

Together we read the poem, “Paint Me Like I Am,” by Delia Garcia, a teen poet whose poem became the title of the anthology, she was featured in. In her poem Delia describes herself to readers through the positive things she wants to be painted with, and the negative things she wants to be painted without.

Inspired by Delia Garcia, 8th graders wrote poems and drew self-portraits with things that represent who they are. So, readers, pick up your own paint brush and start creating your own poetry.

8th Grade

Paint Me Jhaimarion L.

Paint me with my dog.
Paint me with my bedroom.
Paint me my TV.
Paint me with my sister.
Paint me with my games.

Paint me without my school.
Paint me with without pop.
Paint me in an arcade.
Paint me with my home.

Paint Me Emma Emma A.

Paint me with sprinkles, a slice of delight.
Bracelets that shimmer, all colors, all bright.

Add happiness in my layers, as sweet as a treat.
Joy at my hands, a world at my feet.

Leave away the gray, the heavy pain.
No storms in my sky, just sunshine and rain.

Paint Me with Joy Daylan D.

Why don’t you paint me like I am.
Paint me with Joy, having fun with friends.
Paint me with family.
Paint me with good food.
Paint me with Freedom.

Paint Me As I Am Starry Ari

Paint me with plants and greens as I grow and flourish like one
Painting me without the snow as plants hide away when it comes,
and I wish to stay at full bloom
Paint me with all types of music as I live in sound and harmony
But paint me without stress as that is noise without sound
Paint me with love as that is what I do
But paint me without hate as that isn’t the right thing to do
Paint me as a fox as I resonate with them
But paint me without disrespect and the harms that come with it
Paint me with the stars as I’d become one today
But paint me without the fake mean sky’s as they don’t see eye to eye
Paint me with me as I am
But paint me without me and I won’t stand.