Our first poetry unit in Ms. Krasic’s 8th grade class is on play and surprise. We talked about how poetry can give us tools to express some of our deepest emotions and thoughts, while also giving us a place to play with language and tap into our weird inner small kids.
To practice this silly side of ourselves, we read Valerie Worth’s poem “Paper Clip,” and then came up with the most surprising similes and metaphors we could for the most boring objects in the room. We stretched our imaginations by expanding these comparisons into short poems.
The Old Expo Marker
–Riddhi
The old expo marker
Is an old
lamp post
forgotten and with rust.
It’s flame brings
warmth
to the grave
that its next to.
They sit in
silence
getting older
as we sleep.
Excess Paper
-Zaira
The paper I ripped
Off of my lined paper
looks funny.
It sits there on its side
the tips of mountains I
would love to climb.
Sitting on my table waiting
to be thrown, to be moved.
But mountains don’t move.
They sit there until they crumple.
But when I pick it up to throw it
It looks like my after school lunch.
The ramen in the cup as I pour in
The hot water. Its ready to be eaten.
Squishing around the cup so it
cools down while I watch my
shows, not paying attention to
it.
Bottle
-Noman
The bottle standing tall
like a tower
echoing like a bell.
Standing Still
looking like a
rocket ready
to launch
into the midnight sky.
