Special Throw-Back Sunday Poem: Untitled Morbidness

Wow, it's been over a year since I've done this feature. :( I have more awesomely bad poetry, so I thought I'd start this back up again. This poem is from 10th grade, one of those assignments where you had to take a famous(ish) poem and make it your own. I get what I was trying to achieve with this, but it just came out sounding really weird and morbid. What do you think? Do you have any embarrassing poetry you want to share? Comment below!



I have studied many times
the marble which is chiseled for me-
A novel with a closed cover.
In truth it pictures my life.
For life without meaning is
a shriveled copy of classic stories
gone dead.

Special Throw-Back Sunday Poem: "Childhood"

This poem was written in 10th grade and yes I really wanted to name my little sister "Football". In my defense, I was 4 years old. And I liked football. :)


Childhood

Childhood is sitting on apartment steps
blowing bubbles
with my best friend.
Childhood is hiding
mom's car keys
for two weeks.
Childhood is wanting to
name my new baby sister
Football.
Childhood is green peas.

Special Throw-Back Sunday Poem: "Fear"

This is one I wrote for my 9th grade English class, I believe. It's actually kind of good, if I do say so myself. :)

Fear

Some fears are locked tightly
like a window in your body.
Others are lit up brightly
like a streetlamp inside the
dark cave of your mind.
Some fears allow your friends
to see straight through you
like a mirror into time.
Others are doors, opening up to
show the real you.
Some fears are like mist,
scary but not really there.
Others are so frightening, you
run from the mere thought of them.
Some fears are like moonlight,
mysterious but needed.
Others are a family picture,
framed and always a part of you.

Special Throw-Back Sunday Poem: "Yo Quiero Una Gata"

My senior year of high school, I decided I wanted a cat. Really, really bad. We'd had dogs before, but I wanted a cat. So, to convince my parents to get me one, I decided to write a poem. In Spanish. And, hey, it worked! :) I got my KuKu kitty a few weeks later and then we got two more cats in the subsequent years...turns out my whole family loved cats too. Now, as always, I'm not saying this poem is any good lol...but that's what makes it fun. Hopefully. Enjoy! (This was really hard to type in Spanish btw!)

Yo quiero una gata.
Una vaca gata
con los ojos verdes.
Yo quiero una gata.
Una negra gata
con se llama "Mojo".
Yo quiero una gata.
Una bonita gata
con largo pelo.
Yo quiero una gata.

I want a cat.
A cow cat
with green eyes.
I want a cat.
A black cat
with a name "Mojo".
I want a cat.
A pretty cat
with long hair.
I want a cat.

1-18-98

Special Throw-Back Sunday Play: "The Bubble Barrier"

I thought it'd be nice to do another throw-back Sunday post today. :) This is a play I co-wrote in 6th grade, I believe. And it's quite morbid lol...I'm not sure what the assignment was or what our grade was, but I like to think we did well. Sure, let's go with that. At least I used pretty pink and purple ink. And bonus points for these names, right? Hah!

The Bubble Barrier

Narrator-Because of the extreme air pollution on Earth today, Density Mauve, Tranquility Black, Auchasia Red, and Felicity White move to an underwater bubble barrier near the Great Barrier Reef. As their journey begins, they are making their bubble home.

Density-I want the curtains to be mauve.

Felicity-I don't think so darling, they're going to be white! (Felicity exits right to get the food.)

Tranquility-Black is always a nice change.

Auchasia-I think they should be blood red.

Density-Fiddle-dee-dee, there aren't any windows!

Auchasia-Therefore we need no curtains, Dense!

Tranquility-Come on you guys. Don't argue! The food will be here soon! (The three girls cross to stage left and sit at a table as Felicity enters with four plates of hot food.)

Density-Goody-goody gumdrops! Here she comes with our dinner!

All to Density-Duh!

Felicity-Is everyone's steak alright?

Auchasia-(biting into steak) Hey, wait a minute! Mine's cooked. You know I like mine very raw!

Felicity-Oh, I'm truly sorry!

Auchasia-I'm going to get another steak...raw! (Auchasia exits right and the girls continue talking.)

Tranquility-I bet she brings us back some Dr. Peppers. She's so thoughtful!

Density-Yeah right! (Auchasia comes back in with a raw steak and four Dr. Peppers.)

Tranquility-See, I told you so Density! (They finish eating and, suddenly, they begin to feel sick.)

Felicity-I don't feel so spiffy, you guys!

Density-Who cares about being clean! I feel sick!

Auchasia-She means she feels sick! (They suddenly pass out and a strong, green smoke fills the room. When they wake up, there are bubbles on their stomachs where flesh used to be.)

Felicity-For heaven's sake! I do believe we've been poisoned by the food.

Tranquility-Let's go check it out! (very slowly, they exit to the cellar, where the food is kept.)

Density-I don't think I'm going to make it you guys!

Auchasia-Look over there! (Pointing towards a wall.) What's that stuff dripping through the wall?

Felicity-Something has eaten straight through the barrier!

Density-I wonder what it is......I'll taste it and see!

Tranquility-No, don't! It could kill you!

Auchasia-Oh, come on! Can't we let her?

Felicity-That wouldn't be too grand of us, now would it? Auchasia, you're so interested in knowing what it is, you taste it!

Auchasia-No way!

Density-Wait a sec! I feel brain power coming on! Why don't we just smell it?

Tranquility-Obviously, you don't feel much of it! Yeah, if we smelled it, we'd probably get a big buzz and make matters worse!

(As they are standing there thinking about what to do, water flows into the room, and they all drown.)(Soon the sharks come, and try to eat them, but the acid makes them taste horrible, so the sharks leave. Then the acid eats the rest of their deformed bodies.)

The End!

Special Sunday Review: "Zeely" & "New Kids on the Block"

Time for another special throw-back Sunday review! As I said before, these were written for a college education class so they aren't the greatest, but I hope you still enjoy them! We have two reviews this time, because they were shorties. Hope I still got a good grade on them lol.

Zeely, by Virginia Hamilton, was published in 1967. It is about a young African-American girl and boy who go to visit their uncle in the country. They meet a girl whom they believe to be an African Watutsi queen. This book would probably be best for ages 9-12.

This book is good for teaching about diversity while not forcing the child to realize that they are learning. It tells an excellent story about judging people and becoming your own person. There was only one mention of their color, and otherwise you wouldn't know they were African, except for the pictures. It also teaches children to have pride in their backgrounds, especially young women. The girl had a very active imagination, which you don't usually see in older books. Overall it was well-written with a solid message.

New Kids in Town, written by Janet Bode, was published in 1989. This book is suitable for ages 10-15, but I think teens around 14 or 15 will appreciate it more. Many different cultures are discussed in this book, including Chinese, Mexican, Greek, and Indian.

This book is a collection teens' stories about coming to America. Each story is told in the teen's own words, so the emotions they felt coming to a strange country are conveyed quite well. These are obviously true stories, retold after usually several years in America. Some of the raw feelings, such as fear and anger, that they must have felt do not come across as well on paper as they might have when told to the author.

Some of the stories were interesting, like the one by the Vietnamese boy who came to America with his father and left the rest of his family back in Vietnam. The older teens, 18, 19, and 20 years old, seemed more interesting than the younger ones. I honestly don't think teens will like most of these stories, mostly because they are already so outdated. However, the book does do a good job of showing different cultures.

Special Sunday Review: "More Than Meets the Eye"

I dug out my box of children's books from my closet yesterday and found some of my old elementary education books and notes. It was kind of sad, because I didn't make it in becoming a teacher, but funny because I found a few assignments, including some book reviews. So how about a special throw-back Sunday review? Today's is a tad longer so I'll do it by itself and then next Sunday will have 2 in 1. And maybe after that, I'll find something new/old to post on Sunday! Some old, angsty poetry perhaps? :) Oh and I will say up front that the quality of writing is um, not good. Sorry!

More Than Meets the Eye by Jeanne Betancourt, was published in 1990. It is appropriate for ages 10-15, but probably closer to 12 or 13. The cultures described in the book are those of the Chinese, Cambodians, and whites.

The story is set in a high school where there is only one Asian American, Ben, who usually gets along great with everyone. Then, a young Cambodian girl who can't speak English moves to town, and everyone tries to put the two together, like they are from the same culture. Ben gets upset, more so when his friend, Elizabeth, starts helping the girl learn English. Elizabeth is going through her own struggles with her parents. She likes Ben as a boyfriend, and since she is Caucasian and he is Chinese, neither one's parents approve. The story climaxes with the entire town in an uproar about Asians taking over, and the boy who has been insulting Ben throughout finally realizes what a racist he is. Ben and Elizabeth get together in the end, and the town begins to accept the new Asian families.

This book is a little oversimplified, but it makes its point well. It's trying to show how racism works and how it hurts people. The Asians are depicted as very smart and as hard workers. "They give him [Ben] better grades because they expect him to do better than you." The boy who insults Ben finally learns that what he is doing is wrong, when he has to help a Korean family and loses his job. Most children will understand the message of this book, even though they may not enjoy reading it. The author is trying too hard to get her point across.