A Reflective Poem

After a year of working in a Writer's Notebook, students in Mr. Vogelsinger's eighth grade English class are asked to reflect on their work, much in the manner of William Stafford in his poem, "What's In My Journal."  Nolan approaches this reflective work with a keen eye and a coy wit that is characteristic of his creative work. 

artwork by Gabrielle S., grade 9





What’s In My Notebook

Torn pages, and scribbled-out words,

A book in a foreign language

Known only by me.

It is a code, waiting to be cracked,

For if someone cracked the code

They would know everything about me

The things I love, hate, and fear.

But until that day. . .

I write in this language of lines and circles

Where the words only mean something to me.

I still write.

I write because I know no one knows my language,

For no one has found and cracked this code -- yet.

The only door to my mind still remains closed,

The way I want it.

Nolan C, grade 8