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