Allusions to Literature

One of the most beautiful things about literature is the ability to inspire and be inspired by other works. Ms. Schmitt's class has taken this initiative to heart, creating poems based on popular literary works, including The Hunger Games and Out of My Mind, which are available in the library to enjoy.

War

A poem based on The Hunger Games

Districts fight to the death

Starvation, hunting, killing

Fear and panic

To be in is thrilling

Want to escape, but not able to

Dying and dying and dying

You want to win

For fame, fortune, and glory

It is WAR.

By Alex L., 7th grade

Trapped

A poem based on Out of My Mind

No one knows

Just how smart she is

She can’t tell them

She’s trapped in her head

Can’t talk

Can’t walk

Can’t write

She wished she could just speak up

Mountains of words

Surround her

She remembers everything

There’s no delete button

She wishes she could just escape.

By Jacky W., 7th grade

Spring Sonnets

While reading the classics of Shakespeare, the ninth grade class was inspired to compose sonnets of their own. To celebrate the literary idol, sevenatenine has decided to share a few of their creations.

Lying in bed with these buds in my ears,

From ambient silence, to rhythmic beat

The loud pulsations drowning out any fears

Digitalism’s “Pogo” blasting on repeat

Music evokes powerful emotions

It is simple to get lost in its tones

Seduced by its timeless musical motions

These rhythmic sounds can chill to the bones

Music is in your soul, even from the start

Filling the museum that is your mind

I would sacrifice all to hear this art

Even prefer to go utterly blind

Music is what adds color to this realm

And it grows larger as a great old elm

Brendan P., 9th grade

Pencil Marks

I do remember we discussed it,

Once, how memory is like pencil mark

How over time it starts to fade a bit.

Memories overlap as they grow dark.

When I recall the halls of those old haunts,

They swarm with pigment that was never there,

Sometimes, the bleedings of some other thoughts

Infect reality they snare and tear.

Piano playing fingers tinged with my

Pre-school impressions of dinosaur skin,

Plus a white smile like a summer sky

With black of crumbling sooty coal inked in,

All these things feel like dreams when I think back.

It scares me that so many dreams go black.

Tessa K., 9th grade

Forest

With warm weather approaching, we thought it would be appropriate to share a poem that highlights the beauty and mystique of nature.

Forest

An ethereal mist shrouds pristine nature.
Mellifluous birds call in a graceful harmony.
Abnormal creatures gallantly stride;
They advance through intricate foliage.

Crystalline lagoons beam with life,
A plethora of aquatic life forms habituate it.
Sun rays produce littered glints of life,
Blinding fauna that are nearby.

An eerie shriek silences all evidence of movement.
A full, baritone growl follows with a suppressed crack.
Frantic feet squabble over fallen leaves,
Disappearing into the nocturnal woods.

Gianna R., 9th grade

We Real Cool

The poem "We Real Cool" by Gwendelon Brooks is known for how it captures the gritty realities of life in a big city.  Eighth grader Taylor M. had to meet challenge:  Adapt the poem to a poem that captures the gritty (or not so gritty) realities of life in the suburbs.  She had to maintain the same "snipped" rhythm and simple, truthful diction.

Here is the result:

She shops long.
He goes along.

She works hard.
He wrote a card.

She doesn't care.
He's never there.

She walks away.
He says "Okay."

If you are curious about the source of her inspiration, you can check out the original.

Inspired by Current Events . . .

Maddie T., an eighth grade student, was inspired to write the following poem after a discussion regarding politics she had with her father.

An interesting linguistic footnote here:  The word "crevasse" may sound a lot like "crevice" but the scale is much  different.  The dictionary defines "crevasse" as "a fissure, a deep cleft in glacial ice or in the earth's surface."  Way bigger than a crevice, eh?

The Cracks and Crevasses

The floor of Congress is a battlefield where nothing is done,
Sell your views or your voice is hung,
Two opposing forces where a stalemate has begun.

A masquerade by brilliant actors,
Created by a myriad of factors.
History is not what they lack,
Rather they succeed
In their money-making knack.

Where does my voice fit in this?
I am either one or the other, waiting to be dismissed.

Line drawn down the middle,
Who can explain this untaught riddle?

Maddie T., eighth grade

The World is Too Much With Us

You may be familiar with William Wordsworth's poem, "The World is Too Much With Us."  It is a poem about the loss of wonder and imagination in a fast-paced, secular world.  In an eighth grade Advanced class, students lifted the first two lines of this classic and then developed it into a poem about the materialism they observe in the world around them.  This linked to their study of the dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451.  Collin V., an eighth grader, wrote the following poem, using Wordsworth's first two lines. 

The world is too much with us, late and soon.
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers,
Going to the grocery store to buy meaningless flowers.
Everyday our spending grows, it towers.
We waste our time in buying junk.
It piles up like useless gunk.
We think it's fun,
What we should shun.
Getting and spending we lay waste our power,
Mindlessness grows, and our wallets cower. 

Collin V., eighth grader

P. S.  One student commented during class, "Is Wordsworth his real last name?  It's no wonder he became a poet!"  While we can't reveal Collin's last name, we can tell you it has quite a poetic ring to it too!

drawing by Josephine D.

Illness Personified

This poem, written by a seventh grader at Holicong, demonstrates the power of personification.  It's as if we can see the illness, reach out and touch him.  Creepy, but powerful!

Also notice the economy of words in this poem.  None of the individual words are extraordinary, but each word seems perfect in its place, and together they are marvelous.

A Cranky Poison

I saw Illness clearly. 
He had pale skin, weak arms, and slouched shoulders.

He whipped around fast and snapped his head.

I saw darkness in his treebark-brown eyes; the sadness was stark.

I heard a crackle in his voice, a horrible sigh, and a chop in every word.

I felt my heart in my gut.

I can't do anything to help.

Only hope remained. 

Taylor E., seventh grader