Monday, May 8, 2017

Poetry (Blog #11)

Hi everyone,

As you know by now, I love poetry. However, not all of my students feel the same. Somewhere along the arc of your education poetry became a necessary evil to you. (Some may not even think it necessary). But poetry is really a study of the English language, using words to express your inner thoughts and feelings. The best poetry takes an ordinary object or situation and looks at it in a new light.

This week I would like you to explore online and find a poem that speaks to you (school appropriate please). Then copy it and post it here on this blog. In the next week, come back and comment on another's choice of poetry.

I will go first - My favorite poem of all time is "Enough Music" by Dorianne Laux because of the nature of family and travel. We have all been in the car on those long car rides, and have most likely felt what she expresses in these lines:

Enough Music

Sometimes when we’re on a long drive,

And we’ve talked enough and listened
To enough music and stopped twice,
Once to eat, once to see the view
We fall into this rhythm of silence.
It swings back and forth between us
like a rope over a lake.


36 comments:

  1. I performed this poem in the speech and debate club, and thought it was interesting.

    The Chimney Sweeper
    By William Blake

    When my mother died I was very young,
    And my father sold me while yet my tongue
    Could scarcely cry " 'weep! 'weep! 'weep! 'weep!"
    So your chimneys I sweep & in soot I sleep.

    There's little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head
    That curled like a lamb's back, was shaved, so I said,
    "Hush, Tom! never mind it, for when your head's bare,
    You know that the soot cannot spoil your white hair."

    And so he was quiet, & that very night,
    As Tom was a-sleeping he had such a sight!
    That thousands of sweepers, Dick, Joe, Ned, & Jack,
    Were all of them locked up in coffins of black;

    And by came an Angel who had a bright key,
    And he opened the coffins & set them all free;
    Then down a green plain, leaping, laughing they run,
    And wash in a river and shine in the Sun.

    Then naked & white, all their bags left behind,
    They rise upon clouds, and sport in the wind.
    And the Angel told Tom, if he'd be a good boy,
    He'd have God for his father & never want joy.

    And so Tom awoke; and we rose in the dark
    And got with our bags & our brushes to work.
    Though the morning was cold, Tom was happy & warm;
    So if all do their duty, they need not fear harm.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My Future
    Published on July 2015

    They want me to be prepared
    For the future that is near,
    But the truth is I am scared
    Because mine is unclear.

    Now, I lay here in my bed,
    My worries slowly eating me.
    So many questions in my head
    About how my future will be.

    Will my dreams come true?
    Will I find a house to call my own?
    Will I find someone to turn to,
    Or will I be forever alone?

    These questions I ponder,
    And so many more.
    Yet, still, my heart grows fonder,
    To the mystery my future has in store.


    Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/my-future-1

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  4. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
    Whose woods these are I think I know.
    His house is in the village, though;
    He will not see me stopping here
    To watch his woods fill up with snow.
    My little horse must think it queer
    To stop without a farmhouse near
    Between the woods and frozen lake
    The darkest evening of the year.

    He gives his harness bells a shake
    To ask if there is some mistake.
    The only other sound's the sweep
    Of easy wind and downy flake.
    The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
    But I have promises to keep,
    And miles to go before I sleep,
    And miles to go before I sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The road not taken

    Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
    And sorry I could not travel both
    And be one traveler, long I stood
    And looked down one as far as I could
    To where it bent in the undergrowth;

    Then took the other, as just as fair,
    And having perhaps the better claim,
    Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
    Though as for that the passing there
    Had worn them really about the same,

    And both that morning equally lay
    In leaves no step had trodden black.
    Oh, I kept the first for another day!
    Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
    I doubted if I should ever come back.

    I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Somewhere ages and ages hence:
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference.

    -Robert Frost

    ReplyDelete
  6. An Admirable Woman by Crystal Foy
    There is a woman who always keeps her head up high.
    Her eyes sparkle like a bright star in the sky.
    She has the stamina, beauty, and courage that one would admire,
    Even the love and happiness one inspires.
    She is a women that one can always count on,
    And a woman that sees no wrong.
    Her beauty shines from the inside out,
    It flows like a journey down a long route.
    Her smile shines beautifully like the sun rising over the horizon,
    And her intelligence, wisdom, and hard work are not surprising.
    She is a genuinely caring women
    Who goes the extra mile to help one in need or broken hearted,
    And throughout all of her hard work,
    No one ever sees her fall apart.

    ReplyDelete
  7. When The Light Appears
    by Allen Ginsberg


    You'll bare your bones you'll grow you'll pray you'll only know
    When the light appears, boy, when the light appears
    You'll sing & you'll love you'll praise blue heavens above
    When the light appears, boy, when the light appears
    You'll whimper & you'll cry you'll get yourself sick and sigh
    You'll sleep & you'll dream you'll only know what you mean
    When the light appears, boy, when the light appears
    You'll come & you'll go, you'll wander to and fro
    You'll go home in despair you'll wonder why'd you care
    You'll stammer & you'll lie you'll ask everybody why
    You'll cough and you'll pout you'll kick your toe with gout
    You'll jump you'll shout you'll knock you're friends about
    You'll bawl and you'll deny & announce your eyes are dry
    You'll roll and you'll rock you'll show your big hard cock
    You'll love and you'll grieve & one day you'll come believe
    As you whistle & you smile the lord made you worthwhile
    You'll preach and you'll glide on the pulpit in your pride
    Sneak & slide across the stage like a river in high tide
    You'll come fast or come on slow just the same you'll never know
    When the light appears, boy, when the light appears

    ReplyDelete
  8. Song of Myself Chapter 6 by Ralph Waldo Emerson

    A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
    How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.

    I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven.

    Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
    A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,
    Bearing the owner’s name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose?

    Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation.

    Or I guess it is a uniform hieroglyphic,
    And it means, Sprouting alike in broad zones and narrow zones,
    Growing among black folks as among white,
    Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same.

    And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves.

    Tenderly will I use you curling grass,
    It may be you transpire from the breasts of young men,
    It may be if I had known them I would have loved them,
    It may be you are from old people, or from offspring taken soon out of their mothers’ laps,
    And here you are the mothers’ laps.

    This grass is very dark to be from the white heads of old mothers,
    Darker than the colorless beards of old men,
    Dark to come from under the faint red roofs of mouths.

    O I perceive after all so many uttering tongues,
    And I perceive they do not come from the roofs of mouths for nothing.

    I wish I could translate the hints about the dead young men and women,
    And the hints about old men and mothers, and the offspring taken soon out of their laps.

    What do you think has become of the young and old men?
    And what do you think has become of the women and children?

    They are alive and well somewhere,
    The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
    And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
    And ceas’d the moment life appear’d.

    All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
    And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Life Is What Life Is

    Through all the ups, all the downs,
    Some will be there, some can't be found.
    If they won't care as they should, so be it.
    This is life in the way that I wish to see it.

    You can give your all, or you can try not.
    When they decide to leave, what have you got?
    You build it up, then it breaks away.
    This is life in the way I see it today.

    Days come and go, true hearts stay close.
    Without happiness, love is an imitation at most.
    You haven't stayed close, it's hard to love you,
    This is life in a way that is sadly true.

    To leave behind such a feeble mind,
    forget it and pursue someone real.
    This is my goal, and in time...
    This will be life and the way that I feel.
    Life Is What Life Is
    Edward Veilleux

    ReplyDelete
  10. Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
    Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
    I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
    But when I start to tell them,
    They think I'm telling lies.
    I say,
    It's in the reach of my arms
    The span of my hips,
    The stride of my step,
    The curl of my lips.
    I'm a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That's me.

    I walk into a room
    Just as cool as you please,
    And to a man,
    The fellows stand or
    Fall down on their knees.
    Then they swarm around me,
    A hive of honey bees.
    I say,
    It's the fire in my eyes,
    And the flash of my teeth,
    The swing in my waist,
    And the joy in my feet.
    I'm a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That's me.

    Men themselves have wondered
    What they see in me.
    They try so much
    But they can't touch
    My inner mystery.
    When I try to show them
    They say they still can't see.
    I say,
    It's in the arch of my back,
    The sun of my smile,
    The ride of my breasts,
    The grace of my style.
    I'm a woman

    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That's me.

    Now you understand
    Just why my head's not bowed.
    I don't shout or jump about
    Or have to talk real loud.
    When you see me passing
    It ought to make you proud.
    I say,
    It's in the click of my heels,
    The bend of my hair,
    the palm of my hand,
    The need of my care,
    'Cause I'm a woman
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That's me.

    ReplyDelete
  11. An Invitation By S.Tarr

    All of creation is an invitation
    A holy calling to our final embarkation

    An invitation to the encounter of true adventure

    An invitation to the discovery of love's surrender

    All of creation is an invitation,
    A sacred journey to our utmost destination

    An invitation to the revelation of an inner beauty

    An invitation to do so much more than meets the eye's daily duty

    ReplyDelete
  12. (Some background- this is my favorite poem and I can say it by memory, much to my friends dismay because whenever they kill a bug they are met with this poem)

    Thoughtless Cruelty
    Charles Lamb

    There, Robert, you have kill'd that fly — ,
    And should you thousand ages try
    The life you've taken to supply,
    You could not do it.

    You surely must have been devoid
    Of thought and sense, to have destroy'd
    A thing which no way you annoy'd —
    You'll one day rue it.

    Twas but a fly perhaps you'll say,
    That's born in April, dies in May;
    That does but just learn to display
    His wings one minute,

    And in the next is vanish'd quite.
    A bird devours it in his flight —
    Or come a cold blast in the night,
    There's no breath in it.

    The bird but seeks his proper food —
    And Providence, whose power endu'd
    That fly with life, when it thinks good,
    May justly take it.

    But you have no excuses for't —
    A life by Nature made so short,
    Less reason is that you for sport
    Should shorter make it.

    A fly a little thing you rate —
    But, Robert do not estimate
    A creature's pain by small or great;
    The greatest being

    Can have but fibres, nerves, and flesh,
    And these the smallest ones possess,
    Although their frame and structure less
    Escape our seeing.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fireflies Related Poem Content Details
    BY FRANK ORMSBY
    The lights come on and stay on under the trees.
    Visibly a whole neighborhood inhabits the dusk,
    so punctual and in place it seems to deny
    dark its dominion. Nothing will go astray,
    the porch lamps promise. Sudden, as though a match
    failed to ignite at the foot of the garden, the first squibs
    trouble the eye. Impossible not to share
    that sportive, abortive, clumsy, where-are-we-now
    dalliance with night, such soothing relentlessness.
    What should we make of fireflies, their quick flare
    of promise and disappointment, their throwaway style?
    Our heads turn this way and that. We are loath to miss
    such jauntiness in nature. Those fugitive selves,
    winged and at random! Our flickery might-have-beens
    come up form the woods to haunt us! Our yet-to-be
    as tentative frolic! What do fireflies say?
    That loneliness made of light becomes at last
    convivial singleness? That any antic spark
    cruising the void might titillate creation?
    And whether they spend themselves, or go to ground,
    or drift with their lights out, they have left the gloom,
    for as long as our eyes take to absorb such absence,
    less than it seemed, as childless and deprived
    as Chaos and Old Night. But ruffled, too,
    as though it unearthed some memory of light
    from its long blackout, a hospitable core
    fit home for fireflies, brushed by fireflies' wings.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This Is Just To Say
    William Carlos Williams, 1883 - 1963

    I have eaten
    the plums
    that were in
    the icebox

    and which
    you were probably
    saving
    for breakfast

    Forgive me
    they were delicious
    so sweet
    and so cold

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Haunted Palace
    Edgar Allen Poe

    In the greenest of our valleys
    By good angels tenanted,
    Once a fair and stately palace—
    Radiant palace—reared its head.
    In the monarch Thought’s dominion,
    It stood there!
    Never seraph spread a pinion
    Over fabric half so fair!

    Banners yellow, glorious, golden,
    On its roof did float and flow
    (This—all this—was in the olden
    Time long ago)
    And every gentle air that dallied,
    In that sweet day,
    Along the ramparts plumed and pallid,
    A wingèd odor went away.

    Wanderers in that happy valley,
    Through two luminous windows, saw
    Spirits moving musically
    To a lute’s well-tunèd law,
    Round about a throne where, sitting,
    Porphyrogene!
    In state his glory well befitting,
    The ruler of the realm was seen.

    And all with pearl and ruby glowing
    Was the fair palace door,
    Through which came flowing, flowing, flowing
    And sparkling evermore,
    A troop of Echoes, whose sweet duty
    Was but to sing,
    In voices of surpassing beauty,
    The wit and wisdom of their king.

    But evil things, in robes of sorrow,
    Assailed the monarch’s high estate;
    (Ah, let us mourn!—for never morrow
    Shall dawn upon him, desolate!)
    And round about his home the glory
    That blushed and bloomed
    Is but a dim-remembered story
    Of the old time entombed.

    And travellers, now, within that valley,
    Through the red-litten windows see
    Vast forms that move fantastically
    To a discordant melody;
    While, like a ghastly rapid river,
    Through the pale door
    A hideous throng rush out forever,
    And laugh—but smile no more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A great choice of author, and a very good example of his eerie style of poetry.

      Delete
  16. Retired Ballerinas, Central Park West
    BY LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI
    Retired ballerinas on winter afternoons
    walking their dogs
    in Central Park West
    (or their cats on leashes—
    the cats themselves old highwire artists)
    The ballerinas
    leap and pirouette
    through Columbus Circle
    while winos on park benches
    (laid back like drunken Goudonovs)
    hear the taxis trumpet together
    like horsemen of the apocalypse
    in the dusk of the gods
    It is the final witching hour
    when swains are full of swan songs
    And all return through the dark dusk
    to their bright cells
    in glass highrises
    or sit down to oval cigarettes and cakes
    in the Russian Tea Room
    or climb four flights to back rooms
    in Westside brownstones
    where faded playbill photos
    fall peeling from their frames
    like last year’s autumn leaves

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ashley
    By Bo Burnham
    Little Ashley hung magazine spreads on her wall,
    after picking the magazines out in the mall.
    Models and actresses, singers and more,
    with cleavage and makeup and glamour galore!

    All her heroes were finally nearer.
    Her whole room looked perfect — except for the mirror.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The Life Of A Cupcake
    Shelby Greer

    They put me in the oven to bake.
    Me a deprived and miserable cake.
    Feeling the heat I started to bubble.
    Watching the others I knew I was in trouble

    They opened the door and I started my life.
    Frosting me with a silver knife.
    Decorating me with candy jewels.
    The rest of my batch looked like fools.

    Lifting me up, she took off my wrapper.
    Feeling the breeze, I wanted to slap her.
    Opening her mouth with shiny teeth inside.
    This was the day this cupcake had died.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Memories

    Memories in my life fade away
    As I replace them with others.
    They are forgotten and stored away.
    Although the memories are pushed to the side,
    They are safe so I may remember them in the future.
    Our mind is like a book;
    It writes down important things and keeps them between the pages forever.
    Maybe our whole album of memories:
    Our first steps, first love, first grief, and others
    Were meant to be there for us to never forget.

    ReplyDelete
  20. All That is Gold Does Not Glitter by JRR Tolkien

    All that is gold does not glitter,
    Not all those who wander are lost;
    The old that is strong does not wither,
    Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
    From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
    A light from the shadows shall spring;
    Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
    The crownless again shall be king.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Apparently
    By Jermaine Cole
    Think back to Forest Hills, no perfect home
    But the only thing like home I've ever known
    Until they snatched it from my mama
    And foreclosed her on the loan
    I'm so sorry that I left you there to deal with that alone
    I was up in New York City chasin' panties, gettin' dome
    Had no clue what you was goin' through
    How could you be so strong?
    And how could I be so selfish?
    I know I can be so selfish
    I could tell by how I treat you with my girl
    Damn, she so selfless, but she put up with my way
    Because she loves me like you do

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like that this is a modern, relate-able poem in today's age. It actually has meaning.

      Delete
  22. $ave Dat Money
    "If you at a restaurant and got a iced coffee
    And the waiter been refillin' that without a word of caution
    And you get your fuckin' bill and you can see he double charged ya
    For the coffee and you told 'em there's a problem
    Sing along like
    Ohh, don't double charge me for that
    Don't double charge me, we like
    Ohh, don't double charge me for that
    Don't do it to yourself
    'cause I might just ask what the ice cube's worth
    What the ice cube's worth
    That's the only differentiator making this a non-free perk
    And I might make work more difficult for you than it need be
    So think about it, take a minute, let it breathe, B
    But think about it, bruh, you saw me get the burger with the bacon on the side
    After looking at the price of the side of just bacon
    And comparing it to the what the difference in the cheeseburger
    Vs the bacon cheeseburger was and making my decision
    I would hate to be the waiter tryna tell me something different" -Dave Burd

    ReplyDelete
  23. Trees - Joyce Kilmer

    I think that I shall never see
    A poem lovely as a tree.

    A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
    Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

    A tree that looks at God all day,
    And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

    A tree that may in summer wear
    A nest of robins in her hair;

    Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
    Who intimately lives with rain.

    Poems are made by fools like me,
    But only God can make a tree.

    ReplyDelete
  24. A million stars up in the sky
    one shines brighter I can't deny
    A love so precious a love so true
    a love that comes from me to you
    The angels sing when you are near
    within your arms I have nothing to fear
    You always know just what to say
    just talking to you makes my day
    I love you honey with all of my heart
    together forever and never to part.
    -Mrs. Creeves


    Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/from-my-heart

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. wow I love the rhyme and rhythm

      Delete
  25. Tiger Tiger, burning bright,
    In the forests of the night;
    What immortal hand or eye,
    Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

    In what distant deeps or skies.
    Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
    On what wings dare he aspire?
    What the hand, dare seize the fire?

    And what shoulder, and what art,
    Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
    And when thy heart began to beat,
    What dread hand? and what dread feet?

    What the hammer? what the chain,
    In what furnace was thy brain?
    What the anvil? what dread grasp,
    Dare its deadly terrors clasp!

    When the stars threw down their spears
    And water’d heaven with their tears:
    Did he smile his work to see?
    Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

    Tiger Tiger burning bright,
    In the forests of the night:
    What immortal hand or eye,
    Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

    ReplyDelete
  26. when your hero falls from grace
    all fairy tales r uncovered
    myths exposed and pain magnified
    the greatest pain discovered
    u taught me 2 be strong
    but im confused 2 c u so weak
    u said never 2 give up
    and it hurts 2 c u welcome defeat

    when ure hero falls so do the stars
    and so does the perception of tomorrow
    without my hero there is only
    me alone 2 deal with my sorrow
    your heart ceases 2 work
    and your soul is not happy at all
    what r u expected 2 do
    when ure only hero falls

    -Tupac Shakur

    ReplyDelete
  27. The Lora by Dr.Suess
    At the far end of town

    where the Grickle-grass grows

    and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows

    and no birds ever sing excepting old crows...

    is the Street of the Lifted Lorax.

    And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say,

    if you look deep enough you can still see, today,

    where the Lorax once stood

    just as long as it could

    before somebody lifted the Lorax away.

    What was the Lorax?

    Any why was it there?

    And why was it lifted and taken somewhere

    from the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows?

    The old Once-ler still lives here.

    Ask him. He knows.

    You won't see the Once-ler.

    Don't knock at his door.

    He stays in his Lerkim on top of his store.

    He stays in his Lerkim, cold under the roar,

    where he makes his own clothes

    out of miff-muffered moof.

    And on special dank midnights in August,

    he peeks

    out of the shutters

    and sometimes he speaks

    and tells how the Lorax was lifted away.

    He'll tell you, perhaps...

    if you're willing to pay.

    On the end of a rope

    he lets down a tin pail

    and you have to toss in fifteen cents and a nail

    and the shell of a great-great-great-grandfather snail.

    Then he pulls up the pail,

    makes a most careful count

    to see if you've paid him

    the proper amount.

    Then he hides what you paid him

    away in his Snuvv,

    his secret strange hole

    in his gruvvulous glove.

    Then he grunts, I will call you by Whisper-ma-Phone,

    for the secrets I tell you are for your ears alone.

    SLUPP

    Down slupps the Whisper-ma-Phone to your ear

    and the old Once-ler's whispers are not very clear,

    since they have to come down

    through a snergelly hose,

    and he sounds

    as if he had

    smallish bees up his nose.

    Now I'll tell you, he says, with his teeth sounding gray,

    how the Lorax got lifted and taken away...

    It all started way back...

    such a long, long time back...

    Way back in the days when the grass was still green

    and the pond was still wet

    and the clouds were still clean,

    and the song of the Swomee-Swans rang out in space...

    one morning, I came to this glorious place.

    And I first saw the trees!

    The Truffula Trees!

    The bright-colored tufts of the Truffula Trees!

    Mile after mile in the fresh morning breeze.

    And under the trees, I saw Brown Bar-ba-loots

    frisking about in their Bar-ba-loot suits

    as the played in the shade and ate Truffula Fruits.

    From the rippulous pond

    came the comfortable sound

    of the Humming-Fish humming

    while splashing around.

    But those trees! Those trees!

    Those Truffula Trees!

    All my life I'd been searching

    for trees such as these.

    The touch of their tufts

    was much softer than silk.

    And they had the sweet smell

    of fresh butterfly milk.

    I felt a great leaping

    of joy in my heart.

    ReplyDelete
  28. "Alone" by Edgar Allan Poe

    From childhood’s hour I have not been
    As others were—I have not seen
    As others saw—I could not bring
    My passions from a common spring—
    From the same source I have not taken
    My sorrow—I could not awaken
    My heart to joy at the same tone—
    And all I lov’d—I lov’d alone—
    Then—in my childhood—in the dawn
    Of a most stormy life—was drawn
    From ev’ry depth of good and ill
    The mystery which binds me still—
    From the torrent, or the fountain—
    From the red cliff of the mountain—
    From the sun that ’round me roll’d
    In its autumn tint of gold—
    From the lightning in the sky
    As it pass’d me flying by—
    From the thunder, and the storm—
    And the cloud that took the form
    (When the rest of Heaven was blue)
    Of a demon in my view—

    ReplyDelete
  29. "Things" by Lisel Mueller

    What happened is, we grew lonely
    living among the things,
    so we gave the clock a face,
    the chair a back,
    the table four stout legs
    which will never suffer fatigue.

    We fitted our shoes with tongues
    as smooth as our own
    and hung tongues inside bells
    so we could listen
    to their emotional language,

    and because we loved graceful profiles
    the pitcher received a lip,
    the bottle a long, slender neck.

    Even what was beyond us
    was recast in our image;
    we gave the country a heart,
    the storm an eye,
    the cave a mouth
    so we could pass into safety.

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  30. The Old Astronomer by Sarah Williams

    Reach me down my Tycho Brahé, – I would know him when we meet,
    When I share my later science, sitting humbly at his feet;
    He may know the law of all things, yet be ignorant of how
    We are working to completion, working on from then to now.

    Pray remember that I leave you all my theory complete,
    Lacking only certain data for your adding, as is meet,
    And remember men will scorn it, 'tis original and true,
    And the obloquy of newness may fall bitterly on you.

    But, my pupil, as my pupil you have learned the worth of scorn,
    You have laughed with me at pity, we have joyed to be forlorn,
    What for us are all distractions of men's fellowship and wiles;
    What for us the Goddess Pleasure with her meretricious smiles.

    You may tell that German College that their honor comes too late,
    But they must not waste repentance on the grizzly savant's fate.
    Though my soul may set in darkness, it will rise in perfect light;
    I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night.

    What, my boy, you are not weeping? You should save your eyes for sight;
    You will need them, mine observer, yet for many another night.
    I leave none but you, my pupil, unto whom my plans are known.
    You "have none but me," you murmur, and I "leave you quite alone"?

    Well then, kiss me, – since my mother left her blessing on my brow,
    There has been a something wanting in my nature until now;
    I can dimly comprehend it, – that I might have been more kind,
    Might have cherished you more wisely, as the one I leave behind.

    I "have never failed in kindness"? No, we lived too high for strife,--
    Calmest coldness was the error which has crept into our life;
    But your spirit is untainted, I can dedicate you still
    To the service of our science: you will further it? you will!

    There are certain calculations I should like to make with you,
    To be sure that your deductions will be logical and true;
    And remember, "Patience, Patience," is the watchword of a sage,
    Not to-day nor yet to-morrow can complete a perfect age.

    I have sown, like Tycho Brahé, that a greater man may reap;
    But if none should do my reaping, 'twill disturb me in my sleep
    So be careful and be faithful, though, like me, you leave no name;
    See, my boy, that nothing turn you to the mere pursuit of fame.

    I must say Good-bye, my pupil, for I cannot longer speak;
    Draw the curtain back for Venus, ere my vision grows too weak:
    It is strange the pearly planet should look red as fiery Mars, –
    God will mercifully guide me on my way amongst the stars.

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  31. The Game of Soccer
    by Kristen-Chantelle Woo

    Stadium overcrowded by hooligans and fans
    Cheering, waving flags, and clapping their hands

    Players on the field, they’re ready to start
    There goes the whistle; it pumps up their hearts

    Adding strength to the ball, and kicking it high
    The ball travels overhead, how beautiful it can fly

    Over center field, and still it goes strong
    Pass received with ease, and the player runs long

    There he goes, for his opponent’s goal
    He dribbles through each player; he’s on a roll

    He takes the shot, and curves it by
    The keeper dives for it, far and high

    The goalie misses it; the ball’s in the net
    There’s a moment of silence, and no regrets

    The winners jump for joy, that win was a must
    Opponents, heads tilt down low, they leave in disgust

    A player’s life fulfilled is playing world class,
    To be playing all year long on the rich green grass

    Play with heart, that’s the real answer
    Of how to play the true game of soccer.

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  32. maggie and milly and molly and may
    by e.e.cummings

    maggie and milly and molly and may
    went down to the beach(to play one day)

    and maggie discovered a shell that sang
    so sweetly she couldn’t remember her troubles,and

    milly befriended a stranded star
    whose rays five languid fingers were;

    and molly was chased by a horrible thing
    which raced sideways while blowing bubbles:and

    may came home with a smooth round stone
    as small as a world and as large as alone.

    For whatever we lose(like a you or a me)
    it’s always ourselves we find in the sea

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