School Poems
We Refugees
by Benjamin Zephaniah
I come from a musical place
Where they shoot me for my song
And my brother has been tortured
By my brother in my land.
I come from a beautiful place
Where they hate my shade of skin
They don't like the way I pray
And they ban free poetry.
......
Presents From My Aunts In Pakistan
by Moniza Alvi
They sent me a salwar kameez
&nb sp; peacock-blue,
& nbsp; and another
glistening like an orange split open,
embossed slippers, gold and black
&nbs p; points curling.
Candy-striped glass bangles
&n bsp; snapped, drew blood.
Like at school, fashions changed
&n bsp; in Pakistan -
......
Saturday At The Canal
by Gary Soto
I was hoping to be happy by seventeen.
School was a sharp check mark in the roll book,
An obnoxious tuba playing at noon because our team
Was going to win at night. The teachers were
Too close to dying to understand. The hallways
Stank of poor grades and unwashed hair. Thus,
A friend and I sat watching the water on Saturday,
Neither of us talking much, just warming ourselves
By hurling large rocks at the dusty ground
And feeling awful because San Francisco was a postcard
......
A Red Palm
by Gary Soto
You're in this dream of cotton plants.
You raise a hoe, swing, and the first weeds
Fall with a sigh. You take another step,
Chop, and the sigh comes again,
Until you yourself are breathing that way
With each step, a sigh that will follow you into town.
That's hours later. The sun is a red blister
Coming up in your palm. Your back is strong,
Young, not yet the broken chair
......
On Receipt Of My Mother's Picture
by William Cowper
Oh that those lips had language! Life has pass'd
With me but roughly since I heard thee last.
Those lips are thine- thy own sweet smiles I see,
The same that oft in childhood solaced me;
Voice only fails, else, how distinct they say,
'Grieve not, my child, chase all thy fears away! '
The meek intelligence of those dear eyes
(Blest be the art that can immortalize,
The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim
To quench it) here shines on me still the same.
......
Xs and Ys
by Sarah Miller
why is it that i can identify more with Ys and Xs
than with written words
is it the fact that they are right there
and the words come from somewhere else
Is it that Xs and Ys i can always count on
they are always in the question
just hidden behind some ones and twos
and always come out when the formulas look for them
......
School Days Songs-Nursery Rhyme
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
I learn lots of pleasant songs at my school,
Songs about blind mice, or stars like jewels,
And animals making sounds, here and there.
On Macdonald Farm, sounds are everywhere!
Sometimes, we sing of luckless Jack and Jill.
Jack had a bad fall, strolling up Bloom Hill.
Then there's a magic dragon, known as 'Puff',
And ring a ring of roses, plunge down soft.
......
The Alphabet of New Orleans
by Jeffrey Pipes Guice
“A” is forda alligator...
Who lives in da lagoon...
“B” is forda beignets...
Dat ya eat wit yo fingers...
Not some silver spoon...
“C” is forda crawfish...
Dat ya eat wit ya fingers, yea...
“D” is forda doberge cake...
Take an extra piece home...
......
Our Babies
by Corey Alpough
What are they doing to our babies
Looking on the news and see that they been dying lately,
What is going on this world its getting kinda crazy
Drop them off at school to tell them see you later, maybe
They go to school to learn and have fun
Shouldn’t have to worry about a killer with a gun
Preaching to them in the room like a nun
Praying to God that they never have to run
......
Purple Teddy Bear
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
sitting on a chair
waiting for love to return
when the school bells ring
the birds are singing
but purple teddy is blue
the young days of spring
the clock keeps ticking
as saffron day grows older
......
