School Poems
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
......
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.
......
Song Of The Open Road
by Walt Whitman
AFOOT and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune--I myself am good fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Strong and content, I travel the open road.
The earth--that is sufficient;
I do not want the constellations any nearer;
......
There's A Dark Cloud Over My Head
by Leon Thomas Lee
There is a dark cloud over my head
With every move i make, every step i take
It keeps following me
Lord you know i want to free
Dark clouds, dark clouds, dark clouds
Now as the rain begins to fall, i feel so small
I'm always getting wet with the rain of prejudice
Look there is a mist of discrimation
And the fog of injustice
Dark clouds, dark clouds, dark clouds hanging over my head
......
Among School Children
by William Butler Yeats
I WALK through the long schoolroom questioning;
A kind old nun in a white hood replies;
The children learn to cipher and to sing,
To study reading-books and histories,
To cut and sew, be neat in everything
In the best modern way -- the children's eyes
In momentary wonder stare upon
A sixty-year-old smiling public man.
I dream of a Ledaean body, bent
Above a sinking fire. a tale that she
......
Fruit
by Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu
Less deciduous than the rest of the tropical fruits,
Almond,
Wayward Almond of parched wine of Burgundy,
You were forbidden...
The forbidden fruit of Shell Camp,
How are thy crimson mesocarps?
Traipses to Alvan never were in vain.
Clustering in cloyed versions of yielding
Balls, budding breasts of frayed boughs,
......
Symphony of knowledge: ode to the school summary
by Christen Kuikoua
In hallowed halls of learning's sacred light,
Where dreams doth take their winged and lofty flight,
There stands a school, a fortress of delight,
Its beauty found in minds, a radiant sight.
No mere abode of bricks and stones, this place,
But where young minds imbibe knowledge's embrace,
A tapestry, each thread a vibrant grace,
In every classroom, wisdom we do chase.
......
An afternoon class
by Rex Keener
We all sit around
Under fluorescent lighting
This is my nature
Words To My Ninth Grade Self
by Christen Kuikoua
In shadows cast by youthful fears,
A tale of lessons learned through tears,
I'd whisper truths to younger me,
A poem woven, wise decree.
"Don't shroud your pain in masks of pride,
For veils of faux esteem can hide,
The ones who hold your heart so dear,
Drifting far when closeness veers.
......
I Miss...
by Nehal Mistry
Those brown eyes shine better than pools of honey in the sun,
That brown hair flows better than grass flowing on a windy day,
That voice which seems to be even deeper than the ocean,
That laughter that's music to my ears,
No longer feel the same.
I miss the twinkle in your eyes
I miss the happiness in your voice
I miss that smile on your face
I miss sitting next to you
......
