Young Poets

November 28, 2014

“Nobody Likes Me” by Peyton VernonPosted by

Peyton Vernon (age 6)

NOBODY LIKES ME

I don’t know why girls do not like me.
I still wear pink dresses,
They are pretty and sparkly and have crystals on them.
This night I saw a fairy godmother.
When she came in, I made my wish.
My wish was to be a fairy.
In the morning I spread magic everywhere.
Soon people started to like me. 
So I put pixie dust on everyone.

—from 2014 Rattle Young Poets Anthology

__________

Why do you like to write poetry?

Peyton Vernon: “I just love to write and tell stories. I think they make people really happy.”

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November 22, 2014

“Explain Sunbeams!” by Jamie UyPosted by

Jamie Uy (age 14)

EXPLAIN SUNBEAMS!

look here.
my hands are golden spirals carrying
color across the sky canvas.
i’m painting my dreams in yellow,
packing them into galaxy-black cellophane
and attaching them onto
lanterns of daylight.
my mother the Sun sends them up 
into the comets’ hidey-holes
as gifts to the solar system
on the coldest days of the year.

—from 2014 Rattle Young Poets Anthology

[download audio]

__________

Why do you like to write poetry?

Jamie Uy: “I like to write poetry because I get to figure myself out line by line. Coming up with clear images to accurately capture the feel of the poem is like fishing in a lake of my own experiences and emotions.”

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November 7, 2014

“Evening Trees” by Junuh TolanPosted by

Junuh Tolan (age 10)

EVENING TREES

Holding my father’s hand
Telling me his side of the story
Helping me up on the wall
Telling me the war of the trees
And the wind
Trees falling
Wind dropping hearts stopping
Helping each other up not knowing
Wind is on the attack
Birds rushing to the water
Feathers flying
Sneezing people
Birds falling
Right back to the ground

—from 2014 Rattle Young Poets Anthology

__________

[download audio]

Why do you like to write poetry?

Junuh Tolan: “In a poem I add onto what already happened with words and details. Those words and details give me that experience and add things from my imagination that surprise me and turn that experience into something else: a poem.”

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October 31, 2014

“Past” by Maximilian TelliniPosted by

Maximilian Tellini (age 11)

PAST

We learned.
She taught me.
Taught me the secrets of the past.
 
 
Honest Abe.
Washington’s wig.
Civil War.
 
 
We looked. And found the things that nobody else could.
 
 
Alone I am smart.
Together we are brilliant.
 
 
We packed our heads with unheard-of knowledge.
 
 
Until it was time to go.
 
 
She said we would see each other soon.
 
 
But that is my biggest worry.
I don’t want to look into her past if she is not there to do it with me.

—from 2014 Rattle Young Poets Anthology

__________

Why do you like to write poetry?

Maximilian Tellini: “I like poetry because it gives me a chance to express myself and the world in very beautiful, artistic way. It lets me release my feelings about things, and it helps me calm down and meditate when there is chaos in my life. And of course, I like it because it sounds amazing and soothing to the human ear.”

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October 24, 2014

“Girl Rising” by M. T.Posted by

M. T. (age 15)

GIRL RISING

inspired by Richard Robbins’ 
documentary
Given away at the hands
of cold rock
tastes the bloody flesh of letters
torn from words. 
 
Hair billows in the distance
taken captive because all she wanted
was a pencil,
stones are thrown at her spine. 
 
Smells the word no
as soon as she sits 
on the wind broken benches. 
Keep out! they say.
 
They dispose of her brain
throw away desktops
and hands raised.
Men slap away the chalk dust dreams.
 
Body succumbs to shattered
glass. Battered head lies 
ripped, left for the dogs
to eat away.
 
All of a sudden—
 
the soles of her feet tremble
as she listens to the chord
of a distant drum
inside her.
 
She transforms into a pillar,
holds up the frayed edges of the earth
allows her fingers to be sodden with graphite
and erases scars at her mouth.
 
She lays pavement to new road
allows herself to sleep
on dreams about fever-pitch
that harvest paper
 
to write her tale where
the dirt is still trodden heavy 
with cologne-soaked lies.
A new kingdom is brewing
 
where lips whisper
girl
 
rise
rise
 
rise. 

—from 2014 Rattle Young Poets Anthology

__________

Why do you like to write poetry?

M. T.: “Poetry is like water—it’s necessary to live.”

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October 17, 2014

“Oops” by Sabrina SwerdloffPosted by

Sabrina Swerdloff (age 11)

OOPS

I watched
From my window
The bodies fall out. 
I watched the bus
Slam, bang, crash
Into the side of 
The Bay Bridge. 
You were on the news, 
One of the cadavers on the road
With no news headlines to tell. 
The driver was on the news as well, 
Babbling about “brake failure”
And “petrol leak” but 
Really it was a careless swerve 
A gas tank being crushed
And fire everywhere. 
Really it was a mistake, 
A momentary loss of balance, 
A big yellow bus
Slam, bang, crash, 
Into the side 
Of the Bay Bridge. 
And as I watch from my window
The ambulance come, 
Take you and the rest of them 
Away, 
I think to myself that maybe it was fate. 
Some higher calling 
That caused your blood to spill, 
That caused the bus to turn rapidly, 
123 miles per hour
You could have been home. 
Some higher calling
That decided that
It would be that particular
Petrol tank to explode
And toss its inhabitants
Onto the tarmac like salad. 
There were 16 channels broadcasting this
One for every other car 
That had been affected. 
They call this “collateral damage.”
The news report
18 deaths, 4 injuries, 
22 people on the bus
Not including the driver. 
The driver
Was fine.

—from 2014 Rattle Young Poets Anthology

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