Third and fourth grade students at Marquez Charter Elementary School wrote the following poems during a series of Fall 2016 workshops conducted by California Poets in the Schools. It is a community-based poetry education program that serves children and youth, led by Michelle Bitting Abrams.
Photography by Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
Why
Why does Stephen Curry make 3 pointers? Why do
the Rams not play golf? Why did KD join the Warriors?
Why did David W. want to leave the Warriors?
Why did Klay Thompson make more 3 pointers
in the first two games than Stephen Curry?
—Sean Wahling
Myself
Inside myself I see the fresh yummy wonderful and delicious cookies
baking the happiness in me. When I see my mom and dad and brother
my heart is bursting with love as they are giving me life, my love.
When I remember my dog I feel the sorrow in me as the bed feels
rough and the food is too sour with sorrow. It feels like the earth stopped
breathing and the rivers are frozen to death. When I see the world I see
the peace in it. When I see the peace I let myself fall down into my bed
where I taste the world itself. When I see that they canceled the trip
to the movies I feel the madness in me. I feel like the friendship had ended,
and the despair is just not right., and the butterflies stop beating their wings.
—Angelina Di Saia
Ode to Ice Cream
Ice cream is like biting
into delicious clouds. Ice cream
has different flavors like
Chocolate Cloud, Strawberry Cloud,
Vanilla Cloud. So much flavor.
Ice cream melts in your mouth
like water. Ice cream.
—Anjolaifeoluwa Otitoloju
If I Had a Movie
If I had a movie it would be all about ME.
I would be Harry Potter and have a wand.
It would be number 9. I would get to meet
Dumbledore. In my movie I am 30.
— Charlie Viles
What If I Am?
What if I’m your bed? What if
I’m your best friend? What if I am
your mom? What if I am your
cupcake you’re eating right now?
What if I am your teacher
teaching you math? What if
I am your dog or cat eating
your steak? I could be
anything. I could be any
of these things.
But I am not.
What if I am me?
— Sara Eckhoff
If I Could Go Anywhere
If I could go anywhere I would go
to another universe. I would meet
new worlds and moons. I would
meet astronauts and space probes.
I would meet new forms of life
and robots. I will discover new
things. If I could go anywhere.
—Rayan Mirmohammadsadeghi
Fall
When I think of Fall I feel relaxed
and so calm. When I think of Fall
I imagine laying in a bright pile
of orange, yellow, and red leaves.
It feels really good to imagine this.
It feels as if I’m having a facial.
Facials feel good. When Fall is near
I like to walk on a dirt path surrounded
by leaves of red, orange, and yellow.
I like to feel a light breeze streaming
through me as I look at the colors around
me. Fall is the best season of the year!
—Lily Emad
I Wish I Could Go Anywhere
I wish I could swim with
some dolphins. I wish I could
go diving with them and
do echo location. I wish
I could do a trick. I wish
I could go under the sea.
I wish I could blow through
my blowhole. I could kiss people.
I could let people
take a ride. I could do
a jump in the air.
It would be terrific.
—Sohan Rao
He Moved Away
We feel nice
We talk to get to know
each other and then
he moved away. I felt sad.
I walked away in the rain
and to this day
he never came back for me.
— Maya Raman
I Wish
I wish I could fly. I wish
I can go anywhere. I wish
I can go do whatever I want
and have candy every day.
I wish I could have another pet.
I wish I can live in a cotton candy
house. I wish it was Christmas one day,
then Halloween the day after Christmas,
then its my birthday. I wish I could get
anything I want. I wish I was a billionaire.
I wish I had a secret place.
I wish I had 2,000,000,000 donuts.
— Logan Afifi
Ode to the Ocean
Oh, how salty it tastes if you dive under
the wave. It feels like you’re in a world
of imagination. When you look at the ocean
it seems like white fluff in the waves. When
you touch the wet sand a wave goes over
your toes, it pulls you back in the ocean
so it swims with you.
—Alana Mermel
My World
If I had my own world it would be made of candy. If I had
my own world you could be at any sports game in a flash.
If I had my own world I could make a cake and when I open
up the oven I feel the warmth as if it was summer. When
I touch the cake it would feel nice and bouncy like a bouncy
house. In every single soccer game and baseball game Galaxy
and LA Dodgers would win. If I had my own world I would
have a nice comfy bed. I would flop on my bed and think and
think and think. Then I would wake up, I would skip on
the pebbly road. The crunch of pebbles would sing.
I would skip to a soccer game and skip to a baseball game.
That is my world.
— Casey Ovsiowitz
My Mind
My mind is a chicken eating
a banana. My mind is
a tree growing cotton candy.
My mind is a bathtub cleaning
people. My mind is a hippo
wearing strawberry lip gloss.
My mind is a snobby teenage
mutant grandma.
—Morgan Davidson
My, Myself and I
I am a gold frosted cupcake. I am the beat
of your heart. I am the roots of a redwood.
I am the flakes of snow. I am the beautiful
zebra grazing in the plains. I am the soft
foam of the sea. I am the sugar in cake.
I am the playful little dog in my yard.
I am the superhero flying through the clouds.
I am the fast cheetah hiding in the grass.
I am the friendly hamster running in
the wheel. I am the pitter patter of the rain.
I am the swish and swoosh of your pencil.
I am the colorful paint on your paintbrush.
I am the car rushing through the woods.
I am me.
— Taylor Beljon-Regen
Ode to My Dog
Ode to my dog. You are so cute and fluffy.
In the night, if I am scared my dog sleeps
in my bed. In the morning they cuddle
with me and I take them for walks. I love
going on walks with them because it wakes
me up and they love to run really fast and
make me have to run. Ode to my dog.
—Annika Johansson
Questions
Why do we ask questions? Why is the sky
blue? Is it true that paintings hang on walls?
What is life even? Why is a whiteboard white?
Why does my sister constantly want to hug me?
Why am I even alive? What if my heart was
made of ketchup? What if my classroom was
filled with dinosaurs? What if everything
was possible?
—Annalisa Hurd
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