Talk Back Poem to "Motto" - Langston Hughes

 

 

What's my motto?

My motto,

As I live and learn

is to think,

think

before you act

 

Take a chance

a risk

 

Don't hide from others;

and be afraid

 

Be happy with who

you

are

even if your,

tall,

short,

skinny,

fat

 

My motto:

is to live your life

to the fullest

be free

as a bird

don't let

anything stop you

from achieving

your dreams

 

Children

 

The children ran through

the tall green grass

laughing,

playing

 

As free as the horse

running through the meadow

as light as the air surrounding us

 

The little girls,

in their flowing skirts

skipped

and tossed

their beautiful

long

hair back

 

The little boys,

pushed each other

to the fertile soil

and screamed

the children were unafraid

peaceful

and playful

not knowing anything

about the world around us

 

About the wars

crime

the screaming and crying

or heartbreak

the death,

fear

or pain

in this world

 

children

innocent

playing

children

galloping through the grass

naive as could be

 

"Found Poem"

 

I wouldn't

have to hear

the screams of

PAIN

as women got

hit

 

I wouldn't have to hear the

BOOM,

BOOM

of

a

gun

shooting

at some innocent,

young

teenage girl

just like

me

walking home

from her

middle school

 

I wouldn't

have to hear

the

cries of

RAPE

and

FEAR

 

 

"Life Doesn't Frighten Me" - Maya Angelou - Response

 

Maya Angelou's

words

speak out

and jump off the page

 

It is obvious

she is unafraid

of

the dragons,

strangers,

dogs,

or ghosts

 

But is she

really unafraid?

Or is she just

masking her emotions

 

She says

she's only afraid

in her

dreams

Is that true?

Really?

 

Maybe her dreams

are really her reality

maybe

 

Maybe she means the opposite

of what she says

Maybe

she's hiding all her

fears in a

poem

 

Sunset (POSSIBLE FINAL POEM!)

 

The mix of purples,

oranges

and pinks

slept silently on the shore

casting an almost magical glow

on the hot sand

seeping through my toes

 

The sunset lit half of my face up

casting the same

almost magical glow

 

The sun radiated

through the clouds,

pushing through,

like opening a door

leading into a new world

 

A magical world

filled with small fish

seashells

sand

playing children

splashing water

and

peaceful boats

 

The water rolled

slowly

calmly

peacefully

making the same sound

everytime the waves

slapped the shore

 

The waves carried away

with them

all my fears,

worries

and thoughts

 

They swam peacefully

in the ocean

and blew gracefully

in the wind

 

Intention: As with the poem I wrote titled "Noise," I had no idea what to write about when I sat down to write this poem. I started thinking about summer, and how wonderful it is, and the fun things I like to do during the summer. I thought a lot about the beach and I decided to write a poem about it. I wanted to really paint an image of a peaceful and beautiful sunset on the beach in the readers mind. I tried to be really poetic when writing this, although I don't think I did such a great job with that! Anyway, I don't really have an amazing, deep idea for this poem, but I really just wanted to paint an image in the readers mind. 

 

Noise. (POSSIBLE FINAL POEM!)

 

Her feet went tap, tap

on the pavement

slap, slap

 

Boom, boom went the truck

as it hit the street

 zoom, zoom

said the car, racing down the avenue

 

 

snap, snap

said the little girls fingers

clap, clap

went her brothers hands

 

Bum, bum

Dum, dum

went the old mans drum

playing in the train station

 

Ha, ha, ha

the little girl laughed

La, la, la

sang her friend

 

Tap

slap

boom

zoom

snap

clap

bum

dum

Ha, Ha

La, la

 

Noise.

 

Intention: I had absolutely no intention when I first started writing this poem. Usually, I have some sort of idea to work with, but I just couldn't come up with any good ideas. I wanted to try out a poem using noise and sounds instead of words. This is because music is such an important part of my life. I feel that music, and sounds, and noise are kind of like a universal language. I think that we can all find something in music, or some kind of music that is really meaningful to us. I decided to bring this idea into my poem, and I just started free writing basically. These are the types of things I hear on the subway, when I'm walking home or to school, outside my window, and all over. I thought it would be cool to just write a poem about everyday sounds and noises, and this was the poem I came up with. 

 

Perfect Worlds Don't Exist (POSSIBLE FINAL POEM!)

 

She walked on in

into the beautiful

fantasy land

 

Where all the demons,

ghosts,

and monsters escaped

from her worst nightmares,

and didn't follow her in

 

She left everything behind

including her

worries,

fears,

and pain

 

She stepped out of her reality

and into a new world,

a perfect world,

where no one could hurt her

a beautiful,

peaceful place

 

But, then

that perfect world vanished

 

Intention: My intention when writing this poem was to show how our world is not perfect. There are so many imperfections, and that perfect world that we all wish for will never really exist. There is so much violence, so many wars, so much poverty, and so many more screwed up things in our world. And, I don't just mean the United States. I mean the whole world. I really wanted to bring that message across.

 

Symphony (POSSIBLE FINAL POEM!)

 

The lull of the soft piano concert

Made me fall into a peaceful trance,

Eyes slowly shutting

 

The bass of the heavy drum

Made a rhythmic,

Loud,

But steady noise

Mimicking the constant beating

Of your

Heart

 

The playful trumpet from the jazz club

Down by the corner

Sang through my kitchen,

Through the house,

And out

The door

 

The light strum

Of the guitar,

My personal favorite,

From the young,

College kids

Playing for money

To buy themselves some books,

Food,

And clothes

 

Sang through a crowd of rumbles

And mumbles

Coming from the underworld

Beneath the endless avenues

Filled with flashing lights,

Busy people,

And crowded buses and trains.

 

The beautiful music filtered through my body

The piano, ringing in my ears

The drums, making the floor slightly vibrate

The trumpet, loud and clear

The guitar, soft and beautiful, moving swiftly through the air

All creating a beautiful symphony

Together,

As one. 

Intention: My intention when writing this poem was to show how much we can get accomplished if we all unite and work together as one. The different instruments are meant to be like people, all together, creating one beautiful symphony. I think that a really big problem in this world is that we are all so absorbed with ourselves, and so preoccupied that we don't really worry about others, or like work with other people to solve our conflicts, issues, etc.

 

The Little Girl

 

She sat and tugged at her long,

beautiful bunch of hair

 

She skipped through the busy woods,

the spirits from the trees,

and long, heavy branches

whispering in her ears

while she held a basket of apples and peaches

jumping through the green,

green grass

 

She held the end of her

small, pink dress

lightly pulling at the laced,

frilly, sides

 

She looked up,

up,

up,

at the clear blue sky

wondering what was up there

in that new, magical place . . .