New Poetry

Hey, I have a summer poetry class. (Which I”m taking with my mother. Yes, I like it. You’ll get used to it).

The following is known as a list poem. I, uh, think it will become very obvious why.

Things I’ve Stepped On or In

Pleasant Things
• Bed – soft and warm
• Books – bring no harm
• Carpet – especially when plush
• Grass – except when it’s mush
• Holy ground – quiet and still
• Home – where loved ones mill
• Leaves – they have a great snap
• Ocean – watch the waves and caps
• Prayer – brings my life peace
• Puddles – jump in with both feet
• Roller coasters – just a few
• Shower – that feel like dew
• Twigs – they go crunch too

Unpleasant Things
• A bee – its sting was hard
• A security tag – the store to guard
• Brake – when the tires squeal
• Bugs – their squish you feel
• Chairs – they often shake
• Elevators – how long they take
• Glass – they cut the feet
• Ice rink – too little heat
• Mud – it squishes the toes
• People’s feelings – will make foes
• People’s feet – send you on a trip
• Poop – bad to smell and hard to grip
• Sand – goes everywhere it can
• Snails – crunch; on them you land
• Tacks – they hurt like wow
• Trouble – I don’t know how!

Modes of Transportation
• Airplanes – fly high in the sky
• Buses – don’t go so high
• Cars – roam the city streets
• Ships – in the summer heat
• Shoes – useful for walking
• Socks – they can do the talking
• Someone else’s shoes – I’ve walked that mile
• Taxi – make you taste your bile

Methods of Support
• Asphalt – it’s black on the road
• Concrete – make the sidewalk load
• Sidewalk cracks – didn’t break backs
• Tile – I look for patterns, that’s a fact
• Wood – except when it’s whacked

Miscellaneous
• Basketball court – I played some game
• College – the credit to claim
• Music – fills my ear
• New ideas – sometimes, I fear
• People’s lives – they can drain
• Relationships – can be a pain
• Science labs – sometimes I spill
• Stage – costumes are a pill
• Volleyball court – I played that too
• Wooden platforms – just a few

And Last, but Certainly Not Least
• Into this poetry class

~~~

I know, I know, that last line is kinda tacky and suck-up ish. . . but that’s what college is really about, my friends.

And the next bit of poetry, off the prompt of waiting. (I know that it might be difficult to discover, what with the title and poem and all, so I thought I’d tell you. ).

Waiting

When I’m waiting, I get bored.
I twiddle my thumbs,
and while I want to fall asleep,
I listen to music, read books,
or mostly watch people.
Sometimes, I lean back
and listen for the thrum:
the heart beat of the universe.

I’ve waited at dentist, school, and life.
I’ve waited for ideas
in utter silence
anxious for their arrival,
lest I fall behind.

Often while waiting,
I hear stolid instructions:
“Sit in a chair
Don’t slouch, sit up.”

I watch the clock go by
as slow as the cliché snail
with nowhere to go
and all day to get there

Take notes – when’s class over?
I could make this material
a million times more interesting, but no.
You have to act like it’s dull.

When is real truth ever dull?

When I’m waiting, I get excited
I’m on the balls of my feet
Bouncing up and down
Check in the mail
Or best friend coming
Whole different story

(I wait for those too, stories.
Beginning, middle, and
reluctantly take the
ending, wishing I
could wait some more)

I’ve gotten hit by idea lightning
In the middle of a noisy crowd.
I get so focused on the thought.
What’s time again?

When I’m waiting
on a cloudless night
for a shooting star to pass by
I could wait forever
even if I freeze.

The best things come
to those who wait?
You bet your life on it.
So I wait for a day
to be gloriously transformed.
I can barely stand
the life long wait.
~~~
Said glorious transformation in rapture or heaven, of course.

Also FYI, these poems are (in the actual Word Document) two columns. So was this next one. Most of them probably will be, so I apologize for off spacing. It looks good in the poem!

First Contact

An infinite number of stars swish by
and the pace of what humans call a heart
skips erratically in my chest.
My skin is ready to fall to flame.

The moon rocks I chained together
glow with an eerie blue light.
They, too, make me ill inside.
I see that I am alone on the knoll.

The click of my claws from my paws –
not the resistance of ruthless rock.
I close my eyes – feel my feet tickle.
What’s that green stuff? Oh, yeah – grass.

I, Heron, feel my skin hum.
The sting and stink of earth air
still assails what you call a nose.
I can taste that thick gassy nitrogen.

Not only do I hum, but I itch.
This unfamiliar cloth of humans
makes me look for the gray dust
that usually coats my skin.

I listen in the quiet moment.
Some murmurs . . .a language.
The sentient souls are speaking.
My skin warms – heats.

Those creatures move something,
What is that thing below their noses?
One of them says something.
I carefully try to repeat:

“Du u noh how tu esmeyeehl?”
“Do you know how to smile?”
I attempt to wiggle my nose.
They move mouths upward.

I see . . .people.

A sparkling searing space stone
takes away a message from me:
“Parents: come see the earth.
Your ¤§°‡¡, Heron.”

The malodorous marine skies,
the gentle green grass,
the smell of people, food, and everything here.
I am warm . . . my claws retract . . .

I am here, on earth.
I am here, at home.

Edit to add: those characters you see are supposed to be wingdings. I did the best I could to fix it, but it’s not quite the same.

And last, but certainly not least, a poem from my mom. This is her list poem. I think it’s hilarious (probably because I know her).

THINGS I HATE TO SAY

by**My Mother** June 2008 **List Poem
I CAN’T WRITE POETRY.
What have I gotten myself into this time?
**Whoa! A poetry class, how the heck did I get here?.

WHY ME?
Why not me?
**Why do these things have to happen to me and why doesn’t something better happen?

I’M SORRY
I don’t know
**I don’t know why I did that, but I’m sorry

I’M SAD
I can’t help you
**I’m sad that I can’t help you right now

I’M REALLY OLD
I can’t see that tiny print
**I can’t read that tiny print without my glasses because I’m really old

I’M NOT AVAILABLE
I can’t afford it
**I’m not available to come to the phone right now and I can’t afford whatever you’re selling anyway

I FORGOT
You’re not important
**I forgot because you are not a priority in my life.

I CAN’T
I don’t understand
**I can’t understand because I am not you

WHAT NOW?
I don’t have time.
**Whatever it is, I don’t have time for it.

STUPID COMPUTER!
Internet is down.
**The computer is acting stupid because the internet is down

I CAN’T HEAR YOU
I don’t get it.
**I don’t get it because I can’t hear you (sometimes it’s vexing to be getting older)

STOP DOING THAT
You annoy me
**Stop doing those things that annoy me

I CAN’T GO
I have homework
**I can’t go because grades are important for now and I have homework.

I’M SICK
I can’t stop barfing.
**I am sick and I keep on hurling even though there isn’t anything left to give up.

I GOTTA GO, BUT SOMEONE’S IN THERE.
Dang, there’s no toilet paper here!
**I shoulda gone to the store yesterday

I’M LOST
I don’t know where I’m going
**I don’t know how to get there and I’m lost but I’ll just hop on the freeway and hope for the best.

That last line kills me every time. XD