MPitS - Mendocino High School

MPitS

Mendocino High School

2008/2009

Beautiful Creature

Dragon
so strong and brave
so true to yourself
you breathe life giving light
How I wish you were real
so I might ride
upon your back
or hear your mighty roar
and see your light
with these eyes,
Or gain your blessing and trust.

Christopher
Grade 10, Mendocino HS
Karen Lewis, Poet Teacher

Expectations

Expectations, I cannot live with you
You set the foundations for success,
And you tear them down for happiness.
You make the weak cry,
and the strong gloat
You turn the good to bad,
and the bad to worse.

Without you, I am nothing,
and with you, I am less.
Society gives you to us, and we
embrace you with open arms.
You silently erode our being,
and we lose ourselves
without realizing it.

No longer will our children know
what it is to truly be free,
Like the watch on the wrist,
or the calendar on the wall,
You control our lives, and destroy
our sight.
Expectations, you make us blind, and
for that, I detest you.

Logan
Grade 9, Mendocino HS
Karen Lewis, Poet Teacher

[untitled]

1. Alone.
2. That’s where we met.
3. Stairs are what we climbed.
4. We had to reach out for something.
5. I had to make you mine.
6. Four-leaved clovers, hiding in the dark.
7. Questioning temptation.
8. Playing with darts.
9. Bulls-eye. Bingo.
10. Where have you gone?

Rebecca
Grade 11, Mendocino HS
Karen Lewis, Poet Teacher

Ironic Sonnet
(inspired by Seamus Fleming)

Shakespeare didn’t write,
he spoke.
In his own language, even,
broken up and elongated
silly words.
No one has any recollection
of him.
Just his words still exist
like: hither and wither and hence.
A girl named Juliet
and a fairy named Oberon.
Sonnets and plays
are all that’s left.
But just who was this Shakespeare guy anyway?

Wesley
Grade 11, Mendocino HS
Karen Lewis, Poet Teacher

[untitled]

Lies explode from mouths
like missiles aimed on a small village.
They wrap around our minds like a venomous snake
making us blind to what’s right in front of our faces.
Truth, covered up like a dirty secret—
Lies, deceit, death.
The smell of the blood of millions slaughtered
tastes like copper on my tongue.
My soul is heavy with the weight of the world—
pop— pop— pop—
the sounds of guns carry on the wind.
The thoughts of the dead fill the empty cavity
where the hearts of many should be—
Eating away at them slowly,
ever so slowly.

Shannon
Grade 11, Mendocino HS
Karen Lewis, Poet Teacher

Ode to Childhood

My childhood was a vibrant thing,
a creature which soared atop the warm drafts of imagination,
its feathered plumage displaying my ideas
and dreams.

It fluttered through the streams and rivers,
sparkling on the lazy summer days
that had no right to end.

It stomped through the puddles of learning,
delighted in its new ladybug rubber boots.
The comforting taste of tahini smeared on
its tongue, melting away any fears.

The troubles of the world did not bother it,
as sun-lit walks in the orchard marched by
and dismal rainy days turned the home
into the wild west, or the frigid Antarctic.

Unconditional love was ravished upon it
and it prospered, and reached high,
until,
one day it withered and melted into disillusionment,
alive only in memories.

Emerson
Grade 11, Mendocino HS
Karen Lewis, Poet Teacher

[untitled]

Will you let fortune be your melody?
Will the spoken rhyme empty your spirit?
Does your life echo its true pulchritude?
Your attitude towards love is the answer
Recognize the trapezoid on the page
Your description of the wheel will end it.
Remember the feeling of music, and
in confusion try and open your eye.
There is no manipulation of chance
like concrete to a tooth, it will not budge.
You cannot only dance to the lyrics
When the music ceases to crush your soul
Walk into the light, and solve your troubles
and be relieved after each word you speak.

Warren
Grade 11, Mendocino HS
Karen Lewis, Poet Teacher

Fragments of Fate

half full of fortune
or half empty
the echo calls
and love answers
in the trapezoid
spinning wheel of life
remember the golden light
they eye of
chance encounters
tooth of destiny,
dance in the
crushed leaves,
evening light is
only a word.

Shannon
Grade 11, Mendocino HS
Karen Lewis, Poet Teacher

MPitS Home About Links Poet Teachers Schools Site Map

Website designed by Bob Evans & Blake More. If you have comments about this Web Site please email: blake@snakelyone.com