Jersey Blue

Jersey Blue

His sweaty jersey was a dull blue.

Last night he was playing a game,

the difficult sport of Lacrosse,

passing to each other the ball.

After the game some ate cupcakes

and others were happy with just cookies.

 

The team got sick from the cookies,

so sick their delicate faces turned blue.

The players who ate the perfect cupcakes,

were able to play in the next game.

They went back to throwing the ball,

as the others sat watched Lacrosse.

 

The players who actually played Lacrosse

that day, would be able to eat cookies

again. The sick kids were curled in a ball,

their faces were that jersey color blue.

They cried as they did not play in the game,

each one wished he just ate the cupcakes.

 

At the end day the grandma yelled “cupcake”,

and the quickest kid on the Lacrosse

team ran right away. The close game

ended this time without those cookies,

and no where was that jersey color blue,

except for the little forgotten lucky ball.

 

Somewhere in the forest is that fortunate ball.

The players forgot and just ate their cupcakes,

and no one turned that jersey color blue.

The next day at practice for Lacrosse,

Someone brought the team cookies.

None left the trays, tomorrow was a game. 


Today was their last game,

and no one remembered that lucky ball.

No one had taken a bite of the cookies,

but tonight would end with cupcakes. 

They all loved to play Lacrosse,

and no one wanted to turn that jersey blue. 


Since then they just ate cupcakes, not cookies, 

the ball was never found from that game,

and no one ever turned jersey blue at Lacrosse. 


Blue Bird

First (Silent) Reading Question

  • What is the Structure of this poem? – Improper capitalization, each stanza is a run on sentence, lines get longer, some lines are one word, at the end it gets narrower, 

  • What are some key words/patterns you notice as you scan/skim the poem?  - Each stanza start with “there's a bluebird…”, lots of  commas and question marks, words that jumped out: “Inhale” “whores” “weep” “die” “pour whiskey

  • New vocabulary words and definitions? – Low level of diction

Second Reading (Oral)

  • What is happening in this poem? Answer with as many verbs as are applicable      – blow, mess up, pour, inhale, weep, sleep, sing, screw up, pass, go, stay, say.

  • Who is the literary speaker? What is his or her attitude? – international author, bad habits- smoke/drink/wholes, depressed, tough, doesn’t cry

  • What are the dominant images/appeals to the five senses? What emotions do the images evoke? – blue bird- sensitivity/hope/joy, addictions

Third Reading (Oral) 

  • What is the poet’s attitude towards his or her subject? – the poet’s attitude towards his subject is strong will and wants everyone to know that he is struggling.

  • How does the author’s diction and employment of poetic devices convey his or her attitude?  - the author uses low diction and repeats lines

We Real Cool

First (Silent) Reading Questions

  • What is the Structure of this poem?

- This poem is in couplets and rhymes

  • What are some key words/patterns you notice as you scan/skim the poem?

- Each sentence starts with “We”

  • New vocabulary words and definitions?

- Lurk- be or remain hidden so as to wait in ambush for someone

Second Reading (Oral)

  • What is happening in this poem? Answer with as many verbs as are applicable.

- left, lurk, die, strike, sing

  • Who is the literary speaker? What is his or her attitude?

- The literary speaker is someone in a group of bad people. This speaker does not really care about his or her life and what they do in it.

  • What are the dominant images/appeals to the five senses? What emotions do the images evoke?

- This poem evokes emotions of fear and terror. Singing has to do with the sense of hearing

Third Reading (Oral)

  • What is the poet’s attitude towards his or her subject?

- I think that the poet’s attitude toward this subject is that she does not really know what is going on in life and does not really care what goes on in her life.

  • How does the author’s diction and employment of poetic devices convey his or her attitude?

- The author’s diction and employment of poetic devices conveys her attitude by showing that life is not such a big deal. 

Who You Are

Who You Are

You are the book I cannot put down,

And story I cannot finish.

You are the photograph everyone compliments,

But the picture that took forever to find.

Maybe you are the star that twinkles,

Or the night that scares me.

You are the smell of grandma’s homemade pie,

And the string beans mother makes me eat.

You are the flag everyone shows respect to,

But the war I cannot stand.

Maybe you are the report card everyone wants to have,

Or the grade everyone wants to hide.

You are the hero who saves the princess,

And the monster that scares the little kids.

You are the colorful sunset in the skyline,

But the hazy clouds before rain.

Maybe you are the cheerful holiday season,

Or the sadness death brings.

You are the top song of the year,

And the tune I cannot get out of my head.

You are the world to me,

But I cannot have you anymore.