Last Day of Poetry Blues

Last week Shoesmith 4th graders reviewed our blues exploration from the previous week. Students brainstormed a ton of rhymes before closing-out our residency by rhyming and repeating and moaning and singing their blues poems. These last 8 weeks with Shoesmith 4th graders have been wonderful. Happy summer, everyone!

Ms. Lehner
4th Grade – Group 1

Boney Bad Boy Davis aka Jackie S.

🎶Hmm Hmm Hmm Hmm
Love to me
is a broken key
I don’t see
harmony
Instead I see
broken dreams!!!
I don’t feel the same
I feel insane
thoughts running through my brain
these feelings should never
get to people
they don’t deserve it
ohh ohh ohh ohh🎶

Mad Love Turned to Bad Blood
by Big Legs Hopkins
aka Trayvion C.

We both thought we had mad love
But turns out you only had bad blood
I loved you like a bird loved its nest
I remember I thought you were the best

We both loved each other our love grew every day
like a horse love its hay
I thought we both loved each other
turned out your love was fake
when I found out, your love had to be replaced.

Grey Days
by Fat Rivers
aka AJ H.

I feel the pain
in the rain but
the rain helps the flowers grow
I feel the blues when cities
are destroyed
I always feel so plain
when it’s grey I get the blues
when I go to bed early
I feel blues
when I leave fourth grade days
I don’t know what to choose
4th or 5th
I get blues
when I watch the news

Pain Duo
by Boney Finger Washington and Old Gumbo Bailey
aka Jayden and DJ

Every day I have pain
It won’t go away
I feel the pain but the rain won’t let
the leaves grow
I feel bad blood it won’t go away
I feel the pain when I leave New York
I feel the pain when I am in summer school
I feel sad when I see my dog get his shots
I got the blues when my grandpa got a seizure
I got the blues when I went to jail

Ms. Lehner
4th Grade – Group 2

Nothing to Lose
by Boney Legs Jefferson
aka Jaleel R.

Today I have pain
and I’m walking in the rain
I don’t know what to do
I feel like I got the blues
Now I’m on a cruise
I don’t got nothing to lose
I have no clues
to learn about the news
Now I’m sad today
Was super bad today
Thought I didn’t have pain
But now that life has changed
I’m moving to Spain
I had to take a train
but I didn’t
now it was lame.

I feel lame
I feel like I’m in chains
I need a cane
walking down a lane
after I took a train
and then I went insane.

Omgosh Blues
by Curly Gumbo DuPree
aka Ka’layala D.

When I have the blues I feel cold
And sometimes I feel old
I feel I can’t see
It’s like someone’s inside of me
When I have the blues I try to be glad
But really I’m sad
When I pick up dog poop
It makes me want to gag
And sometimes I get mad.

My sister annoys me, she acts out around me
When my mom comes in oh
She starts to act like an angel.

I get a cozy spot, and I’m ready to fall asleep
And boom! Oh no! Jada she
walks all around wood floors.

Whoo my little sister finally falls asleep
And omgosh no! Music box stops
Room goes dark
Now I have to go down and turn it on
Oh infinity and my warm spot goes cold.

I draw the best thing ever and just
the final touch
And boom! My paper rips
and now I’m walking around with a hunch.

What the blues do…
By Ugly Bones Johnson
aka Gaius X.

The blues are flowing through me
like a cruise through water
I have a short fuse about to blow
like a volcano about to spew
looking for clues to end my sadness

The blues are falling on me
like rain at night
my veins are pulsing with the blues
like a train rattling on the tracks

I feel sad with the blues
another act of my life with no clues
cutting through me like a knife.

Blues
by Jailhouse Gumbo Jackson
aka Harley A.

Whoa I got the blues
When I lose
nobody seems to care
When I got the blues

I got the blues
Coz I lost by one
I got the blues
When I can’t sleep
I got the blues
When I run a mile in my shoes
I got the blues
in my dark room
I got the blues
Whoa
nobody seems to care
I got the blues
I can never share
I’m so scared
I got the blues
When I’m not with you

No More Legos
by Boney Bones McGee
aka Joshua B.

I stepped on a lego, now I’m in pain
I feel so bad I want to move to Spain
woah oh oh Let’s go, I hate legos
woah oh oh Let’s go, I hate legos
I feel like I’m dying like a skeleton
woah I’m not in a little pain
I feel it a ton, woah
Oh oh Let’s go, I hate legos
I’m in more pain
than if I got hit by a train
I’m in more pain
than if I got hit by a train
I got the lego blues
I can feel the painful lego rain
I can feel the painful lego blues
woah oh oh Let’s go, I hate legos
I don’t want to stay here no more



RECENT FACEBOOK POSTS

TESTIMONIALS

“Writing poetry makes me feel like I can see myself, like I can see my reflection, but not in a mirror, in the world. I write and I know I can be reflected.”
-Oscar S.

“Writing poetry makes me feel free.”
-Buenda D.

“Writing poetry is like your best friend.”
-Jessica M.