Marge Piercy’s “Colors passing through us” was the focus of our classes this week at Skinner West. After reading the poem aloud, I asked the 2nd graders what colors the poet mentions in the poem? Why those colors in particular? While she uses color in almost every stanza, in two she does not, so I asked why that might be, and then followed up by asking if there was an order to her introduction of the colors in the poem? For example, why begin with purple; move on to red, orange, and yellow; and end with green and blue? We finally decided by consensus that there seemed to be a pattern in Piercy’s design, and I also suggested that the poem could be read as a kind of cycle, with “cobalt” in the final stanza segueing neatly back into “purple” in the first. Finally, I inquired about the significance of the poem’s title. As always, the students had many ideas and opinions to share about these questions, and more!
This week’s prompt was to write a poem about one or more colors, resulting in quite a variety of responses. Have a look at some examples from each class.
The Color
Jamarri J.
I see a
color it is
blue it looks
like you but
it is mine
I will share
it with you
but it is the
color blue
The Beautiful Colors
Sophia L.
I slowly walk to my pink
house with my purple backpack
singing every day songs I see
a pink bird pass me and it is
holding a purple scrapbook and
I slowly take it home.
The Stuff I Saw on the Street
Maria M.
I looked up at the chart
with blue as dark as the sea,
and as bright as the sky.
Then I looked up and saw
red roses as big as eggs and with little
ladybugs crawling up.
After that I saw a pink
bow as bright as a shell
from the sea.
Black Pets
Jason M.
My cat and dog are black
and my cat is nice so is
my dog. They eat, sleep,
and drink. One is huge
one is small.
Rainbows
Delia R.
Red as ruby.
Red as heart.
Red as envy.
Orange as chalk.
Orange as oranges.
Orange as pencils.
Yellow as hair.
Yellow as chicks.
Yellow as charm.
Green as ivy.
Green as go.
Green as turtle.
Blue as ocean.
Blue as diamond.
Violet as love.
Violet as I.
Violet as dress.
End as the end!
Colors Passing
Earlene S.
Purple as a grape in May,
T-shirt, Folder, grape.
Black as a panda, Hair,
T-shirt, Raspberry.
Yellow — Mango, Sun, Rainbow,
Bone.
Rainbow Colors
Gabrielle T.
I see red as rose
I see orange turkey
I see green apples
I see blue berries
I see purple grapes
I see yellow sun in the sky
I see colors bursting
with love in my eyes
Colors
Louvenia W.
Red roses
Orange pencil
Yellow sun Bird bee
green grass folder grape
blue sky shirt pants
Purple dress sharpener case
Ow
Miles G.
Ow the color inspires me
I love the
color of my skin so dark
but light it’s brown.
Alaska
Brooks H.
Things make me smile, but not like
Alaska. A beauty of brown grizzlies
live in a cave beside my home.
Bald eagles — Brown and white visit me
every year. Snow is white, and
it’s coming and falling. Northern
lights – an Alaskan Rainbow. It makes
me feel like Alaska is the perfect
home for me.
What You Think
Axel H.
Blue beats red and red beats green who beats
blue. But that’s all you think plus that is not
true.
It’s imagination that puts you to do that.
What is true that Fire beats Grass and
Trees who sucks Water who puts out Fire.
It’s all a life cycle that creates all
this stuff. And their lives have been
tough.
Blue
Stephen L.
My favorite color is
blue. It cannot be
made like oil, and
will not. It makes
many things like
water and folders.
I like blue.
Favorite Color
Edward M.
My favorite color
is blue that’s Hunter’s
favorite color too. When
I am looking at the
sea I see the dark
blue looking at me.
When I look up
I see the light
blue but it begins
to turn dark and I
see pieces that look
bark because of the
stars. The blue would
ever go away.
Blue Is Cool
Hunter R.
Once I saw colors
red, yellow, green,
black, gray, white.
But I need a
good color.
Then an old
man told me
there is one
color left.
It was blue!
It was awesome
I felt like
it was my friend.
It was.
Then I bought
a crayon, a blue
one.
I had all good
things with
that crayon.
Black
Olivia S.
Black is my favorite color the color
of night the color of oil the color
of tigers’ stripes the color of Batman
the color of Stephen, Ronald and Rolando’s
hair.
Turq
Kayan V.
It is light blue with
color flashing in its
eyes.
It lights up the moon.
It flashes over the
night skies.
People look at me
with excitement like a
zombie’s staring at
their master.
It’s like a blue rose
sprinkled within earth.
Its beautiful colors
shine like a star
close up in
the sky.
blue is cool and red is not
Mekhi B.
fire and water make purple
because fire is red and blue is water
and blue is cool, and red is not,
red is hot so it will never stop
blue wants to be on the blog, but so
does red, a fight who will win
water or fire, water of course, and
that’s why blue is cool and red is
NOT!
Hey Dad!
Leon C.
Hey dad! My paper is white.
My house is also white.
Daisies are white too.
Now be quiet and write a poem about black.
Are you done yet? Good!
Let me tell you my poem about black.
Night is black.
So is my desk.
Now go write a poem about red.
Red is the color of apples.
It is also the color of blood
and strawberries.
Now let me read your poems.
Colors by Heart
Alice F.
Red as henna,
Orange as fire,
Yellow as the sun,
Green as grass,
Blue as the sky,
Purple as flowers,
Pinks as hearts,
White as paper,
Gray as ashes,
Brown as chocolate,
Black as night,
and…That is all the colors I love by heart.
Even though I love every color, these are the
colors I love by heart.
Colors I Like
Calvin H.
Red the color of roses
strawberries cherries too
and blue the color of
water and ice and everything
nice
green the color of
leaves granny smith
apples
purple for plums and
black berry juice
yellow for daisies
lemons too.
My White Bathroom
Darryl H.
I colored the wall with cocoa
butter. The whole bathroom was
white. My mom saw and I got
in big trouble. Then I felt
ashamed.
Black
Sydney N.
Why?
Why so dark?
When I look at you you glare
back at me.
Just why?
Answer me.
I need to know,
I want you to tell me happily.
Please.
What is it?
Do I use you too much?
Not enough?
Why?
Just why?
BLACK!
Colors
Mariama P.
Red the color of henna
That I had on my arm
That smeared on my shirt
Orange as fire
That burned my bookmark
As I put it over a candle
Yellow as a daffodil
As I picked it for my mother
For her to put in her hair
Green as the grass
That poked me when I fell
and made me bleed
Blue as the sky
On the day I got my battle scar
In Florida
Purple as my nail polish
That I put on my nails
And smeared on my fingers
Black as night
As I snuck and played video games
and watched TV
Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Purple
Dahlia T.
A rainbow starts with red
Red apples, Red fire trucks, Red crayons
So many things are red
orange yellow green blue purple
The second color is orange
Orange oranges, Orange pencils, Orange crayons
So many things are orange
yellow green blue purple
The third color is yellow
Yellow bananas, yellow sun, Yellow crayons
So many things are yellow
green blue purple
The fourth color is green
Green food, Green grass, Green crayons
So many things are green
blue purple
The fifth color is blue
Blue berries, Blue water, blue crayons
So many things are blue
purple
The sixth color is purple
Purple flowers, Purple bags, Purple crayons
So many things are purple
The colors of the rainbow
So many colors there are
The colors of the rainbow
are the crayons that I have
Colors
James A.
There are
hundreds of
colors.
Like green
grass, leaves,
tennis balls.
Brown stumps,
wood, footballs.
Orange basket
balls, carrots,
pencils.
Blue sky
recycle
red flowers
part of the
sun color.
Mixed colors
3 colors make
the sun white
and colors make
tints and
black and
colors make
shades.
My Color
Alexandra C.
My favorite colors is
blue.
All kinds of
shades of blue are
my
favorite colors.
The sky is blue
some of my clothes
are blue
I love the
color blue.
I Like All Blues in the World
George F.
Blue makes me feel good it is
the best hats
are blue and shirts
and so are pants
it is a cold color I
love blue.
Life With Colors
Diego F.
When I go to the jungle, I see some
colors. Vines are green, grapes are purple,
water is blue and the sun is yellow.
The trees are brown.
I like the jungle and nothing else
but I like seeing colors like red,
orange and black.
Pink Feels
Alyssa L.
Pink makes me feel
Happy, sad, Mad,
Scared, and Anxious.
Pink feels!
My Crayons
Adriana M.
I look at my
crayons
But someone
took my purple
I look at my
lavender
And I realize
it changed
Then HA
mystery solved
Untitled
Joaquin N.
The green
is, well, the
true color
in my
opinion.
It’s a cool
color, it’s
also my
favorite
color.
Green is
mostly
everything
in my path
every day.
Untitled
Zoe R.
The colors I see
I
see every
day blue is sea for
the things I see
blue is beautiful
the
color is bright
the color I
see is in sight.
