Beautiful magic can be made when words and images collide. For that reason, Waters 6th graders dove into the world of Ekphrastic Poetry. Ekphrastic poems are written in response to an image, often a work of art. Students examined Vincent Van Gogh’s painting “Starry Night” before reading “Starry Night” by Anne Sexton. After talking about similarities between the two, students looked at an online image gallery and each selected a poem to respond to. Take a look below and enjoy!
Ms. Hooper’s Class
Free Food
by Lily J.
A little cat is wandering around
Til he meets a table with a glass orb on top
He splashes his hand in and feels around.
He felt a scaly fish,
Grabbing it, POOF
Free food
The aftermath of the disaster
by Aiden A.
Is that it?Is it finally over?
What happened there? An earthquake,an explosion?
Ugh I think my leg is stuck..where’s everyone?
Wait,I hear footsteps HELP!!!!!
There’s someone here but are they good or bad oh only luck can help me now.
Goldfish with Cat
by William N.
The cat’s stomach rumbles
The fish swim happily
The cat wants a snack
The big furry beast on the prowl
Little fish not a care in the world
It’s eyes are hungry
The little fish sense something is off
A large furry claw comes down from above
Barely missing it’s sharp talons
CHOMP it found one
CHOMP another
The door swings open
“GERALD! What are you doing?!”
Meoww
“Baaad Gerald”
Hisssss
“Don’t you dare hiss at me! Upstairs NOW”
Meowww
“NOW”
Tiny feet running upstairs
“Oh No! Where’s Jimmy? And Bob?!”
Ugh time to go to the pet store… again
Ms. Collins’ Class
Screaming Goldfish
by Aydin C.
The cat went up the desk, and created a mess
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” The cat heard
The cat walked up, and saw goldfishes….
“YUMMY YUMMY”!
Goldfishes started to panic and though if the cat is organic
The cat got closer and closer
And tried to grab in
“NO!”
The cat got mad, and the fishes were glad
‘SPLASHING NOISES”
The gold fishes were ready to attack
And the cat smacked the fishes.
The Cat started to gobble, and the fishes started to all sing…
“BIG BACK, BIG BACK, BIG BACK, BIG BACK”
“Goldfish with the cat”
by Addie G.
Clever. not smart, Yet furry as can be
Creeped closer and closer, he did with glee,
Oh, don’t worry! He’s an expert, he has a degree
On the other hand, we have the sea
So big, and bight.. Yet only one fishy.
no longer swimming free.
Stuck behind glass,
He tries to fly, but can’t afford first class
Goldfish with cat
by Nathan M.
Cat, cat up on the bowl better be fast before the bread grows mold.
As it reaches its paw as long as it could, it could better be fast before they swim as they would.
What should the fishes do as they swam about and must be quick on the escape route. As its paw got wet the cat needed to capture it like if there was a net.
First image by Raghu Rai. “Imambara. Lucknow, India”
Second image by Henri Matisse. “Goldfish with Cat”