Previously at Skinner West, we read Sandra Simonds‘ “There was this bear cam.” One of the first things we established is where the poem takes place; there’s strong imagery regarding an “enormous river rushing / and the tall pines in the background doing nothing,” “the sound of the river / and wind in trees,” and “a fat bear . . . in the middle of the river / eating a salmon right there in the Katmai National Park,” but because of other language describing cubicles, desks, and offices, some students recognized that the speaker was observing the (in)action unfold from a live camera feed. In a way, then, the poem is set in two places simultaneously: an office building somewhere, and the Alaskan park named. Since we usually discuss who (or what) the speaker might be, in this rare instance we were pretty sure it is the poet, because of someone who says, in the penultimate line, “Sandra, this is boring,” and I then asked what her attitude was—how does it come through in the poem? What about the final images?
For the prompt, I asked what random means, and what it’s like to experience something random, like the poem’s bear cam. Students were then tasked to write about a similarly random incident, or else to be random in their poems—like a free-write. As expected, their responses were delightfully varied.
Mrs. Brown, 4th Grade
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Lana D.
So I walked down the aisle and
then right before my eyes and
these are no lies but I was in
the city in an aisle and a herd
of cattle with big buck teeth
and a child’s toy on top. I blacked
out. Then I woke up on a ship with
people I know with a sword chasing
a rat. Then the rat said I need
my sword or perhaps my magic
bow. Black. I woke up in a clam like
a pearl or as round as a ball. I was
being picked up by Godzilla
who opened my clam said that
pearl would make a nice ring
for my wife. Black. What I have
gone flat ouch no it’s rock
paper scissors and I am paper
against scissors.
A Surprise
Alexandra F.
I didn’t
know
that I could
do
a one-handed
walkover
One Handed Clap
Kota G.
So one day I got out of
bed and I shook my hand up and
down and it made this noise and
I did it again and I knew I
had a talent and I wanted to
keep it a secret but I couldn’t.
SUPER
Joice H.
You can be
S
U
P
E
R
or you can be
L A M E
you can be
R
I
G
H
T
or you can be
W R O N G
but always be
A W E S O M E !
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Elliott S.
The bio lion
eats Godzilla and
sometimes it eats
glasses. And a lion’s
whole dinner is 1
ant. How crazy
is that
Random
Anaya S.
What is random…
something
Big
something
tiny
short
tall
Guess
what
I
ate
a
cupcake
that
was
pink
with
pink
sprinkles
Mrs. Johnson, 4th Grade
Hummingbirds
Scarlet B.
I see them on the feeder every day.
Their wings flutter in disarray. I see my
cat looking at them longingly. I scream one
day
at
the top of my lungs “these birds
are dead!”
Turtle
Advik D.
Once I saw a turtle running
when I called for my sister it disappeared
she got mad and said I wasted
her time
The Night Sky
Rihanna G.
As I walk down
my stairs the
cold air blew in
my hair the night
was beautiful it was
dark blue I tried
to go back to
sleep but my
nightmare just
wouldn’t STOP
I drank my
milk and the
night was
OK
Soap
Kali L.
I think I just remembered something
you screamed
I left the faucet running
now I feel my life crumbling up
hands piercing on the needle of
you
life is random
because I swallowed some soap
I should’ve never spoke
to life
life melts just like soap
I Wasn’t Ready
Molly M.
The time is when I
was new to the Internet
but I also loved Sonic.
So I came across this
music video Sonic themed
and clicked on it. This
video was so scary I
had to listen to a lullaby
for ten hours (not really) to recover
from the fear I had just
experienced. I have come across
quite the number of scary videos
to the point where it’s not
really scary anymore. Wow.
Mrs. Rupp, 4th Grade
The Earring with Wings
Kathleen A.
The earring with wings lifts you up up UP
into the sky.
Be careful you can lose them, they can fly FLY away.
The earrings with wings is an ear + a ring.
But the only thing you have to do to make
you fly, is to imagine.
Random
Mel L.
Gummy bear
got pineapple
pineapple pen
trash went
in pineapple
pineapple pizza
pizza pineapple
pineapple in pizza
pours water on pineapple
pine plus
apple is
applepine!
Yum yum yum
applepine has
gummy bear
gummy worm
gummy something
in
the middle of
applepines
yummy yum yum
JUICE
Running Randomness
Asher L.
Running randomness
I like to run
it is very fun
I used to run slow
But now when I think
about it, I think No No No.
I still like to run fast
and that wasn’t in the past.
I run a lot
but not in a cot.
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Samar M.
I am thinking about something
weird that is random
“Ducks, cows, pigs, pickles,
colors, paper.”
Anything that is random
I am thinking too much
so I forgot what I was
thinking about
because I am random.
Now I have a headache
that is random!
“Something”
Nehemiah O.
Something crazy
something BOLD
something unique
something blue
something sunny
something RANDOM
something clear
something neat
something….
ME!
Mr. O’Brien, 4th Grade
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Antonio A.
I do my homework I go outside
I take a shower and go to sleep
every night
Uhm
Azyriah D.
a shiny pancake
Untitled
Anabella M.
The big flower
a flower that is fat
that is weird color it is
mean and randomly some
people plower!
One Punch Man
Elijah O.
power
strong
great
super
fast
bald
The Unicorn and Its Chocolate Cake
Grace S.
Once there was a unicorn with
a container of . . . . . On the next episode
of Dragonballzeek! JK it was a
fridge of chocolate cake
she loves chocolate cake
but she got fat!
Happy
Anoushka T.
Why do we do anything?
Why do we care?
What’s wrong with death?
Or forgetting?
Why do we do it?
Why do we work hard?
To be HAPPY
