At DuBois we are kicking the door in with poems about what we value in spite of stereotypes or other people’s opinions! Since this is the beginning of a new and beautiful residency I thought what better time than now to get the kids thinking about their creative license! We had the unusual gift of our first two sessions being nearly back-to-back (Friday and Monday) so we were able to immediately piggy back on the momentum of the first session. The students had a two-part prompt between the two sessions, on the same general theme, and used their creative license to merge the two prompts into one final poem.
Ms. Dydo
8th Grade
Me
Marjanay M.
Myself is important to Me
Because I love myself.
You annoy me when you TRY
to talk about Me.
Myself is important to Me
when you tell Me
I’m someone else.
Myself is important to Me
because I’m Me
just looking for Me.
Don’t judge because
I find myself differently!
You upset Me
when you don’t
believe, I’m me!
Myself is important to me.
Because I’m Me.
No one else, Me.
You upset me.
When you lecture Me.
About Me.
How do you know me
if I’m still trying to find Me.
Myself is important to Me.
Because God made me
this way I don’t care about
what you or anyone else
have to say. You upset me
when you tell me what
Myself isn’t capable of
Myself Is important to Me.
Because I’m the only Me.
I will never be what you want
But that’s alright. Just because
we look differently. Pretty sure
We have the same eyesight
but even if we don’t look alike
that’s alright
I will never be
Marshaun M.
I will never be what
you want me to be
That’s cool
because I am me
and I am free
I just wanna be
what I wanna be
because every day it’s one
of our black brothers
getting killed
Life isn’t fair to nobody
So one thing I value is my family
My family is so important to me
because they love me
when no one is there
They love me
when no one cares
My family will never cheat me
they will always play fair
My Name
Jasiyah G.
My name is Jasiyah,
I ain’t no Josiyah,
even though
I’m named after a king
I’m like a messiah.
When my mom named me
at birth, she knew
I was a king.
Leader of the pack
never really in the back
Follow my own track.
I will never be what you want
and that’s alright, I’m a fashion killa alright
Hating on my style but I get alright.
Ms. Dydo
7th Grade
Family
Navarra T.
My family is special to me
It’s not just “we”
It’s them, they, they’re better than this
my mother is not just a miss
My father works hard for us
It is a must
My brother is bad
but he isn’t that mad
My family is small
but if you appall
just know
I am the law
My Hair
Nijayla B.
My hair is special to me because it expresses me
You frustrate me when you talk about how it looks
My hair will never be what you want it to be
You can do whatever you want because it’s your hair
The same way you came in with a nest on your hair
and the same way you do yours let me do mine
My hair is mine whatever I choose to do
with it or get down to it
You talk about it
or say what you want to say about it
It’s my hair
let me do what I want with it
Let me and my hair live in peace
I Value
Amarion T.
I value something that you really don’t like
and that’s alright
You harm me when you say you hate it
Math makes me feel like I’m in the light
Math is necessary for me to think big
Just because you don’t like it
doesn’t mean I have to
It makes me feel comfortable
Math is the best because it is
my favorite subject.
Ms. Dydo
6th Grade
I love my mom
Cassidy B.
My mom helps me when I’m sick.
My mom is loving, caring.
My mom is my keeper.
My mom is my provider.
My mom helps me when it’s needed.
My mom is important.
My mom is not a toy.
You upset me when you bad mouth
and talk about my mom
My mom gives me food.
My mom takes money that she
don’t have to get me things.
My mom is my life
My mom is unique
My mom is my cry.
My mom is my laugh.
My mom is my talk.
My mom is my day.
My mom is my everything.
My Skin
Astarte W.
My skin is important
to me because
My people fight
to get equal rights
for my skin
My people die
for my skin
Oh my skin
It makes me upset
and it harms me
when you get in my face
and say
My skin is not good enough
My skin
is a way to life
My skin
is the only thing
I have
So don’t disobey my skin
My skin is a God
my skin would never be
what you want
and that’s okay
Love
Mike A.
Love is important to me
because you have to love one another
to care for each other.
I will never be what you want and that’s alright.
Everyone is not going to have the same love
from one another because
you can think one way
and then the next you feel another way
because something that somebody else tell you
go by how you feel about that person.
You harm me
because people don’t mean what they say.
I just want people to mean what they say.
The Poetry Center always highlights 3 full poems from each class within each blog post, however, I would also like to celebrate a few more poets! So here are some snippets, quotes, and hot lines from some of the poems that didn’t get published in this post!
Malik I., 6th Grad
“Every day
somebody is getting bullied!
Why?
It just has to stop!
People want
to kill they self
just for bullies.
Why?
…
What’s wrong?
Let’s talk about it.”
Dequan W., 6th Grade
“When I am around you I’m cool
but then it will be time for school
Then go home to act a fool!”
Aniya C., 7th Grade
“they don’t talk like us
but they walk like us”
Da’Najia W., 7th Grade
“My
look
is
the
best to
me because
I’m blessed!”
Tamara C., 8th Grade
“I will never be what you want
and that’s alright,
’cause my height fine
and if you don’t like it
you can go and hide
’cause I’m gonna shine”
Briana C., 8th Grade
“We will never be the same
so lets not play the blame game.
You do bad things, I think mad things.
Let’s come together and sing in harmony!”
