I’ll be visiting three freshman classrooms at Manley Career Academy High School this school year. I’m really excited to work with these students and their teacher, Ms. O’Neal. We read Marge Piercy’s “Colors Passing Through Us.” Students wrote their own meditations on colors and the images that they suggest.
7th Period
I Hate Christmas
Derreon C.
white like the moon
but tall as a tree
rocking in the chair
drinking his tea
nails are sharp
beard is full
bodies are dropping
that old man is cruel
Brown
Hanani H.
Brown is your color
the color of your eyes
and the color of your hair
in the sun
It’s the color of your skin
and it reflects what you wear
It’s what you come from,
as shiny as copper or as dark as
tree bark
as tight as tan and as varied
as hair dye
Your face is brown,
but your lips are pink
ears are perky just up to your
head
brown as hardwood floors can get
you are brown
Black
Terrance S.
Every day I see black, black
in my sleep, black
on my skin color, on
my hair, my shoes
and my shirt.
Every day I see black, I
see black when I
walk outside I see
black when I come
off the porch I see
black when I go
to school.
Every day I see black.
Watching my cousin cry
I saw black, watching
the police come I saw
black, I saw black watching
people surround the
ambulance, I saw black
when my cousin died.
4th Period
Fennville
Hajuan H.
Red as blood and a cut of
flesh, warm flowing through
veins and heart pumping red liquid
Orange as the night begins, reddish-
orange as the sunset looking at
the sky while drinking orange
juice
Black as the night and pitch
as a shadow no visual contact
just dark as a cut-off television
All the Color
Dequisha T.
Purple as shoes in October in a sock
Blue as a paper slide into the folder
Yellow as a board
Red like an apple
Orange as juice
Green is like colorful light
Cobalt my love
Yellow
Jahquez S.
Yellow as the sun in the sky.
It brings joy to your eyes
Yellow lke a stain on your shirt
Rap brings joy to my life
Every day I hear gun sounds and sirens
wondering why are people dying
fly like a bird in the sky
5th Period
Red
Jaquan R.
Red that comes out of a gun the flames
that come for fun the red of gasoline
on fire the red that I desire
the red you think of in jail the
red that represent hell the devil making
fire the red is like a lighter the
red that make sing the red that no
one seen the red of fire the red
everyone desire
Red that reminds you of blood
something you don’t want to see in
a flood the red that comes with
consequences the red that reminds you
of jail the red you see when you
fail the red of a rapper’s shirt the
red of lip gloss the red that you
see when you floss too hard
Gray and Black
Diamond F.
Gray as ashes from the burning charcoal
Black as a shadow in a darkened alley
Gray as clouds on a rainy day
As black as the hands on a clock
Gray like the skin on an elephant
Black like the wheels of a car
Gray like the gloomy skies
Black like a blind man’s mind
Untitled
Marcus R.
What is your favorite color
Yellow like a bee
Red jacket like the Bulls
Green bookbag like the grass
But blue is my favorite color
Blue like a breezy summer day
Blue like my favorite B-ball team,
the Knicks, blue like the Seahawks.
Blue like my shoes.
Blue like the color of the ocean.
