After Holiday break, I returned back to the O-School on Monday to write poetry with two new groups (Groups A & B ) of students to kick start 2025. The theme for this week was all about planets. I showed students images of the eight planets in our solar system: Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Despite Pluto being considered a dwarf planet by scientists, a few students believe Pluto should get its status back as an official planet. I told students that there is an earth like planet that was discovered in 2015 called Kelper 452b that is similar to earth and might be able to hold life.
Together we read and discussed the poem “Another Planet,” by Dunya Mikhail. In her poem Mikhail uses similes and personification to imagine her own ideal planet. A comfortable world, and beautiful/a world without much smoke/ And even better the war has left its “r” behind and turned into love/ And the boats look like smiles on the water. Mikhail envisions a peaceful non-violent planet. A few students loved the idea of a peaceful non-violent planet that Mikhail envisions in her poem, while other believed that without any conflict, the planet would be a boring place to live.
Inspired by Dunya Mikhail’s poem and students wrote their poems and drew pictures, imagining their own unique planets.
*Please note, that to protect their privacy, no student names will be listed, only their poems and artwork.
Group A (Middle School)
The Death Star
My planet has gigantic lasers
that shoot people.
Its bigger than all the planets
in the social system.
There is no weather.
Its gray as a grave.
People wear black robes,
carrying lasers and light sabers.
There are gigantic creatures called,
Bantheas.
Marvins, the human race,
work in the Kyber crystals mines.
There is an Imperial Navy,
and I sit on a large throne
made of Kyber crystals.
Winter Wasteland
My planet is a winter wasteland.
The trees shiver from the harsh cold.
As I stare at the robots, as they’re mining,
I see the frigid cold, rusting their metal.
Depression Planet
My planet is gray like depression.
My planet smells like smoke.
It’s very plain,
the air is thick and foggy.
The birds don’t sing or tweet,
they insult.
Planet Nemet
On my planet, there is no pain.
Its red, naturally saturated
and Navy blue.
It has water, plants, animals,
it looks like Earth.
You can control gravity,
and you won’t die young.
You can die old and still
have two more lives.
There are aliens, green as grass.
But they are not scary and they
don’t hurt humans.
Group B (Middle School)
Euphoria
My planet is like home,
as sweet and friendly
like beautiful flowers
My planet is as warm
as a vulnerable heart.
With love for all.
sugary like candy.
The sun is happy, bright
and yellow,
soft but also mellow.
The water calm, bright
and blue, it even says
I love you.
In the nighttime, the moon
shines bright in the darkness,
it says good night.
Twistopia
There was a planet in the days of old.
Created as if it were made to defy gravity.
The planet breathes, always moving.
The planet grows, always changing.
One day, a paradise,
the next, a dystopia.
The creatures learn to adapt.
They twist and turn through
the waves of the planet,
as if it were a snake.
They had thin legs to crawl,
and bodies fifty feet long.
There was no sun, as the
planet would create light.
Twisting and turning, the planet
swirls like the wind.
Though the planet changes,
the core stays the same.
For within beings which are not
like the creatures, as they are
made of light and galaxies.
Their civilizations were more
advanced than ours today.
Tenalp
My planet is like the moon.
My moon is made of cheese.
My planet is as cold hearted
as a human.
My planet is evil.
My planet is as bad as a bull.
My planets clocks are
counterclockwise.
My planet talks
with a hoarse voice.
My planet is as deceiving
as a rainbow’s
pot of gold.
Happy’s Planet
My planet is civilized
My planet has no people
On this planet people don’t say nonsense
My planet is normal
My planet has a correct school system
My planet doesn’t have conspiracies
My planet is cool
On my planet people don’t interrupt when I’m talking
On my planet history goes the way it’s supposed to go
There is a healthy environment with trees and no cigarettes on the ground
On my planet there is no illegal crime committed
