For their second virtual poetry residency Shoesmith Elementary’ s 5th and 6th grade students explored ideas about weather. They were asked the question “What type of weather describes your own personalities? A personality is what makes a person unique, which is often expressed through their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Students came up with some interesting descriptions for themselves: a warm summer day, fog, wind, blizzards, thunderstorms, and rainbows.
Together we read the poem, “Rain, Snow, and Other Weather by Lauren Stacks. In her poem Stacks uses metaphors and reverse personification to not only compare her own personality to weather but give herself weather-like characteristics. I’m the slush at the bottom of your work pants/but I can easily be the melting snowflakes/ clinging to your long lashes/ But you take me as I am/ And never forget to carry your umbrella. Stacks poem is empowering, she embraces her own individuality and wants others to do the same.
Inspired by Lauren Stacks, students wrote their own poems in which they embodied the elements of weather. Please enjoy these published poems.
Ms. Yassky’s 5th Grade
Group 1
On A 43 Degree Day
By Michael B.
On a 43 degree day
I can bring the pain of a hurricane if you’re ever mean to me.
I can be as tried as the misty fog in the rain.
I can be the chill rain outside that you are studying with.
I can be as bright as the sun in the middle of the day.
I can switch up like Chicago in winter
If you are around me get a jacket because it’s is going
to be one wacky day.
Hot Sun
By Zachery S.Y.
I am the hot sun that makes you stay indoors.
I am the unpredictable never know when I’m gonna sweat.
Sunshine, sunshine giving lots of light.
They like ice cream in the heat, I like frozen drinks.
The sun is warm it hits my face.
I don’t want the sun to leave, so please stay for a while!
Weather Emotions
By Marysol T.
I let my emotions out like rain
I can be happy like the sun
I hide in the fog
As the day goes on
I’m sad like the gloomy sky
Everyday it goes by
Like a sunset
From a sunrise
Ms. Yassky’s 5th Grade
Group 2
Midnight clouds
By Kaylee H.
You look up, up at me. I’m covering most of your moon.
As I grow, you begin to merge on the highway with other strange vehicles. I am heavy, and it is difficult to stay in the sky.
Your eyelids are heavy as well. You’ve been in a building with lots of small people. I look down to you, watching you with interest, forgetting to hide the moon and letting stars fill your eyes.
You are distracted, by the lights high above. So distracted that you forget about the lights low, on the ground.
Finally, my rain begins to fall. It falls for hours on the highway you were driving on. There are new cars, red and blue. Bright and large.
My clouds are gone, and so are you. All that’s left in the gray sky is the sun you had missed so longingly before.
Now, it is a very still day. A beautiful gray sky.
I am bright in the sky, and I watch as you are driven away. All I can do is wait for the moon to come, for I am the weather, and it is too difficult to help you.
Untitled
By Carlton F.
I am a storm when angry
I am the wind whistling
I am the thunder roaring
I am strong rain pouring
I am the spring when I’m happy
I am the sun glowing
I am the flowers growing
I am the morning bird chirping
At night I rest all these feelings like the sun sunsetting
I Am Fall
By Miracle M.
I am Fall, warm and comforting like how cinnamon donuts melt in your mouth.
I am Fall, bubbly like the leaves on the trees changing colors like moods.
I like humming like birds chirping on a wonderful day.
I like eating crisp sweet apples on a crisp Fall day.
I am full of vigor and spice like pumpkin spice.
Ms. Henry’s 6th Grade
Group 1
Drought
By Peace F.
I am a drought
They call me a dust bowl
I have a desert
Tumbleweeds roll through me
I have sand
I can get in your eyes
I’m so dry
Prepare water for me
I have the sun
Scorching my land into dust
Life can live in me through
Harsh conditions
But they will persevere
They live with no fear
I Managed To Live That Night
By Magnolia T.
Monday was chilled,
But I went with dreamy night and lived my life that night.
Tuesday was foggy,
I was in astonishment about finding out my friends were talking about me, but I still managed to live life that night.
Wednesday was hail,
As I stood there frozen like the hail from the sky, it stung my body as the pain grew thicker and the barrier before me wouldn’t move. I managed to live that night as I went numb.
Thursday was rainy,
I realized that I had nobody as my mind started to dissolve from the rain hitting my body. But I managed to live that night.
Friday was sunny,
I felt better knowing that I wouldn’t have to school for another two days,
Let’s just say I was the breeze that hits you at a park on a hot summer day. I lived that night.
Saturday was cold,
I was as cold as a winter night with no heat, but I managed to live that night.
Sunday, I got ready for Monday for the cycle would repeat and clone itself.
Blizzard
By Kayla W.
Winter falls, the temperatures drop
A dance orchestrated by freezing clouds
The things I touch will pass away and eventually return to nil;
When a chunk of me is taken away
I’ll just melt in their hands and fall away
I’m cold, and I’m freezing
Everywhere I go, I bring about death and fatal frostbites
And yet, I bring about reincarnation and forgiving second chances as well
The things I love may be crushed,
and all life slumbers,
Blanketed by the white earth.
Yet, as long as people trust in me
I begin a new life,
As a fresh, soft drizzle of cool summer shower
Returning hope, love, and vitality to all is my wish
Ms. Henry’s 6th Grade
Group 2
I Am the Winter
By Layla A.
I am the snow that you step over with your sharp boots
I am the frozen pond that you leave scratches on when you skate.
I am the clingy icicle that sticks to your roof until you knock me down.
I am the snowflake that you’ll use just until I fall on your tongue.
I am the snow that gets replaced by the cotton that tries to be me.
I am the snow that holds on as long as it can to your car until it’s blown
away by the wind, or until you scrape me off.
I am the cold wind that whips through your legs, face, and ears to get you back.
So make sure that you don’t forget to wear your snow pants, and a hat
and gloves too.
Because I am the winter
I Am Spring
By Logan M.
I am spring
I can be calm
I can be sunny
I can rain down the constructive criticism
to help you grow.
I can be fog, mysterious and my thoughts can be clouded
with anger and sadness and grief
I can be wind calm and stormy at the same time
I can rain and change when you least expect it.
The Negatives and the Positives
By J’Vonae S.
I am the most powerful weather that you could have.
But people take advantage of that.
They steal my sunshine.
To make them happy.
They hear my thunder.
But they still don’t run.
When I strike someone with my lightening
I’m dangerous and scary.
My crisp wind is my way of communication.
But nobody listens.
Yes.
I can be hail.
I fall really hard.
It’s dangerous.
The beauty underneath my snow.
Won’t show until spring comes.
I’m cold.
And harsh.
The negative rain.
A positive sun.
