Poetry Corner 

Chatterbox: Inkwell

Poetry Corner 

Poetry Corner 

I think I saw one of these when I was scrolling through semi-old threads, but I'm not sure I called it that. Anyway, this is a place to post your poems and get advice/comments on it. This is a place for friendly critique, but not unkindness. There isn't nearly enough poetry on CB, in my opinion.

Here is a (very long) one by me, if you have the patience to read it. It's called "You Think You Can Hear" but I'm considering changing it.  

You think you can hear?

Just because your puny

ears

Can pick up loud,

wails

of sound?

You’re only

fooling yourself. You

can't hear

better than

a rock.

Why bother giving

you humans sound at all

When this beautiful power

is wasted

On headphones,

jammed indifferently onto ears

Howling,

Muddled,

Ugly,

Music?

Not likely.

I know what

Real music is.  

Not one person has heard

what counts

if

they haven’t fought

to hear—

Blades of grass

Swishing in the wind

A river’s chuckle as it

trips merrily over

water-shined silver stones,

I see you beings,

I watch above from my perch,

You only pick up

The most obvious cries,

Of voices,

The maddening shrieks

Of human-made noise.

I can’t bear it,

When every morning,

I awaken,

sweet music—

True music—

flowing

Like a river

Out of my heart

You never hear, you never notice

me.

Not one of you

Has heard love

Has felt power,

suffering,

triumph,

emanating from a single sound.

Unless you’ve heard

Silence,

felt the peace,

of nature.

Which, I know,

is hard in your world

When honking horns and

The grinding of wheels against

A hard, concrete curb.

I know what you are thinking.

I want music,

You protest.

I’m looking for pure quiet,

but

It doesn’t exist.

That’s true.

Absolute silence is maddening.

What I mean is

Escape from all

Human-made sound.

Even after you know this…

You haven’t looked.

I see you

I sit patiently on your windowsill,

watching,

As you try in vain

to escape.

The closet

Behind the coats,

is the wrong place,

You’ve found.

Undertones ring in your ears

Voices

The oily sizzle of mom’s

frying pan.

Even the gentle hum

of

Air conditioning.

Peace isn’t the park either.

The crunch of a peanut in another’s mouth

Car wheels scrape the curb

In the background.

It seems impossible.

This I understand all too well.

I stay away from your towns

If at all possible,

Preferring to rest

In tranquil nature.

But remember I said  “seems.”

But maybe,

Someday,

When you visit, possibly,

your Aunt Margaret, In

say, Maryland,   

In her rural house

By the woods.

As you whine from

Lack of electricity

Your parents might just

Shoo you out to play

In the forest.

And as you angrily shuffle

your feet among the leaves

Sending my kind flapping nervously away

craving internet,

deeper you wander through the trees,

Till you pause to sulk

on a log,

Unmoving in your funk.

Slowly…

Your ears fill…

With a faraway babble

Of a brook,

A robin’s quiet chirp,

the gently sigh of a breeze

as it tickles your ear

and winds around your cheeks.

Then entranced,

You pause,

Listening,

Seemingly far away

From civilization.

Slowly,

You smile and stand up

As you walk

Peacefully, happily, away

I sigh and drift off

On a breath of wind,

I laugh— Maybe

Humans

Aren’t

So deaf

 

After all.

 

 

 

 

submitted by Abigail S., age 11, Nose In a Book
(December 27, 2015 - 12:43 pm)

I read the whole thing! It's awesome!!!!! Maybe consider telling the readers who the animal you are speaking as is- I'm guessing you are an eagle. Also, what does "remember I said seems" mean? Besides that, it's great!!!

SmileSmile

submitted by Bibliophile, age 12, Chicago, IL
(December 27, 2015 - 7:54 pm)

In the poem, it states: It seems impossible. "remember I said seems" is a reflection that it only seems so, but that it isn't. I delibiratly didn't say what animal I am writing from the perspective of. I did drop some clues, so it should be obvious.

submitted by Abigail S., age 11, Nose In a Book
(December 29, 2015 - 1:55 pm)

Wow. I don't have the words to describe how beautiful that was. You're a great poet, Abigail!

submitted by Dragonrider
(December 27, 2015 - 9:08 pm)

Really great, Abigail! I have a poem as well.

If you've been feeling

Like a foggy cloud surrounds your shoulders

And bogs your spirit down 

Maybe

You need some chocolate

(Just a bit. You also need

exercise.) 

If you've been doing jumping jacks

to get attention from anything

For hours

Maybe

You need a cat.

If you've been sitting, staring, 

Petting the cat 

Watching the world slip from your fingers

Waiting for rain to impale you

And make you numb as the hard metal TV,

Maybe

Just maybe

You need a friend.  

submitted by OtR
(December 28, 2015 - 4:18 pm)

Oh Man Abigail!!! This poem is truly amazing, and really powerful!!! I can truly feel what the person/thing talking feels during the poem. It is simply breathtaking. I'm speechless right now! Don't change a single thing!!! Also, you're right there isn't that much poetry on the CB, and I'm glad you put something on here to recognize poetry. I'm sure all the poetry lovers are pleased!! I have a couple poems I wrote too, but I'll post them later. 

submitted by Joan B. of Arc , age 13, Camelot
(December 28, 2015 - 4:51 pm)

Wow, Abigail and OtR! I read both of yours and I love them! 


@Abigail, for the most part yours was breathtaking, but there's one seriously little thing...I noticed that there was a spot when you were talking about the park when you said "a peanut nut". Just thought I should point that out. I don't think you meant to say that.

@OtR, yours was simply amazing and I found no typos. :)  

Anyhoo, I have a poem too. I don't really know what it means; that's for you to interpret. ;) It's also kind of long and I don't thave a name for it, but I will accept suggestions if you have any that come to mind. Here it is:

The old is new

The new is gold

the bright shine sparkles

with tales untold

The robin's cry of a new dawning day

echoes in this empty cave

 

My heart is pure

proving through the strife

that true love and good spirit 

can save a life

 

I had two friends once

They were not much

But still they accepted

My gentle touch

 

One was pure 

Sparkling bright

She shined with her own light

That is for sure

 

The other was strong and brave

not a single thing could break his wave

of courage and ingenuity

 

The first one died

of a broken heart

Her "true love's kiss"

was a swing and a miss

 

The second one faded

after he was persuaded

to take the path of medicine

He promised to write

but never thought once

to make the flight

to come and see me

 

The old is new

The new is gold

The bright shine sparkles

with tales untold

The robin's cry of a new dawning day

echoes in this empty cave. 

submitted by Poetic Panda, age 13, Overland Park, KS
(December 28, 2015 - 6:27 pm)

Yeah, I just read it over and noticed that. It's a typo. It just should say "peanut". 


 

I just fixed it for you.
Admin
submitted by Abigail S., age 11, Nose In a Book
(December 29, 2015 - 1:52 pm)

All I can say is fantastic. I am so lucky to be part of a community like the CB. I have a poem. It was on Hello's writing class thread. I thought it was good so I'll post it again here.

Silver

Swirls of color,

shimmer in dim light.

The moon knows.

It can tell you

about this color.

Silver the moon,

Gold the sun.

Silver the stars and the light

at dawn.

How can it be so whole

Yet so apart?

Vast galaxies-

faraway lands

The swirl of stars in the black night 

The pigments of silver

in my inkwell.

 

I wrote this poem about my inkwell of silver ink. It's really pretty and I love to use it. I love it so much that I couldn't write just a small poem about it. You should see some actual poems. They can be pages long, so mine's not that long. But that's not relevant.

Do you like it? And can I maybe post more poetry later? I never imagined I'd like writing poems. Hah, just shows how some people change... 

 

It's beautiful, Scylla! And I love reading poetry, savoring the meaning and beauty of the words and phrases.

Admin

submitted by Scylla
(December 28, 2015 - 8:37 pm)

I love long epic poems, e.g. John Brown's Body by Stephen Vinent Benét.

submitted by Admin, Iceworld
(December 28, 2015 - 11:20 pm)

Aww, thanks, Admins! You guys are amazing!

submitted by Scylla
(December 28, 2015 - 11:04 pm)

The lights

Flash by

on the road

 

They glide past the window of opportunity

'Till they're gone

Lost behind a curve,

a bend,

to never be seen again

 

That's the way things are 

in life

Full of rushing,

and rushing,

and rushing 

 

The lights on the cars--

Though they blind you in passing,

their time

is so short,

like a candle's last sputter

that announces its end

 

Until someone who cares

Someone who loves

Takes the time to blow on you,

Shield you,

and build you up

 

He is your Father,

The one who gives purpose

to your short,

busy life

He builds up your flame!

You're a bonfire

Strong and safe

 

But everyone has an end

When your bonfire

Is old

And the day is new

You collapse

But you die happy

For you found faith

and a purpose 

and peace

and prosperity

and a life

and a home

 

And love 

 

~Micearenice 

submitted by Micearenice, age 12, Poetry Land
(December 29, 2015 - 10:15 am)

Toppy top top pop!

submitted by TOOOOOOOOOPPPPPP!!!!
(January 5, 2016 - 9:02 pm)

I have new stuff! The first is a haiku about black rice that I saw at a store once and the second is a diamonte about the violent rainstorm happening right now. top!

Black Rice

Miniscule shadows

Specks of darkness in my palm 

Small grains of black rice

 

Rainstorm

Violent, tumultuous

Freezing, pricking, soaking

Watery, storming, gentle, beautiful

Shining, arching, glimmering

Colorful, magical

Rainbow 

And these are some poems about Egyptian gods that I made for a Social Studies assignment a while back.

Geese sit atop his head

Earth is what he represents,

Bringing the birth of the world from an egg. 

(Geb, the Earth God)

Bastet

Catlike, musical

Hunting, smiling, purring

Feline, goddess, scary, hybrid

Devouring, killing, watching

Crocodilian, lionlike

Ammit The Devourer

 

Anubis is the god of embalming. 

He's called anything but calming.

 

He weighs dead ones' hearts

sending them to new starts. 

 

The first one is some variation of an acrostic, the second a diamonte, and the third a set of couplets. I got a good grade on it, but it may be the accompanying pictures I drew with the poems XD.  

submitted by Scylla
(January 6, 2016 - 7:26 pm)

Here's one I wrote. I think I showed it to you guys once, but I'm not sure.

A Perfect October Night

There is a sort of sensation

When we sit down next to the bonfire.

Cooking hot dogs,

Marshmallows,

Peach cobbler.

Feeling the warmth of the fire.

The coolness of the night air.

The stickiness of the marshmallow in my mouth.

The chatter of my family's voices.

And as I gaze at the stars,

The bright, twinkling stars hanging high above our heads,

I think about the future.

The future ahead of us,

With us not knowing what will happen.

But I know one thing for sure.

It's October.

And October is wonderful.

---

I tried submitting it for a Cricket poetry contest, but it was denied.  :/

submitted by Butterfly
(January 13, 2016 - 2:02 pm)

tip

top

gloop

pop

why stop?

Fine, I'll

Stop 

submitted by top
(January 13, 2016 - 2:04 pm)