Election Hopes and New Poems

When we met Monday night, the young people were giddy with excitement about the upcoming election. They were also worried. Would Obama be elected only to be assassinated? Could change really happen? I am looking forward to hearing what the young people have to say next Monday, now that history has been made. I plan to share with them the following quotes, sent to me by friends.

A statement that shows how far we've come:

The first 26 Presidents could have OWNED the 44th.

And a poem of hope:

Rosa sat so Martin could march.

Martin marched so Barack could run.

Barack ran so our children can fly.

And now onto this week's poems.

I AM

by Lorzerrick Sheridan-King

I am cool.

I am hot chocolate.

I am think.

I am peaceful.

I am playful.

I am entertaining.

I am good.

I am good-hearted.

I am talented.

I am a child of God.

I am a boy that has more than ten brothers.

I AM

by Isaiah Dixon, age 11

I am bald-headed

tall for my age

chocolate caramel

brown-eyed.

I am loving

obedient

peaceful

talented.

I am a son

a brother

an uncle

a cousin.

I am Isaiah.

I AM

by Terena Dixon

I am black

beautiful

thick

tall.

I am intelligent

funny

goofy

talkative.

I am a child

young adult

daughter

female.

I am Terena.

Peace Poem

by Terena Dixon

Instead of hate, you could love.

Peace is when you

keep cool.

Peace is when there is

no violence.

Peace is when we

get along.

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Six-word Scary Stories

We've done six-word memoirs. Tonight the Dream Keepers wrote six-word scary stories. Read and enjoy! (Then write and submit your own in the comment field!) A vampire destroys the city with power. —Tramonta Garner (pictured above) One virus. One town. No survivors. —Jaimee Bogard-LaMar, 14 One girl. Many monsters. What's next? —Jaimee Bogard-LaMar, 14 Big zombie eats eyeballs. City blind. —Elisha Branch, 14 One house. One family. Both gone. —Elisha Branch, 14 Knock, knock. Who's there? Killer mysterious. —Derranesha, 12 Baby cries. No answer. What happens? —Derranesha, 12 Ring, ring. "Hello." Please help me. —April, 12 The spooky monster ran towards me ... —Sonya, 17 The worm crawls into the brain. —Sierra The slippery, slimy monster grabs two. —Quintoya Eskridge

Long Titles, Short Poems

Tonight the Dream Keepers tried to write short poems with long titles, an assignment from Dawn DiPrince's wonderful book Yoga For the Brain . Here's the example I wrote: What Happened when John decided to Do His Laundry the Old-Fashioned Way: with a Bar of Soap, a Rock, and a River. Threadbare Underwear. The assignment is harder than it sounds, and the Dream Keepers had a tough time with it. But they still came up with some good samples. Read their work, and then try writing your own! By Elly: What Elly Was Left with After She Ate A big Juicy Hamburger in Two Bites. Yummy Tummy. By Leroi: What the Owner Said When He Took His Pet to Meet the New Vet, who Already Had Met a Dog, a Frog, and a Bunch of Cats. Oh No. By Daquan: What Happened When I Took A Bone from a Dog Who Had Had It a Long Time. Fight. Bite. By Tierra: The clock stopped at 11 O'Clock. Tick Tock?

Write Now: Collect Words

--> Collect Words by Rochelle Melander My 9th grade English teacher loved the word garage. I didn't get it. For me, the word garage conjured up images of oil spots and old tools. She kept saying, "Listen to the sound, to how the word rolls off your tongue: garage." This morning as I walked the dog, her words came back to me. I muttered to myself, "Garage, garage, garage." More "g" words came to me: Garage. Gasoline. Gawk. Gorgeous. Gorgonzola. I said them aloud to the dog. He sniffed at the ground, ignoring me. But I kept going—I was finally appreciating the sound of the words, noticing how they felt as they rolled off my tongue. In Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge 's book Poemcrazy: Freeing Your Life WithWords , she dedicated a whole chapter to "collecting words and creating a wordpool." She says, "Words are lightweight, unbreakable, portable, and they're everywhere. You can even make them up. ... A w

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