A Sampling of Student Poems

Untitled
Ana Reynoso

Yo soy un lápiz porque
cuando me guardan en
mi caja junto con mis
demás compañeros, ahí
esta muy frío y las
crayolas se enojan porque
nos mueven mucho.
A mi, cuando me agarran,
siento como si me
estuvieran comiendo, y
cuando me sacan
punta, nada mas es
como si me estuvieran
quitando la ropa.


I am a pencil because
when they put me
in my box along with
my companions, there
it is cold and the
crayons grow angry
because they move us too much.
To me, when they grab me,
I feel as if
they were eating me, and
when they sharpen
my tip, it’s only as if
they were disrobing me.

(Translated into English by poet Helena Mesa)

.Ten Little Likenesses
Brittany A.

1. The wind blows the
trees like a mean
monster ready to attack.

2. The tree moves so
slow and silently like
a predator about to
attack its prey.

3. Then the tree stays so
still so silent like a gigantic, terrifying brown
monster about to get
caught

Untitled
Lettye B.

The leaves on the ground
soar in the air just
like the birds flying in
the sky.

The leaves fly as fast
as the birds in the
air.

The bird makes a
sound but the
leaves just move

Clouds
Nikolas G.

1. The clouds are
as soft as the
marshmallows on my
s’more.

2. seven clouds
in the sky look like
seven bunnies
eating French fries.

3. louds are like
my pillow at night after
a hard day.

Untitled
Andrew G.


1. Grass is like green
licorice sticking
out of the
ground in
the summer

2. Marshmallows are
like little
delicious
clouds with
lots of sugar

3. An ocean is like
the sky with
fishes swimming
just like
birds

Goldilocks
Paige M.

I remember when I
was walking into the woods
I saw a cottage. I smelled a
terrific smell coming out of
the cottage. I went inside. I was
scared then because I saw
dead animals on the walls.
I was tired, so I went upstairs.
When I woke up I didn’t
see anything so I lay back down.
Then, I woke up and saw
3 angry bears. I tried to run
so I got out of bed and
I ran, but the papabear
caught me and I was supper
for the 3 bears.
The End

Gingerbread Man
Henry S.

I am scared because everybody is chasing me. Before I was being chased, they were all staring at me funny. They started to lick their lips as soon as I looked at them. They started to follow me, but as soon as I started to run, they came at me with pitchforks and torches. I am a very slow runner. They caught me very quickly and ate me right away.

Scooby Doo: Solving a mystery….
Michael S.

I am brown and furry.
I am looking for clues.
As I look for clues with Shaggy,
I find the monster but do not catch him.
Shaggy and I go tell the others,
“We saw the monster, we saw the monster!”
Fred says, “Well, let’s go get ‘em, gang.”
But when we find the monster, we can’t find Daphne.
We finally catch the monster, but still no sign of Daphne.
When we unmask the monster, we find out it’s Daphne.

Untitled
Brittany D.

A fish is as
light as a feather
swirling with
things around them.

A bee chasing
a person
like a paper
flying in the air
going against the current.

A girl screaming
like a
bird singing.

Untitled
Gylas E.


1. Birds sing
like wind with
a tune.

2. Stones are thrown
down the stream

like owls sweep down
for their prey.

3. A boy swings his bat
like a cat with a ball.

Little Likenesses
Nicholas J.


1. The river
flows
down like
a race
car winning
a race.

2. Black bears
are as
big as
the
Sears Tower.

3. The stripes
on my
shirt are
just like
the flag
of our country.

Untitled
Gabriel J.

A train chu-chus down the rail quickly
like a warning coming right at you.

The bouncy ball bounces and shakes
like a terrible earthquake.

The whining baby wanting a rattle
whines like a hungry dog.

Poems of Apology

Last week, students wrote short-lined poems of "near-apology," inspired by William Carlos Williams' poem, "This is just to say."

April 4, 2008
Henry Clay, Room 301
Mrs. Jacobsen, 6th Grade

Sorry!
Selena R.

I have messed-up
your shirt
that was
in the washing machine

and which
you were
planning
to wear

I’m sorry
It’s that
you look
so funny
in the color pink

**
last peace of my hamburger
Christian V.

I ate the
last the
last peace

of my hamburger
it was so
sad it had
tomato, onions

and all the
great tste
of the

the last
peace I miss
my peace
I was crying

**
This is just to say
Richard S.

I have eaten
the Last
cinnamon roll in
the oven

I was clueless
that it
was yours, I
was consumed

in the soft
warm buttery
taste in
my mouth that

could not
stop chewing
I am truthfully
very sorry

**
Sorry
Jessella B.

I have eaten
the last
slice of
pizza

at Little
Casesar’s
It was
the last

good slice
It was
juicy I am
so sorry I ate
the last piece
of pizza.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Room 302
Ms. Summers, Grade 6

Money
Andrew B.

I spent
my friend’s $6.00
that he left at
my house.

he was probably
saving it to buy
something nice
and fun to play
with.

I feel sorry
for spending it
but I bought
some candy
it was delicious
chewy and blue.

**
Secretly Glad/Last Piece of Pizza
Faddy H.

It was that last piece of pizza
It was so good and irresistible
I couldn’t help myself
but just to take it
I regret it but how could you
say no to a piece
of pizza

I am sorry for the
wrong thing that I have done
It was so gooooood.
I’m sorry
I’m sorry

**
Secretly Glad
Jovani S.

I have eaten
your last 2 cookies
that were in
your doggy treat bag

I know
you have been
working very hard
for them by being a
good doggy

I’m sorry but
they were so
crunchy and
munchy and
delicious

**
Sandwich
Henry S.

I’m sorry that
I ate your
sandwich that
was on the
counter

It was staring
right at me
I could not
hold my self
back

when I bit
into it, it
was so good
I tasted so
many flavors
of joy

**
All out of socks
Eelso R.

Sorry for what
I have done
what I did
I had no choice
My drawer was empty
I was all out of socks

I know you had
that “big” soccer game
but it isn’t my fault
I was all out of socks

I have told my mom
I am all out of socks
and you have told me
more than 3 tjmes
stop using your socks
even when
I’m all out of socks

**
I’m sorry for eating your sandwich!
Brittany A.

I’m sorry
I have eaten
the other half
of your subway sandwich
that was in
the fridge

You probably were
saving it for
a midnight
snack

I’m sorry
but it was
sitting there
lonely and
cold and
needed my
stomach as
a friend
but partly it’s
your fault you
shouldn’t leave
a sandwich
alone.

**
Sorry
Kayla K.

I have beaten you
again
at the game
of Sorry

and which
you bet $10
you would
win

Forgive me
The victory
so sweet
especially when it’s worth

$10

**
Secretly Glad
Emilia A.

I just ate
the sandwich
you made for
your lunch tomorrow

while I was eating it,
I remembered what you said,
“Don’t even touch my sandwich!”
I felt very guilty inside

So, I apologize for
eating your delicious
honey mustard and whole wheat bread
sandwich with the delicious
tasty honey ham and swiss cheese
and the crisp, fresh, green lettuce
and red grape tomatoes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Room 303
Mrs. Patton, Grade 6

The Apology
Gabriel J.

I ran over
your doll
that was in
your room

and which
you really loved
so
much

Forgive me
she was so
talkative and
screamed a lot

**
I want you to know
Gylas E.

I had fallen asleep
after you left.
The chicken was in
the oven.

While I rested it
had burned to
a crisp.

I’m sorry to say
but I was too late
and now the oven
is broken.

**
I’m Sorry
Melaney F.

for taking your mp3 player
without even asking
I love your taste in music

I really enjoyed listening to all the songs
especially the rock songs

I feel a bit bad that I didn’t tell you
I also forgot to
tell you that
I downloaded a few songs
to your mps player

Hope you don’t get too mad
and hope you like the
other songs.

**
Untitled
Marc Antony S.

Sorry I copied
that answer
on the home
work assignment

which you
took 3 hours
looking for
and studying it.

But hey
I got
the right
answers.

**
Sorry
Joshlyn M.

I’m sorry
I wore your
favorite grey
shirt

It looked so
nice on me
with my blue
jeans

I’m so sorry
it was so
pretty and
so warm

Becoming an Object... (Dramatic Monologues)

Working individually, students chose to "become" ordinary objects...

***Room 301***

Uriel O.

I live in a pencil case.
My friends are paper. My enemies are
the sharpener and the eraser. I feel
tall and thin. I hate when
people sharpen me. I get smaller
each day. I smell like lead.

title: I am a pencil
*********************************

Emmanuel C.

I am a book of science
I live in a desk
My friend is the dictionary
And my enemy is the comic book
I feel smart
I help people study
*********************************

Christian V.

I feel great.
I see more clearly.
I live in a store.
My friends are other pairs
of glasses.
My enemies are girly glasses.

title: I am a pair of glasses
*********************************

Fayez N.

I am a watermelon that lives in
Pete’s fresh food

I stay all day long in shelves that water
us every hour

Sometimes it gets lonely just sitting there
but thank god I have friends

My friends are broccoli, tomato and salad

They are very fun friends. Without them
I do not know what I would do

they are very healthy too

We are not always happy because
some creepy things come and buy us

like the time we lost potato head
we were all so sad

no matter what happens we will never forget
potato head

title: I am a watermelon
*********************************

Alejandra A.

I live in a desk that is all crowded.

My friend is the paper.

My enemy is the white-out because it
erases my beautiful ink.

I’m a pen that writes on paper.

I taste like ink.

I smell like ink.

title: I am a pen
*********************************

Andrew G.

I am smaller than the others and more colorful
too. I am every color of the rainbow while
the others are black and brown.
I get pushed on all day as my teeth
fall out and they put new ones in.
I don’t like getting my teeth pushed out,
but I feel more sorry for the paper.

title: I am a Stapler
*********************************

Richard S.

I make beats.
People become famous
when they play me.
I made Ozzy Osbourn
who he is today.

title: I am a Guitar
*********************************

Xochitl G.

I’m shiny as a sun.
I cut all kinds of food.
I feel hard and sharpy.
I smell sometimes good and sometimes bad.
When they use me, I hear hard cuts or soft cuts.
My friends are the knives. My enemies
are the spoons and forks. I live in a drawer
with my friends the knives.

title: I am a Knife
*********************************

Jessella B.

I am…

I am a board.
I ‘ve gotten written on
and erased. I am
flat and green. I see
people writing on me.
My friends are the erasers and
chalk. I live in the school.
I am choking. I smell
dust. I feel angry
because I don’t like
to be written on and get dusty.
*********************************

Selena R.

I am a piece of chalk that gets used each day.
I feel like I get shorter each day.
I help students by writing notes.
I live in a dull, dark box.
I get a bit dusty.
I get dizzy when they hold me.
I hear all the students’ giggles.
I have an enemy called water.
I have an enemy called eraser.
I battle hard so my work won’t wash
away or I won't get killed by waves of water.

title: I am a piece of chalk
*********************************

Monica A.

I live in a pencil case.
I don’t play. I have friends.
My friends are the crayons
and pencils, but my enemies
are a chalkboard and
stapler. The sharpener
and eraser are my best
friends because they
take care of me.
When my owner
holds me, it tickles.
When they throw me,
I get hurt.

title: I am a pen
*********************************

Jonathan D.

I write black. I see a paper. I see lots
of kids doing their work. I smell like
ink. I taste not so good, so do not try to eat me, ok?
I feel happy because I am helping a girl.
I am very happy to help a girl. My friend is
Edwin. He is a pen too, like me. I write words.
It hurts me when the girl writes fast. I like being
a pen. I live in a box with my friend Edwin.
The pencil is my #1 enemy.

title: I am a pen
*********************************

Janely P.

Kids write with me. I talk to my pencil friend and
my paper friend and my eraser.
I feel happy because they use me every day.
The kids play with me every day. The kids write
with me. I make words with my lead. I livein a pencil box
with my friends and my enemies. My friends are pens,
other pencils, and colored pencils. My enemy is the
sharpener. They waste me with the sharpener.
I smell like lead. I taste like lead.

title: I am a pencil
*********************************

Edwin G.

I am an object. People use me. Every day
I feel tired. Every day they waste my energy.
I live in a pencil pouch. It is dark and cold.
One of my friends is a pair of scissors.
My biggest enemy is a paper.
People always use me to sign or write something.
My life is very miserable.

title: I am a pen

***Room 302***

Andrew B.

I sit in a basement or sometimes
a pantry. Humans like to
feed me clothes and I drink soap.
I don’t have many friends but
I have one; he is a dryer or maybe
sometimes a sink. I do not
have enemies because no body
messes with me. I look like
a square metal box with a
window. Clothes spin round and
round inside of me. I
don’t like when humans take
my food but I usually get
more later. I make a loud
humming noise. I fear the
dark. I sort of like what
I do. I hear only myself
or people talking. When I
have nobody to talk to, I
get lonely. I am a washing machine.

title: I am a washing machine.
*********************************

Emilia A.

I’m a pink rectangle
Sometimes I have scents
Sometimes I just smell like rubber
My job is to get rid of people’s mistakes
I fear getting used a lot and becoming smaller
I feel smooth and rubbery
I am quite soundless
I usually live in book bags, in desks,
and sometimes I live in the top of pencils
My job sometimes makes me feel very sore
My best friends are other erasers
My enemies are mistakes
I am gripped tightly and moved side to side
My edges become black when I am often used

title: I am an eraser
*********************************

Emanuel D.

I have 39 buttons on me. People use
me every day in math class. I live
in a desk. I fear fingers. My friends
are Mr. Pen and Mrs. Yellowcrayon.
People lift me every day. I’m not afraid
of heights. I’m good for sixth graders.
I’m sure they like me too. The only bad
thing is when it’s dark. My friend zero
goes to sleep because I work solar powered.
There is no doubt in my mind that I’m going
to be here for another school year.

title: I am a calculator
*********************************

Jessica R.

I am big and thick
I have more than 100 words inside of me
I get picked out to read
You can find me in the library
You could look for research in me
I mostly sit in a bookshelf
My cover feels hard like a rock
I hate it when kids shove me where-
ever they want
Without me you wouldn’t know
everything you know today
I know everything in the world
My enemies are computers
I am a dictionary

title: I am a dictionary
*********************************
Justin F.

I am hot and cold
I am clear and wet

My enemy is a mouth
My friend is a faucet.

The noise I make is drip, drip, drip.
The noise I hear is footsteps

I live in a kitchen.
I taste plain

I talk to a faucet
I feel just fine except when
someone drinks me

I am not used that much
because people drink all that
Kool-Aid and stuff

title: I am water
*********************************

Faddy H.

I am a ragged old shoe
I am ripped
I smell like feet
I am in pain 24/7
A human’s foot in me
They move me all day long
In winter, I am cold, and I have snow on me
In fall I am soggy and wet
In summer I am sweaty
In spring, it is just my season
At night the human kicks me in the corner
Loudly as can be
I wait until morning
and then it happens to me again and again, and again

I am a shoe.

title: I am a sneaker shoe
*********************************

Gabriel B.

I am a deodorant bar. Old Spice. I live in a
bathroom cabinet. I sit next to many lotions
and razors. I sit there all day waiting
for someone to take a bath. I am usually
used after a bath or a trip from
the gym. When they use me, all I see are
hairy armpits. When I touch the skin
it will either smell like good shampoo or
sweat. My greatest enemy is Tag the
deodorant. Tag is usually more used
than me. My own is always in the
gym getting buffed up. I just wiat
for him here in the bathroom
cabinet. I can’t wait ‘til he gets
home to use me.
*********************************

Henry S.

I have yellow hair and I have different
colored bodies. I am mostly upside down
all day. They always use my hair to
clean the floor. My hair is always dirty
when they put me back. I do have
to say it does tickle very much.
My fear is they leave me in the corner,
but my best friend dustpan is always
there to cheer me up. They’re always
shoving dirt in his mouth.

title: I am… a broom

***Room 303***

Allison B.

I have lots of numbers.
I am square. I am
angry because I’m always
getting hit with a finger.
I have a screen. My
friends are the stapler and
pen. I am used
in math class.

title: I am a calculator.
*********************************

Edmundo C.

I am a red and white skateboard
I feel bumps through my wheels
My bottom skin scrapes off when I grind

I pop into the air
When I land on the floor
You hear a big CRACK!
I am no more.

title: I am a skateboard
*********************************

Aaron C.

I am made of a tree.

They paint me with lines.

I do not like scissors.

My friends are pen and pencil.

I do not like when people throw
me away.

I get used in math class.

title: I am a piece of paper
*********************************
Gylas E.

I am protecting these

words in me.

I hate the ones who

read me. I have only one

friend, that is the pen.

I live in a pillowcase

in a room; it’s pink and

blue. It smells like perfume.

The one who writes in

me gave me a job:

to protect these words.

There’s a lock on me.

It’s always closed.

I am a very secret book.
*********************************

Brittany D.

My enemy is a mouth
and stomach at the beginning of the day
people eat me from day to day
till I’m gone I go away
My friends are boxes of Raisin Bran
and mashed potatoes
I live in people’s homes
that like my taste and
throw me away when I’m done
I’m eaten plain and with milk
I feel crunchy and milky
I’m eaten out of a bowl
I’m sometimes wasted, from
time to time, and sometimes
eaten all the way with milk
going with me
I look like a bowl
with colorful pieces of art painted
beautifully

title: I am a box of Cap'n Crunch
*********************************

Brianna A.

I am long and wooden
and sometimes full of
color. I also have wheels.
I look like I can be
a bus for a mouse.
My only friend is a foot
because we just always stick together.
My home is outside where
I roll down the street.
Most boys use me. With
all that weight, I feel like
I’m going to crack in half.

title: I am a skateboard
*********************************

Melissa Z.

I live in a pencil box or pencil case.
I am sharp and pointy from my ends.
My best friend is glue. We always
work together. I get angry when
people say I’m dangerous. I cut
and my friend glue pastes. We
make a good team. If you ever were
to lick me, I think I’d taste like metal.

title: I am a pair of scissors
*********************************

Alejandro R.

I am a clock. I am mad at
the only enemy I have, the blue
magnet. I hang all day here
up top and I go tick tock. My only
friends are the chalkboard and
the chalk. I am a clock.
I go tick tock. I love
the view…