Group Poetry

January 4, 2012

D-oL-Ph--In by Mai Vo


Author's Note: Mr. Johnson and I did another poem imitating E.E. Cumming's r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r.  It was very difficult to decipher what the original poem said and then try to do a poem with the same concept.  Please leave me feedback.  Good luck reading.

D-oL-Ph--In

                                                Rs

                                a

                O            

S                                   (through)

t(water)he

    P     a    h   n                    up

s      L     s    I     g                  -

                                             ---

                                            -----       

                                          -------

and                                ----------

                                         --------

                                            -----

                                              ---

                                                -

                                          Down

and

SURFACE

          com(to the)ing

to

                                                                y

                                                a

                                r             

                p            

s

w (in) a t e (the) r

                                                I

A                                                                                             R            

r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r by E.E.Cummings

    
    r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r
                      who
  a)s w(e loo)k
  upnowgath
                  PPEGORHRASS
                                        eringint(o-
  aThe):l
             eA
                 !p:
S                                                         a
                          (r
  rIvInG                         .gRrEaPsPhOs)
                                                         to
  rea(be)rran(com)gi(e)ngly
  ,grasshopper;

December 14, 2011

The Porch by Mai Vo 

Author's Note: This is another poem that I am working on with Mr. Johnson.  We chose to imitate The Pasture by Robert Frost.  We changed the mode to comedy but we stuck with the same structure.  Please leave me some feedback.

The Pasture by Robert Frost

I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan't be gone long.—You come too.

I'm going out to fetch the little calf;
That's standing by the mother. It's so young,
It totters when she licks it with her tongue.
I shan't be gone long.—You come too.

The Porch by Mai Vo

I'm going out to sit on the swing;
I will peacefully sway from here to there
(And looking at the world for which I care):
I watch the sun rise. -- You come too.

I'm going out to take a nice stroll;
I will feel the wind and sun on my face,
Such a wonderful feeling to embrace.
I watch the sun rise. -- You come too.

December 3, 2011

I Can Accomplish Anything I Try by Mai Vo

Author's Note: Mr. Johnson and I are beginning to work on a different way of poetry together.  For our first one, we are doing a parallel poem to When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer by Walt Whitman.  I made a couple of attempts to write this poem.  I also learned that I tend to rush when working and my following try will always be better than my first.  

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer by Walt Whitman

When I heard the learn’d astronomer,
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me,
When I was shown the charts and diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them,
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer where he lectured with much applause in the
lecture-room,
How soon unaccountable I became tired and sick,
Till rising and gliding out I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.

I Can Accomplish Anything I Try by Mai Vo

Before I bothered to try,
Before the lessons, and accidents just waiting to happen,
Before I tolerated the snow, the cold, and the fears of going down,
Before I listened to everyone where they spoke about the thrill and the adventures on the
rugged slopes,
How soon, unbelievable, I felt victory and excitement,
Again, rising and beginning at the summit,
Then looking down and imagining what I can accomplish,
Letting go, and gliding to the base.

October 31, 2011

Tomorrow Begins a New Day by Mai Vo

Author's Note: In book club we are partially focusing on poetry.  We started simple and read Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay.  Then we went over the mode, theme, and symbolism and any questions about the poem.  We were challenged to write a poem parallel to Robert Frost's but with different mode, theme, and symbolism.  I thought that this was somewhat difficult but with some help I managed to write one. 

Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost

Nature's first green is cold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her first leaf's a flower,
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Tomorrow Begins a New Day by Mai Vo

Death’s last breath is slow
Something so soon to go
Snow will peacefully fall
With no other sound at all
Then darkness struck by light
Reveals a starry night
Death - cold, still and grey --
Tomorrow begins a new day