Snow

Author's Note: I have been waiting forever for snow.  Today the snow finally stayed on the ground and kept on falling down.  I'm so excited and I felt like doing a open poem on it. I was working on word choice in the poem.  Please leave me feedback!

Peacefully
Falling, swaying, flying
Blissfully flowing in the breeze,
Sitting neatly on branches or rooftops,
Creating fluffy, white blankets on the ground,
Light and gentle, flowing down.

I Can Accomplish Anything I Try

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.

Looking at the Stars

Author's Note: I was looking up at the stars the other day.  The skies were perfectly clear and I felt like I could see the universe.  It was also so beautiful to see the twinkling stars.  I like writing about nature and things that stand out or are memorable to me so I decided to do a poem about stars.  I wrote a stream of consciousness about this and then I transformed it into an open form poem.  Please leave me feedback. 
 

Looking up to the bright, sparkling lights

that float right above. 

Filling the dark, night sky

like a billion diamonds.

Not a cloud,

clear - with only twinkling stars.

Remembering when I was little

and my mom showed me the

Big Dipper

Orion's Belt

Now that's all I see

One bright star

More radiant than any other

Puts a twinkle in my eye

Maybe it's no star

Maybe it's

Mars, Jupiter, or

a whole new world

I keep gazing into

the miles and miles

of open skies

Looking at the stars.

The Sounds of Music

Author's Note: I did a word association and something that constantly came up was music-related topics.  I decided to write simply about the sound of music.  I am a percussionist so each stanza will represent a different instrument in the percussion family.  I worked on incorporating onomatopoeias and a steady pattern through the entire piece.   I also chose related the sounds of the instruments to parts of nature.   Please leave me feedback. 

Peaceful

Like the whoosh of ocean waves

Crashing on the shores

Sending soothing sounds to my ear

Terrifying

Like the rustle of winds

Tearing through the land

Sending piercing sounds to my ear

Relaxing

Like the pitter-patter of raindrops

Falling on the windowpane 

Sending soothing sounds to my ear

Powerful

Like the boom of thunder

Clapping in the sky

Sending piercing sounds to my ear

Ashes

Author's Note: I just finished Catching Fire Suzanne Collins and I'm beginning the final Hunger Games book, Mockingjay.  This piece is titled "Ashes" because Katniss, the main character, was just taken out of the games and told that District Twelve, her home, has been destroyed by bombs and flames.

I walk

On

what used to be life on earth

Into

the dark cloud of dust and smoke

Upon

the rocky rubble and destroyed belongings

Through

the abandoned city where only silence stays

Now I weep and mourn over

All lives taken

All houses destroyed

All happiness captured

Everything I once had

Gone

Now and forever

all that's left -

Ashes

Cross Country 2011

Author's Note: Cross country ended a couple weeks ago and it was a very special experience for me.  I just felt like writing about my experience running at those meets.  In this piece I am taking my perspective from the second meet at Grant Park right at Lake Michigan.  It was my favorite race of them all.  I'm writing this piece as if I wrote while I ran the race, that is all except for my last paragraph which was a reflection on my experience.  Please leave me some feedback.  Thanks!

Thirty seconds!  We all get down into start position.  We are all shivering of the cold weather and nervousness running through us.  I feel like everyone can hear my heart vigorously beat.  I'm so nervous.  Ten!  Nine!  Eight!  Seven!  Six!  Five!  Silence.  BOOM!  We all charge forward, giving ninety to one hundred percent if we can.  I'm stuck in the middle of everyone, but I'm fine there.  I can't waste my energy at the beginning... I still have over 1.8 miles to go. 

We all run in a giant pack and turn into the woods.  I can already feel myself begin to pant.  Slowly I get on the inside and start to pass some people.  I keep on looking down at the ground and try to keep complete concentration.  The path has hills, turns, rocks, sticks, and hundreds of feet pounding down on it. Everyone is gradually breaking apart.  I can see some of my own teammates really close to the front whereas I'm still near the middle.  I keep on thinking that I'm going to do worse than the last race by the amount of runners in front of me.  Trying the best I could, I push myself to go a little bit faster and pass somebody.  Every hill there is, I will take very long strides.  I must look like a weirdo, I feel so odd running with such a large stride, but I pass a whole group of runners by doing that.  I'll take every chance I get to try to get ahead.

As I run, I'm almost distracted by the scenery of our running course.  We run through this beautiful wooded area where there are bridges, pebble paths, arch-like trees, hills, and a refreshing breeze. Then we switch off to grass, a road, grass, and then back into the woods in a short amount of time.  I don't know why but the feeling of running on rugged grounds really interests me and I enjoy it.  I find the paths so adventurous and scenic. 

I can hear people heavily breathing behind me and that really irritates me so I try to run faster and get away.  Then there's also some people who start walking and I really want to tell them that they can do it and keep on going, but I just keep on running ahead.  Gradually we get higher and higher above, but I barely notice it until we are running right on the cliff of Lake Michigan.  The race has only a little distance left to go. 

I am starting to hear people cheer again, it means I'm closer to the finish.  I sprint down the hill, remembering to take long strides.  As I get back on the grass where we started, I give everything I have left and sprint all the way into the finishing chute.  It's my last chance to pass anyone.  Coaches are screaming to the other runners, "Sprint, go!  She's right behind you!"  The runner in front of me turns around, and that slows her down.  I pass her and I'm done!  I'm panting and completely out of breath, but when they give me my place card I feel so much better - thirty seventh place!  I improved eleven places from my the meet before, and I'm so proud of myself.  I only wish that my parents could have seen me run so I go to call them to talk about the race.

I never thought that I could run long distance.  Before the summer of 2011, I would have never bothered to try running two miles, let alone 1.5 miles, I simply thought I couldn't do it.   Though I'm not amazing, I'm glad I did the best that I could and tried to do something that pushes me to work harder.  Cross country was a very valuable experience for me that I hope to keep with me forever.

(I don't have a ribbon from the Grant Park Invite.)

Tomorrow Begins a New Day

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

The Whole Picture

Author's Note:  I love looking at pictures on National Geographic and I found this one.  It's beautiful and I love way and time that this pictures was taken.  The reflection of the mountain on the lake is amazing and the colors in the sky at sunrise are so radiant.  In this poem I'm working on a better description for the picture. 

Matterhorn

The sun just begins to rise above

the horizon

Sending beams of pink, blue, and purple

in the sky

The majestic mountain stands tall

on the lake

Snow-capped, broad, powerful

like the kings land

The lake shimmers like diamonds

as it sits still

Looking out I see a mirror, reflecting

the sunrise, mountain,

and the sum of its parts

Perspective

Author's Note: I found the picture below on National Geographic.  When I saw this picture I thought it was a black bird with a yellow beak and legs and it was flying above a sidewalk with rose petals.  I showed it to Ashton and she thought it looked like a biker, I didn't see that.  The picture is called Cyclist, Dublin.  It really made me think about the perspective of things and how everyone will see something different.  

 Perspective

Clouds, I may see

A bunny

You may see

A tree

Point of view

Gives different meaning

To a story,

 a picture,

a scene

It makes the everybody, everything

Unique

A scribble to me

Can be art to you

Shadows

Either a bird or a plane

Perspective
Makes everything special in
a different way
And shows the world in
a million views

Mount Rainier

Author's Note: I felt like doing a short poem so I decided to do a haiku.  A haiku is a poem usually about nature and the lines are five, seven, and five syllables.  I like to go on National Geographic and look at the nature pictures for ideas. 

Mount Rainier Seattle, WA

Great, snow-capped mountains

Blossomed flowers, swaying grass

A picturesque scene