Pick Three Poems, Write One.

One Night Past Forever

You laugh and her heart
skips a beat.
You smile and her body
begins to float.

Butterflies pick her up
and fly her to the sky.
Gleaming purple and pink,
the clouds float by her side.

You tease her when she trips,
and help her when she falls.
Assure her everything's alright and
dance into the darkness for she's
your little light.

She falls in love with you
and everything you are.
You hold her hand, fingers
laced together perfectly.
Never have two hands matched
up so well.
And you think to yourself,
this must be a sign.

Because everything is so perfect here,
the both of you together.
So why not make this moment last just
one night past forever.

Snow Day By: Billy Collins

Today we woke up to a revolution of snow,
its white flag waving over everything,
the landscape vanished,
not a single mouse to punctuate the blankness,
and beyond these windows

the government buildings smothered,
schools and libraries buried, the post office lost
under the noiseless drift,
the paths of trains softly blocked,
the world fallen under this falling.

In a while I will put on some boots
and step out like someone walking in water,
and the dog will porpoise through the drifts,
and I will shake a laden branch,
sending a cold shower down on us both.

But for now I am a willing prisoner in this house,
a sympathizer with the anarchic cause of snow.
I will make a pot of tea
and listen to the plastic radio on the counter,
as glad as anyone to hear the news

that the Kiddie Corner School is closed,
the Ding-Dong School, closed,
the All Aboard Children's School, closed,
the Hi-Ho Nursery School, closed,
along with -- some will be delighted to hear --

the Toadstool School, the Little School,
Little Sparrows Nursery School,
Little Stars Pre-School, Peas-and-Carrots Day School,
the Tom Thumb Child Center, all closed,
and -- clap your hands -- the Peanuts Play School.

So this is where the children hide all day,
These are the nests where they letter and draw,
where they put on their bright miniature jackets,
all darting and climbing and sliding,
all but the few girls whispering by the fence.

And now I am listening hard
in the grandiose silence of the snow,
trying to hear what those three girls are plotting,
what riot is afoot,
which small queen is about to be brought down.


Reflection-
This poem has a sense of pure joy and relaxation. The author talks about a snow day and how everyone is happy about it. I think that the voice the author is trying to portray is joy because he says "for now i am a willing prisoner in this house" which means that he is happy that there has been a snow day and he has a chance to relax. It sounds like he is happy to have a day of rest and believes that everyone else is also as you can tell from this line, "some will be delighted to hear" when he is naming off school closings. I know that he must be using a joyful voice because in my personal opinion, snow days are something to be happy about for most people and I know that I enjoy them.

Performance Poetry

1) What voice is apparent within your poem? Please describe in detail.
I think that the voice that is apparent within my poem is me being frustrated with how complicated things in life are, but then there's a sense of completion and relief for me in the end because I realize how easy the simple things are.

2) What type of mood will you try to express when performing your poem in front of the class?
I'm going to try an express a kind of confused and annoyed mood, but in the end there's going to be relief from the confusion because of one simple fact of love.

3) What types of gestures, nonverbals, and or movement will you be incorporating into your performance?
I'm probably going to move my hands around a lot in a confused way and i'm going to use quotes for the word relationship to empashise my annoyance.

4) What frightens you about this assignment? What seems exciting about this assignment?
I'm excited to see everyone else perform their poems because i'd like to see how they chose to express themselves. I'm afraid of being infront of the class and being crazy with my poem because obviously i don't want to be made fun of.

5) How does performance poetry enhance the meaning of a poem? Be specific.
Performance poetry enhances the meaning of a poem by really showing the listener how you feel through movement and almost getting them into the mood that you're trying to portray.


My life, complicated.
The way my mind works, complicated.
This "relationship", if you would
even call it that, complicated.
The way I feel about you, complicated.
Not because I don't know how I feel,
but rather I can't express it.
Being friends with you,complicated...
because such a level as friendship
is seemingly impossible for us.
The way you make my heart skip a beat
when you flash your brilliant smile at me,
complicated.
But being with you,
talking and laughing....
with you
like nothing ever went wrong...easy.