The Collected Works Project: 826DC and KIPP Team Up for Micro-Poems (cont'd)

For the last four weeks of the school year, 826DC volunteers have worked with Ms. Lerenman’s seventh graders at KIPP Key Academy to write and produce chapbooks that feature an array of short poems that range from Declaration of Independence-style poems to pantoums about food. Below are some samples. Enjoy.




James Glenn

The halls so packed it packed a punch
The punch Joe did to Ali
The halls so quiet
The sound of bell is heard

The punch Joe did to Ali
Teachers yell so much the faces go boom
The sound of hell is heard
The hall rings when the bell rings

Teachers yell so much the faces go boom
Stomping and ringing and talking and ching
The hall rings when the bell ting
Tick tock goes the clock

Stomping and running and cling and tinging
Here the pool
Tick tock goes the clock
No school

***

Lloyd Wallace

I walk to school saying
“I don’t want to be here!”
too much drama, yelling, and boredness
but good things come out of it

“I don’t want to be here!”
now we are in P.E. class
But good things come out of it
Getting stronger and healthier

Now we are in P.E. class
Playing Basketball
Getting stronger and healthier
There are many good and bad things in school

Playing Basketball
Making and blocking shots
There are many good and bad things in school
The big good thing is my education and I want that!

***

William Sweeney

Walking down the hall
Step by step
Getting some water
Proving my rep

Step by step
On my way to class
Proving my rep
Looking through the glass

On my way to class
Thinking about work
Looking through the glass
With a bag filled with mass

Thinking about work
Thinking about my day
With a bag filled with mass
Finally, got to class

***

Anthony Winslow

Fried chicken is
Terrific, especially when my
Mother makes it. I like
Lemon pepper, fish fry, season
Salt and cooking grease to
Cook mines. When I
eat fried chicken, I like
To have mixed vegetables
And corn bread or dinner
Rolls with mines. Also,
I like to have raspberry
Tea as my beverage
To wash the delicious
Meal down.

***

Donte Clayton

I hold these truths to be self-evident. That
Clowns are creepy people. That homework
Shouldn’t have been discovered. That KFC
Mac and cheese is the only good mac and cheese.
That Abraham Lincoln was a push over.
That George Bush messed up the economy
On purpose before he left office. That
Pepperoni pizza will always be the best
Food. That the new border law is racist.
That people will try to convince you that
You will fail and that you are wrong.

***

Jasmine Graham

The loud sounds in the hallway
Crowded as time goes by
I feel like I’m in a race
Getting pushed side by side

Crowded as time goes by
I feel so claustrophobic
Getting pushed side by side
I feel like I’m in the aerobics

I feel so claustrophobic
I can barely breathe
I feel like I’m in the aerobics
Waiting as time goes by

I can barely breathe
No time to please
Waiting as time goes by
Where’s my ride?

***

Antwahn Harris

My world is crazy with lots of people
Who are lazy with lots of teens having
Babies with me saying maybe Earth is
The best place to live. Maybe its just
A very dumb topic but at least
I have fun eating Hot Pockets and
Eating candy. Just like American Idol’s
Randy. The world is so fun, full with
Kids, full with bibs, full with teens, full
With people of many many different genes,
Full with adults, full with stacks of money
And bucks, full with love, full with hugs,
Full with life there’s no need to say
This twice.

***

Asha Lockett

I hate school lunch.
It is nasty. It
Is artificial edible foods. It
Tastes nasty and it is never
Really fully cooked. The chicken
Was not cooked well at lunch.
It was a little pink inside
But I love the French fries.
They French fries are
The only good thing
At lunch today. I love
French fries. French fries.
Are French fries French
Or are they Frenchie?
I do not know. How
Do you know when food is
done? Its burnt.

***

Makaila Thomas

I hold these truths to be
Self-evident, that everybody
Is different. That people have
Different ideas. That people
Have opinions. That without
Food or water we will die.
That some people are fake
And others are not. That
My family is more important
Than my education. That life
Is short for some people.
That heaven is a beautiful
Place. That the world might or
Might not come to an end. That
Animals are dying. That if we
Keep cutting down the trees
Or forests more animals will
Die or may become extinct. That
Pollution is bad for the environment.
That the government is losing
Money. That the tax rate
Just went up. That some
people are in a recession. That
People are losing money.