WHY DOES THIS POEM HAVE TO END? is a collection of poetry by fourth graders at John Muir Elementary School who, with the generous funding of California Poets in the Schools, wrote poetry under the tutelage of Whoa Nelly Press co-founder Margo Perin. Classroom teacher Ms. Liebert, one of the finest teachers in San Francisco with her quiet yet insistent belief in superior education for all children, welcomed Margo to lead her students into an exploration of their feelings and imaginations. Ms. Carter, her teacher in training, significantly contributed to the warm, supportive environment in which the children wrote and performed their poems.
LOVE AND HATE
Inspired by Roger McGough’s “In Two Minds”
What I love about Lea is her smile
What I hate about her smile is that it disappears
What I love about disappears is when I’m all done
with my beans I don’t have to eat anymore
What I hate about beans is that beans have no flavor
What I love about flavor is the flavor of ice cream
What I hate about ice cream is some of the flavors like caramel are too sweet
What I love about sweet is candy!
What I hate about candy is it messes up your smile
-- Carolina
What I love about my sister is when she takes me to the mall
What I hate about the mall is the people
What I love about people is I can talk to them
What I hate about talking is sometimes I don’t want to hear them
What I love about not hearing them is their squeaky or deep voice
What I hate about not hearing them is they might be saying something important
-- Kozera
What I love about struddles is the softness and jelly
What I hate about jelly is the stickiness
What I love about stickiness is that you can wash it off
What I hate about off is that nothing is on me
What I love about me is I always stay a leader
What I hate about leading is when I lead people follow
What I love about followers is they give me compliments
What I hate about compliments is they talk too much sarcasm
What I love about sarcasm is I get to clown
What I hate about clowning is they do it back
What I hate about struddles is the softness and jelly
-- Alisha
What I love about family is my siblings
What I hate about siblings is they go into your room and touch your stuff
What I love about my stuff is that it is always sparkly and glittery
What I hate about glittery is it gets everywhere
What I love about everywhere is that there are many places that you can go
What I hate about go is people kick you out of things
What I love about things is my siblings
-- Jaleya
What I love about soccer is goals
What I hate about goals is outside
What I love about baseball is home runs
What I hate about home runs is when the bat gets ripped
What I love about bikes is that you can see what you want to see
What I hate about bikes is traffic lights
What I love about swimming is swimming in water cold
What I hate about swimming in water cold is swimming in water hot
What I love about big time rush is that it is fun
What I hate about big time rush is song
-- Jonatan
What I love about basketball is scoring
What I hate about basketball is goal finding
What I love about goal finding is it still counts as a block
What I hate about blocking is they other team gets the points
What I love about points is when the game is over whoever had the most points wins
What I hate about winning is the crowd goes wild
-- Jayden
What I love about soccer is goals
What I hate about goals is the noise
What I love about noise is the celebration
What I hate about the celebration is that it goes crazy
What I love about crazy is the referee makes the game start
What I hate about making the game start is that it starts
-- Jhoany
AND HOW TERRIFIC IT IS
Inspired by “Poem Beginning with a Line by Frank Lima” by Lisa Jarnot
And how terrific it is to have a best friend
in your life
And how terrific it is to have on Jordans that
cost a lot of money
And how terrific it is to have a sister
that loves you and cares about you
And how terrific it is to wear earmuffs on your ears
to warm you up when it’s cold And how terrific
it is that family put you up with you and you do something
good in life
And how terrific it is to have a cousin
that’s always by your side
And how terrific it is to have a bed to
sleep on And how terrific
it is to have a warm sweater when
it’s below 15 degrees outside
And how terrific it is to have a book
in your hand And how terrific it is to be me
-- Kozera
And how terrific it is to play sports
And how terrific it is to read a poem
And how terrific it is that I have a beautiful hairstyle
And how terrific it is to ride a bike
And how terrific it is to come to school
And how terrific it is to wake up when you come to school
And how terrific it is to play with your friends
And how terrific it is to play in the play station
And how terrific it is to do Math
And how terrific it is to kick a ball high
And how terrific it is to eat meat, chismol and rice
And how terrific it is to go to the cinema
And how terrific it is to play soccer
And how terrific it is to swim
And how terrific it is to be in a soccer team
-- Jonatan
How terrific it is to have Ms. Liebert as a teacher
How terrific it is for her to watch us learn
How terrific it is for me and my classmates to give her a hug
How terrific it is to see my friends every day at school
And how terrific it is to learn with Ms. Liebert
-- Brayon
And how terrific it is to
watch sports in your home
sweet home and how terrific
it is to play with friends and
talk with them and how terrific
it is to lay in bed and sleep and
how terrific it is to spend time
with your family and how terrific
it is to eat Mexican food like
tamales, panachos, empanadas, and
how terrific it is to have your
cousins come over and how
terrific it is to see Mexico
and how terrific it is to go
to the park and do exercise
and have terrific it is to be
Mexican
-- Jhoany
And how terrific it is to learn poetry in
class with classmates
And how terrific it is to spend time
with family
And how terrific it is to go to my afterschool
program
And how terrific it is to have a
family to take care of me and buy
me food and how terrific
it is to have a good poet named
Ms. Margo and a teacher named Ms. Liebert
and a student teacher named Ms. Carter
And how terrific it is to read
books like Tales of Despereaux and
how terrific
it is to have friends and play
outside
-- Jaleya
And how terrific it is to see my baby niece sleeping and
how terrific it is to eat ice cream and how terrific
it is to wake up late on the weekend and how terrific it is
to eat warm brownies and how terrific it is to write
poems and how terrific it is to have wi-fi and how
terrific it is to come to school to learn and how terrific it is
to read good books and how terrific it is to take a warm, nice bath
and how terrific it is to have nice teachers and how terrific
it is to buy new shoes and how terrific it is to go shopping
and smell the good hand sanitizer and how terrific
it is to have dinner with my family and how terrific it is
to celebrate Christmas and how terrific it is
to eat burger king
-- Carolina
And how terrific it is to watch sports in the Cleveland area
and how terrific it is to wear foam posites and how terrific
it is to go to school and learn and how terrific it is to be
in a music band and how terrific it is to listen to my own music
and how terrific it is to play rock and roll and school and
how terrific it is to play basketball and soccer at the same time
and how terrific it is to be born in louisiana and how
terrific it is to taste other kinds of food
-- Jayden
And how terrific it is to have your
family by your side
And how terrific it is to get to wear
Jordans and foams
And how terrific it is to have good
friends with you
And how terrific it is to be a
big sister to a little sibling
And how terrific it is to have
a good teacher like Ms. Carter
in your life
And how terrific it is to always
be learning new things with that same
teacher
-- Samari
WHY?
Based on Pablo Neruda’s “The Book of Questions”
Why is the sky blue?
Why do giraffes have tall necks?
Why are there so many questions?
Why do most people have to pay for college?
Why don’t people have to pay for elementary school?
Why do people’s race matter?
Why can’t we feel the world spinning?
Why can’t everyone go to college?
Why are people so competitive?
Why do we still have ferries?
Why do we have breakfast, lunch, dinner?
Why does water evaporate?
Why did people make candy?
Why don’t people make bad choices?
Why does this poem have to end?
-- Jaleya
Why do there have to be earthquakes?
Why do kids have to listen to adults?
How does gravity work?
Why is there so much violence?
Why can’t kids sell stuff to earn more money?
Why can’t cars be cheap?
Why are there so many planets just over there doing nothing?
-- Jhoany
Why do people need weapons?
Why do people need candy?
Why does candy have sugar in it?
Why do people get mad easily?
Why do people need food and water to survive?
Why do we need pets?
Why do we need rain?
Why do people want to be famous?
Why do people want tattoos?
Why do people need post-its?
Why do we need tables?
Why do we need rulers?
--Jayden
Why they killed a lot of people?
Why are there earthquakes?
Why are there tsunamis?
Why do they deport people to their state?
Why do people have to pay when they want to see a game?
Why doesn’t it snow in San Francisco?
Why do sharks eat people and some fish?
-- Jonatan
Why do camels have a hump?
Why do you need fabric to make clothes?
Why are some states losing bees?
Why do other people don’t believe in god?
Why do you get bad eyesight if you’re reading in the dark?
Why are people so rude if you don’t have enough money to get food if you’re starving?
Why do people put so much sugar in cereal?
Why can’t everybody have a house or food?
Why do construction workers want the toppling tower to be slanted?
-- Alisha
Why don’t mermaids exist even though they taught dolphins how to be good with humans?
Why do I love my baby niece so much?
Why do some kids look like their parents sometimes?
How come Santa doesn’t exist?
Why do I like math a lot?
How do they make aliens?
Why don’t I like writing a lot but I love poetry?
How do people make money?
How does sports exist?
How do tornadoes stop?
How come earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes all types of danger stuff exist?
-- Carolina
Why can’t people stop war?
Why can’t they just arm wrestle?
Wonder when I will go back to Chicago.
Why don’t I have 100 dollars?
Why are some people rich
and some not?
-- Brayon
WISHES
Inspired by Kenneth Koch’s “Wishes, Lies and Dreams”
I wish I was a butterfly
I wish I can buy houses for people who don’t
I wish Christmas came twice a month
I wish to go to school on Saturday and Sunday
I wish police officers will stop shooting black people
I wish people wouldn’t make fun of my last name
I wish people wouldn’t make fun of me
-- Jaleya
I wish I was in a professional soccer team
I wish I can go to every state for free
I wish to go to see Cristiano Ronaldo
I wish to come to school for one second
I wish I can be the best soccer player in the world
I wish Haziel, Alex, Emilio, Ricardo, Miguel,
Jhoany, Kevin, and me to be in the same soccer team
I wish I can be invisible
I wish that all things be free
I wish I can be in a hotel for free
-- Jonatan
I wish I was in a professional soccer team
I wish there was snow in San Francisco
I wish that I can meet FC Barcelona
I wish my grandpa can come
I wish I can go to every state
I wish my friends and me to be in the same soccer team
-- Jhoany
I wish I could go to Paris
I wish I could give other people a Christmas
I wish I could be a butterfly
I wish I could go to Louisiana to see
my ancestors’ old cottage
I wish I could meet Zendaya Coleman
I wish I could be an actress
I wish I could travel to help the world
I wish I could be rich
No violence
I wish the world would think good
and not guns
I wish back in the day black people
would not be slaves
-- Alisha
I wish I was Albert Einstein so I
can be good at math
I wish I can make the world easy so
there can be no problems
I wish I was the queen of sweets
so when there is a dodgeball game
instead of balls we can use the sweets
I wish I was a banana so a minion can eat me
I wish I can go to school for one second
I wish I was fast as a cheetah
I wish my dad was a clown because
he says a lot of funny stories
I wish my baby niece was still a baby
I wish it was my birthday everyday
so I can get a lot of presents
I wish that there can be snow here
I wish I was cold and hot so
when it is hot I’m cold and when its
cold I’m hot
I wish I was a chef
I wish I was famous because of my state
South Carolina North Carolina
-- Carolina
I wish I was a shape shifter
I wish I could serve the homeless people
I wish I could meet One Direction
I wish I could help violence stop
I wish I could meet my family that were first born
I wish I would have money to give people a Christmas
I wish I had a job that will to be an actress
I wish I could stop people from spraying graffiti on the wall
I wish I was a dolphin
I wish my family was power family that had powers
I wish I was an invisible person
-- Samari
LIES
Inspired by Kenneth Koch’s “Wishes, Lies and Dreams”
I was born with the Black Panthers
I hate pizza like pepperoni
I was made with a blueberry
I love earthquakes
I hate clouds like flying in the sky
My ears are so big I can step on them
I hate books so dumb
I write with my pencil between my toes
My eyes are stuffed so I can see the north pole
I am in Egypt being a silent queen
I hate dogs
I love cats
-- Alisha
I hate video games
I am an officer
I am from Mexico
I live in Miami Florida
I hate soccer
I hate playing with my friends
I am Cristiano Ronaldo and I play tennis
I don’t like play station
I am a rat
I don’t like Spanish
I was born in Japan on the top of a mountain
I hate the TV
I hate recess
I hate eating Honduras food
I am a lion
-- Jonatan
I was born in the ocean
I was born in 1971
I was a cloud in Mexico Yucatan
I hate sports
I am the storm in Mexico Yucatan
I am not from Mexico
I became a gorilla then a snake
I don’t like play station
I hage my family especially when we play
I hate sushi
I hate my friends especially when they’re nice to me
I love being bored
I became a pencil then a paper
I became a shark then a whale
I am running around the world
I hate Lionel Messi
I hate Barcelona futbal club
-- Jhoany
I am a tall giraffe
I am a colorful jellyfish
I am as blue as the ocean
I am a yellow clown fish
I am an ugly little boy who eats hair
I am a smart teacher
I hate dogs and cats
I love naps
I am a 50 year old lady
I am Ms. Burns
I am Ms. Carter now
I live in a strawberry
I hate Santa
This is true
-- Jaleya
I am One Direction’s boringest fan
I used to be an otter, but a musician changed
me to a person
I have zero curiosity when I’m taking a bath
on a mountain
I’m supposed to have the Statue of Liberty
but the birds attacked me
Spongebob is my cousin and Sandy is
my mom
I have a hippo as a pet and a bull
and horse and cow and a tiger
I am in New Orleans and there is a tsunami
Peas are my favorite veggie
My family lives in Aurodon with the Descendants Characters
I am supposed to be at the pineapple house
-- Samari
I am lying
I am smarter than the teacher
I love strangers
I hate candy
I love losing
I hate Ms. Liebert
I love writing
I’m running around the world
Lions are not carnivorous
-- Brayon
I hate icecream
I love vegetables
I have 1000 keys
I don’t have sisters or brothers
I hate math
I love a lot of writing
I like being girly
I hate snow
I love waking up early
I hate hamburgers
I have a pink sweater today
I love pink
I hate Aqua
I have mean friends
I have a purple skirt
I have gone to the north pole
I am never cold
I read a million books today
I don’t have friends
I hate snickers
I am a morning person
I don’t like fruit
I drink a lot of soda
I don’t eat candy
I hate rain
I love the sun
I like to do a lot of work
-- Carolina
I love peas
I am 8 feet tall
I hate the sound of raindrops
I hate double dutch
I have 63 brothers they live in Japan
And play on a football team
Sometimes I go fishing with my sisters
That are penguins
I was born in France
My feet are 17 feet long
I love peanuts
I ate the biggest Hershey in the world
I am friends with Dora the explorer
I am a kangaroo in Australia
And I sleep standing on my head
-- Kozera
I love candy
I hate chips
I love dry food
I hate math
I was born in the 10 thousands
I love books
I hate snow
I was baptized one thousand years ago
I live with the lions
I love hearts
I hate Pokemon especially at recess
My eyes are so stuffed I can see the north pole
--Jayden
OPPOSITES
So first my brother
wants something
in a minute he don’t
want it that’s a waste
of food
oh well at least
we have more
wait I have to take
a bathroom break
wait I don’t have to
-- Jayden
Lea
was
so
cute
when she
was small
and I
was
so happy!
and now she is getting
bigger and I think she is
a little ugly
I
used
to be
scared of
spiders
Now
I’m
not
I
didn’t
like
math
before
Now
I
do
I
used
to
be
small Now I’m big
I never knew about poetry before
Now I do
-- Carolina
I used to live in Honduras now
I live in
San Francisco
I used to be with my brother
Now I’m not
I used to be with
my family now
I’m not
I used to be on a karate
Now I’m not
I used to be a car
Now I am a
human
I used to play with
a lion now I
don’t
I used to have a
crocodile now I
don’t
-- Jonatan
"The Truth"
When the sun
comes out the
sky
is
blue
When
the
moon
comes
out
it’s
dark
In class we always learn
We have recess
Birds
always
chirp
pigeons are not
half
unicorn
Cats don’t bark & dogs don’t meow
Pigs can’t fly
Food
can’t
talk
Humans are not
shapeshifters
Batman is a bat
-- Jaleya and Alisha
"The Horrible Opposites"
When the sun
comes
out the sky is dark
When the moon
comes
out it’s blue
In
class
we
never
learn
We have no recess inside
Birds never
chirp
Pigeons are half unicorn
Cats bark
Dogs meow
Pigs can fly
Food can talk
Humans are shapeshifters
Batman is not a bat
-- Alisha and Jaleya
When
I
leave
from
my
house
to
go
to
school
My little baby cousin
starts crying
When I come back
she laughs runs to me
and starts saying my name
and raising her hand
so I can hug her
When I had
a soccer championship
game I was
n-e-r-v-o-u-s W-h-e-n
we won
the championship
I was
really e-x-c-i-t-e-d
to lift
the trophy!
-- Jhoany
At first
Samari was a sunflower then
scissors and then a small skittle
My sister used to
be nice then mean then
sad and now she is happy. At
nighttime
I play and have fun and in
the dark.
In the daytime
I
go
to
sleep and have
nice dreams. My favorite food
is peas I hate eating crab.
My
auntie
makes
the most
nastiest
food
ever
I hate dancing I hate going
to school I hate my sister.
First Ms. Liebert was an apple
and now she is a banana
now she is one of my favorite
teachers in this class. Sysy is
not my BFF. I love poetry.
Me and my cousin
Samari
are
dolphins
who
fly
south
and
are
rich
and
famous.
I hate dance class
I love step class
I hate Samari with all
my heart She is not my
FC
-- Kozera
“My Coo Coo Opposites”
At first,
my sister lived in the spongebob house then
she moved to the Patrick house then
decided to
move to
the sandy house. At first I was a
dolphin then I was an otter, then Ms.
Margo was a ruler, then Ms. Carter was
some scissors, then Ms. Liebert was a pencil and
they all
worked together
to help
children use
them. At first, Kozera was a kiwi then a
koala then she just changed to all K
things that’s in the world.
Then
my class turned into
room 215. At first, clouds are clear and
the rain is white. I
hate
Chinese
food
and
I
love peas
I am not smart I am dumb
I
can
only
count to
ten Mal
is my mom
Evie is my
sister Carlos is
my brother and
Jay is my
dad. I have a cousin who is so non-curious.
-- Samari
Inspired by Roger McGough’s “In Two Minds”
What I love about Lea is her smile
What I hate about her smile is that it disappears
What I love about disappears is when I’m all done
with my beans I don’t have to eat anymore
What I hate about beans is that beans have no flavor
What I love about flavor is the flavor of ice cream
What I hate about ice cream is some of the flavors like caramel are too sweet
What I love about sweet is candy!
What I hate about candy is it messes up your smile
-- Carolina
What I love about my sister is when she takes me to the mall
What I hate about the mall is the people
What I love about people is I can talk to them
What I hate about talking is sometimes I don’t want to hear them
What I love about not hearing them is their squeaky or deep voice
What I hate about not hearing them is they might be saying something important
-- Kozera
What I love about struddles is the softness and jelly
What I hate about jelly is the stickiness
What I love about stickiness is that you can wash it off
What I hate about off is that nothing is on me
What I love about me is I always stay a leader
What I hate about leading is when I lead people follow
What I love about followers is they give me compliments
What I hate about compliments is they talk too much sarcasm
What I love about sarcasm is I get to clown
What I hate about clowning is they do it back
What I hate about struddles is the softness and jelly
-- Alisha
What I love about family is my siblings
What I hate about siblings is they go into your room and touch your stuff
What I love about my stuff is that it is always sparkly and glittery
What I hate about glittery is it gets everywhere
What I love about everywhere is that there are many places that you can go
What I hate about go is people kick you out of things
What I love about things is my siblings
-- Jaleya
What I love about soccer is goals
What I hate about goals is outside
What I love about baseball is home runs
What I hate about home runs is when the bat gets ripped
What I love about bikes is that you can see what you want to see
What I hate about bikes is traffic lights
What I love about swimming is swimming in water cold
What I hate about swimming in water cold is swimming in water hot
What I love about big time rush is that it is fun
What I hate about big time rush is song
-- Jonatan
What I love about basketball is scoring
What I hate about basketball is goal finding
What I love about goal finding is it still counts as a block
What I hate about blocking is they other team gets the points
What I love about points is when the game is over whoever had the most points wins
What I hate about winning is the crowd goes wild
-- Jayden
What I love about soccer is goals
What I hate about goals is the noise
What I love about noise is the celebration
What I hate about the celebration is that it goes crazy
What I love about crazy is the referee makes the game start
What I hate about making the game start is that it starts
-- Jhoany
AND HOW TERRIFIC IT IS
Inspired by “Poem Beginning with a Line by Frank Lima” by Lisa Jarnot
And how terrific it is to have a best friend
in your life
And how terrific it is to have on Jordans that
cost a lot of money
And how terrific it is to have a sister
that loves you and cares about you
And how terrific it is to wear earmuffs on your ears
to warm you up when it’s cold And how terrific
it is that family put you up with you and you do something
good in life
And how terrific it is to have a cousin
that’s always by your side
And how terrific it is to have a bed to
sleep on And how terrific
it is to have a warm sweater when
it’s below 15 degrees outside
And how terrific it is to have a book
in your hand And how terrific it is to be me
-- Kozera
And how terrific it is to play sports
And how terrific it is to read a poem
And how terrific it is that I have a beautiful hairstyle
And how terrific it is to ride a bike
And how terrific it is to come to school
And how terrific it is to wake up when you come to school
And how terrific it is to play with your friends
And how terrific it is to play in the play station
And how terrific it is to do Math
And how terrific it is to kick a ball high
And how terrific it is to eat meat, chismol and rice
And how terrific it is to go to the cinema
And how terrific it is to play soccer
And how terrific it is to swim
And how terrific it is to be in a soccer team
-- Jonatan
How terrific it is to have Ms. Liebert as a teacher
How terrific it is for her to watch us learn
How terrific it is for me and my classmates to give her a hug
How terrific it is to see my friends every day at school
And how terrific it is to learn with Ms. Liebert
-- Brayon
And how terrific it is to
watch sports in your home
sweet home and how terrific
it is to play with friends and
talk with them and how terrific
it is to lay in bed and sleep and
how terrific it is to spend time
with your family and how terrific
it is to eat Mexican food like
tamales, panachos, empanadas, and
how terrific it is to have your
cousins come over and how
terrific it is to see Mexico
and how terrific it is to go
to the park and do exercise
and have terrific it is to be
Mexican
-- Jhoany
And how terrific it is to learn poetry in
class with classmates
And how terrific it is to spend time
with family
And how terrific it is to go to my afterschool
program
And how terrific it is to have a
family to take care of me and buy
me food and how terrific
it is to have a good poet named
Ms. Margo and a teacher named Ms. Liebert
and a student teacher named Ms. Carter
And how terrific it is to read
books like Tales of Despereaux and
how terrific
it is to have friends and play
outside
-- Jaleya
And how terrific it is to see my baby niece sleeping and
how terrific it is to eat ice cream and how terrific
it is to wake up late on the weekend and how terrific it is
to eat warm brownies and how terrific it is to write
poems and how terrific it is to have wi-fi and how
terrific it is to come to school to learn and how terrific it is
to read good books and how terrific it is to take a warm, nice bath
and how terrific it is to have nice teachers and how terrific
it is to buy new shoes and how terrific it is to go shopping
and smell the good hand sanitizer and how terrific
it is to have dinner with my family and how terrific it is
to celebrate Christmas and how terrific it is
to eat burger king
-- Carolina
And how terrific it is to watch sports in the Cleveland area
and how terrific it is to wear foam posites and how terrific
it is to go to school and learn and how terrific it is to be
in a music band and how terrific it is to listen to my own music
and how terrific it is to play rock and roll and school and
how terrific it is to play basketball and soccer at the same time
and how terrific it is to be born in louisiana and how
terrific it is to taste other kinds of food
-- Jayden
And how terrific it is to have your
family by your side
And how terrific it is to get to wear
Jordans and foams
And how terrific it is to have good
friends with you
And how terrific it is to be a
big sister to a little sibling
And how terrific it is to have
a good teacher like Ms. Carter
in your life
And how terrific it is to always
be learning new things with that same
teacher
-- Samari
WHY?
Based on Pablo Neruda’s “The Book of Questions”
Why is the sky blue?
Why do giraffes have tall necks?
Why are there so many questions?
Why do most people have to pay for college?
Why don’t people have to pay for elementary school?
Why do people’s race matter?
Why can’t we feel the world spinning?
Why can’t everyone go to college?
Why are people so competitive?
Why do we still have ferries?
Why do we have breakfast, lunch, dinner?
Why does water evaporate?
Why did people make candy?
Why don’t people make bad choices?
Why does this poem have to end?
-- Jaleya
Why do there have to be earthquakes?
Why do kids have to listen to adults?
How does gravity work?
Why is there so much violence?
Why can’t kids sell stuff to earn more money?
Why can’t cars be cheap?
Why are there so many planets just over there doing nothing?
-- Jhoany
Why do people need weapons?
Why do people need candy?
Why does candy have sugar in it?
Why do people get mad easily?
Why do people need food and water to survive?
Why do we need pets?
Why do we need rain?
Why do people want to be famous?
Why do people want tattoos?
Why do people need post-its?
Why do we need tables?
Why do we need rulers?
--Jayden
Why they killed a lot of people?
Why are there earthquakes?
Why are there tsunamis?
Why do they deport people to their state?
Why do people have to pay when they want to see a game?
Why doesn’t it snow in San Francisco?
Why do sharks eat people and some fish?
-- Jonatan
Why do camels have a hump?
Why do you need fabric to make clothes?
Why are some states losing bees?
Why do other people don’t believe in god?
Why do you get bad eyesight if you’re reading in the dark?
Why are people so rude if you don’t have enough money to get food if you’re starving?
Why do people put so much sugar in cereal?
Why can’t everybody have a house or food?
Why do construction workers want the toppling tower to be slanted?
-- Alisha
Why don’t mermaids exist even though they taught dolphins how to be good with humans?
Why do I love my baby niece so much?
Why do some kids look like their parents sometimes?
How come Santa doesn’t exist?
Why do I like math a lot?
How do they make aliens?
Why don’t I like writing a lot but I love poetry?
How do people make money?
How does sports exist?
How do tornadoes stop?
How come earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes all types of danger stuff exist?
-- Carolina
Why can’t people stop war?
Why can’t they just arm wrestle?
Wonder when I will go back to Chicago.
Why don’t I have 100 dollars?
Why are some people rich
and some not?
-- Brayon
WISHES
Inspired by Kenneth Koch’s “Wishes, Lies and Dreams”
I wish I was a butterfly
I wish I can buy houses for people who don’t
I wish Christmas came twice a month
I wish to go to school on Saturday and Sunday
I wish police officers will stop shooting black people
I wish people wouldn’t make fun of my last name
I wish people wouldn’t make fun of me
-- Jaleya
I wish I was in a professional soccer team
I wish I can go to every state for free
I wish to go to see Cristiano Ronaldo
I wish to come to school for one second
I wish I can be the best soccer player in the world
I wish Haziel, Alex, Emilio, Ricardo, Miguel,
Jhoany, Kevin, and me to be in the same soccer team
I wish I can be invisible
I wish that all things be free
I wish I can be in a hotel for free
-- Jonatan
I wish I was in a professional soccer team
I wish there was snow in San Francisco
I wish that I can meet FC Barcelona
I wish my grandpa can come
I wish I can go to every state
I wish my friends and me to be in the same soccer team
-- Jhoany
I wish I could go to Paris
I wish I could give other people a Christmas
I wish I could be a butterfly
I wish I could go to Louisiana to see
my ancestors’ old cottage
I wish I could meet Zendaya Coleman
I wish I could be an actress
I wish I could travel to help the world
I wish I could be rich
No violence
I wish the world would think good
and not guns
I wish back in the day black people
would not be slaves
-- Alisha
I wish I was Albert Einstein so I
can be good at math
I wish I can make the world easy so
there can be no problems
I wish I was the queen of sweets
so when there is a dodgeball game
instead of balls we can use the sweets
I wish I was a banana so a minion can eat me
I wish I can go to school for one second
I wish I was fast as a cheetah
I wish my dad was a clown because
he says a lot of funny stories
I wish my baby niece was still a baby
I wish it was my birthday everyday
so I can get a lot of presents
I wish that there can be snow here
I wish I was cold and hot so
when it is hot I’m cold and when its
cold I’m hot
I wish I was a chef
I wish I was famous because of my state
South Carolina North Carolina
-- Carolina
I wish I was a shape shifter
I wish I could serve the homeless people
I wish I could meet One Direction
I wish I could help violence stop
I wish I could meet my family that were first born
I wish I would have money to give people a Christmas
I wish I had a job that will to be an actress
I wish I could stop people from spraying graffiti on the wall
I wish I was a dolphin
I wish my family was power family that had powers
I wish I was an invisible person
-- Samari
LIES
Inspired by Kenneth Koch’s “Wishes, Lies and Dreams”
I was born with the Black Panthers
I hate pizza like pepperoni
I was made with a blueberry
I love earthquakes
I hate clouds like flying in the sky
My ears are so big I can step on them
I hate books so dumb
I write with my pencil between my toes
My eyes are stuffed so I can see the north pole
I am in Egypt being a silent queen
I hate dogs
I love cats
-- Alisha
I hate video games
I am an officer
I am from Mexico
I live in Miami Florida
I hate soccer
I hate playing with my friends
I am Cristiano Ronaldo and I play tennis
I don’t like play station
I am a rat
I don’t like Spanish
I was born in Japan on the top of a mountain
I hate the TV
I hate recess
I hate eating Honduras food
I am a lion
-- Jonatan
I was born in the ocean
I was born in 1971
I was a cloud in Mexico Yucatan
I hate sports
I am the storm in Mexico Yucatan
I am not from Mexico
I became a gorilla then a snake
I don’t like play station
I hage my family especially when we play
I hate sushi
I hate my friends especially when they’re nice to me
I love being bored
I became a pencil then a paper
I became a shark then a whale
I am running around the world
I hate Lionel Messi
I hate Barcelona futbal club
-- Jhoany
I am a tall giraffe
I am a colorful jellyfish
I am as blue as the ocean
I am a yellow clown fish
I am an ugly little boy who eats hair
I am a smart teacher
I hate dogs and cats
I love naps
I am a 50 year old lady
I am Ms. Burns
I am Ms. Carter now
I live in a strawberry
I hate Santa
This is true
-- Jaleya
I am One Direction’s boringest fan
I used to be an otter, but a musician changed
me to a person
I have zero curiosity when I’m taking a bath
on a mountain
I’m supposed to have the Statue of Liberty
but the birds attacked me
Spongebob is my cousin and Sandy is
my mom
I have a hippo as a pet and a bull
and horse and cow and a tiger
I am in New Orleans and there is a tsunami
Peas are my favorite veggie
My family lives in Aurodon with the Descendants Characters
I am supposed to be at the pineapple house
-- Samari
I am lying
I am smarter than the teacher
I love strangers
I hate candy
I love losing
I hate Ms. Liebert
I love writing
I’m running around the world
Lions are not carnivorous
-- Brayon
I hate icecream
I love vegetables
I have 1000 keys
I don’t have sisters or brothers
I hate math
I love a lot of writing
I like being girly
I hate snow
I love waking up early
I hate hamburgers
I have a pink sweater today
I love pink
I hate Aqua
I have mean friends
I have a purple skirt
I have gone to the north pole
I am never cold
I read a million books today
I don’t have friends
I hate snickers
I am a morning person
I don’t like fruit
I drink a lot of soda
I don’t eat candy
I hate rain
I love the sun
I like to do a lot of work
-- Carolina
I love peas
I am 8 feet tall
I hate the sound of raindrops
I hate double dutch
I have 63 brothers they live in Japan
And play on a football team
Sometimes I go fishing with my sisters
That are penguins
I was born in France
My feet are 17 feet long
I love peanuts
I ate the biggest Hershey in the world
I am friends with Dora the explorer
I am a kangaroo in Australia
And I sleep standing on my head
-- Kozera
I love candy
I hate chips
I love dry food
I hate math
I was born in the 10 thousands
I love books
I hate snow
I was baptized one thousand years ago
I live with the lions
I love hearts
I hate Pokemon especially at recess
My eyes are so stuffed I can see the north pole
--Jayden
OPPOSITES
So first my brother
wants something
in a minute he don’t
want it that’s a waste
of food
oh well at least
we have more
wait I have to take
a bathroom break
wait I don’t have to
-- Jayden
Lea
was
so
cute
when she
was small
and I
was
so happy!
and now she is getting
bigger and I think she is
a little ugly
I
used
to be
scared of
spiders
Now
I’m
not
I
didn’t
like
math
before
Now
I
do
I
used
to
be
small Now I’m big
I never knew about poetry before
Now I do
-- Carolina
I used to live in Honduras now
I live in
San Francisco
I used to be with my brother
Now I’m not
I used to be with
my family now
I’m not
I used to be on a karate
Now I’m not
I used to be a car
Now I am a
human
I used to play with
a lion now I
don’t
I used to have a
crocodile now I
don’t
-- Jonatan
"The Truth"
When the sun
comes out the
sky
is
blue
When
the
moon
comes
out
it’s
dark
In class we always learn
We have recess
Birds
always
chirp
pigeons are not
half
unicorn
Cats don’t bark & dogs don’t meow
Pigs can’t fly
Food
can’t
talk
Humans are not
shapeshifters
Batman is a bat
-- Jaleya and Alisha
"The Horrible Opposites"
When the sun
comes
out the sky is dark
When the moon
comes
out it’s blue
In
class
we
never
learn
We have no recess inside
Birds never
chirp
Pigeons are half unicorn
Cats bark
Dogs meow
Pigs can fly
Food can talk
Humans are shapeshifters
Batman is not a bat
-- Alisha and Jaleya
When
I
leave
from
my
house
to
go
to
school
My little baby cousin
starts crying
When I come back
she laughs runs to me
and starts saying my name
and raising her hand
so I can hug her
When I had
a soccer championship
game I was
n-e-r-v-o-u-s W-h-e-n
we won
the championship
I was
really e-x-c-i-t-e-d
to lift
the trophy!
-- Jhoany
At first
Samari was a sunflower then
scissors and then a small skittle
My sister used to
be nice then mean then
sad and now she is happy. At
nighttime
I play and have fun and in
the dark.
In the daytime
I
go
to
sleep and have
nice dreams. My favorite food
is peas I hate eating crab.
My
auntie
makes
the most
nastiest
food
ever
I hate dancing I hate going
to school I hate my sister.
First Ms. Liebert was an apple
and now she is a banana
now she is one of my favorite
teachers in this class. Sysy is
not my BFF. I love poetry.
Me and my cousin
Samari
are
dolphins
who
fly
south
and
are
rich
and
famous.
I hate dance class
I love step class
I hate Samari with all
my heart She is not my
FC
-- Kozera
“My Coo Coo Opposites”
At first,
my sister lived in the spongebob house then
she moved to the Patrick house then
decided to
move to
the sandy house. At first I was a
dolphin then I was an otter, then Ms.
Margo was a ruler, then Ms. Carter was
some scissors, then Ms. Liebert was a pencil and
they all
worked together
to help
children use
them. At first, Kozera was a kiwi then a
koala then she just changed to all K
things that’s in the world.
Then
my class turned into
room 215. At first, clouds are clear and
the rain is white. I
hate
Chinese
food
and
I
love peas
I am not smart I am dumb
I
can
only
count to
ten Mal
is my mom
Evie is my
sister Carlos is
my brother and
Jay is my
dad. I have a cousin who is so non-curious.
-- Samari