Friday, August 3, 2018

Final Pantoum Poems

When we began our time together during the Project Write summer camp, we started with a pantoum poem exercise that asked students to combine overheard conversation fragments with printed texts from the Liberty Bell Center. As we wrapped up our 2-week summer program, students composed a final pantoum poem, this time combining lines from famous readings (including the Declaration of Independence, Abigail Adams' letters to her husband regarding women's rights, Frederick Douglass' speech "What to the slave is the 4th of July?," Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream" speech, literary works by Edgar Allen Poe, and others) with lines from their own writing during their time in Project Write. I think you'll agree that the resulting pantoum poems are pretty amazing!

Gabriela’s Final Pantoum

We will never forget
To love and be loved
We are all human
Beautiful in all ways

To love and be loved
All men and women are created equal
Beautiful in all ways
The pleasure of Almighty God

All men and women are created equal
No turning back
The pleasure of Almighty God
God is forgotten

No turning back
We are all human
God is forgotten
We will never forget

Iris’ Final Pantoum

That quiet that prevails is awful
Each part of this path stays alone
Feelings of disgust into hatred
It continues to be more

Each part of this path stays alone
Turning your world upside down
It continues to be more
The destruction prevails

Turning your world upside down:
Justice demands it
The destruction prevails
But someone will be listening

Justice demands it
Feelings of disgust and betrayal
But someone will be listening
The quiet that prevails is awful

Christo’s Final Pantoum

All men are created equal
Here is a nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to a proposition of human equality
We hold these truths to be self-evident
I am the only one he even wants to hunt

Here is a nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to a proposition of human equality
I have a dream today
I am the only one he even wants to hunt
Let the freedom ring from north through south

I have a dream today
If you do good, know for whom you are doing it
Let the freedom ring from north through south
Beyond this many things lie hidden

If you do good, know for whom you are doing it
We hold these truths to be self-evident
Beyond this many things lie hidden
All men are created equal

Dylan’s Final Pantoum

I doubt myself when you commend yourself so proudly
A man is always seen more highly
I believe it, in its effects, to be cruel and wrong
My mother always told me women sing a stronger song

A man is always seem more highly
We are obligated to go fair and softly
My mother always told me women sing a stronger song
Treated like the lesser for a lifetime too long

We are obligated to go fair and softly
You’re just as tough, my nana taught me
Treated like the lesser for a lifetime too long
We are sick of being told that we’re always wrong

You’re just as tough, my nana taught me
I believe it, in its effects, to be cruel and wrong
We are sick of being told we’re always wrong
I doubt myself when you commend yourself so proudly

Emily’s Final Pantoum

She wanted to be free
At the thoughts of this my blood is made to run cold
The pursuit of happiness
But what if tomorrow is my last?

At the thoughts of this my  blood is made to run cold
You’re you until you’re not
But what if tomorrow is my last?
My original soul seemed to take its flight from my body

You’re you until you’re not
Lead your own legacy
My original soul seemed to take its flight from my body
Daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain

Lead your own legacy
The pursuit of happiness
Daily tampering with the mysteries of the brain
She wanted to be free

Talia’s Final Pantoum

Why am I called upon to speak here to-day?
Woman is yet a slave
Between the body of the prison and the outer wall, there is a spacious garden
No one has heard of me

Woman is yet a slave
I am a woman
No one has heard of me
I was not there.

I am a woman
But we loved with a love that was more than love
I was not there
We are your friends

But we loved with a love that was more than love
Between the body of the prison and the outer wall, there is a spacious garden
We are your friends
Why am I called upon to speak here to-day?

4 comments:

  1. You all write with clarity, vision, and imagery while conveying poetic tones that are warm, challenging, courageous, and determined. You also chose styles of writing your verses through repetition, rhythmic flow, and with simplicity that engaged the reader. Great writing!

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  2. I love tour poems! Given some of the hateful things being said these days about people, even coming from our leaders, your empathy and strength are refreshing!

    Dina

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  3. BRAVO to all. What outstanding writings you produced this summer. Everyone of you is a star!

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