Poetry from the Self-Professed Non-Poet

When he started his 7^th reading intervention program, this young man confessed to having this particular literary genre as his least favorite. He said it was intimidating. He said that he could not possibly ever really like it – much less write in its style.

You would understand, then – what a pleasant (self) discovery this has been for him.

What follows are some of his works for this trimester.

This first one strictly adheres to the structure of the English or Shakespearean Sonnet, down to the rhyme scheme and the 5 iambic feet in each line.

OPPORTUNITY LOST

                       

They always make noise inside the classroom,

Wanting to see the teacher lose control

They think it’s a game, I think they presume,

And they always, and always reach their goal.

Playing video games all day long, winning,

One game after another, winning all.

Non-stop gaming, rather than living.

They go with the motto: I win them all.

Looking at another persons paper,

They avoid getting caught, and they succeed.

Also avoiding the sight of the teacher,

They get the answers, the answers they need.

The short-cut to winning they always choose

Though they do not know, in the end they lose.

The following reflects a passion for perfection, in more ways than one. This is very much evidenced by the meticulous care and detailed attention given to construct the central image of this, his very first Concrete Poem. The resulting chaos and confusion displayed by his final output also seem to inadvertently mirror this young man’s own befuddlement, as he – with his youthful idealism and patriotic pride – tries to make sense of this tragedy that he has just witnessed.

Last, but most certainly not the least, is this young man’s series of poems, all following the 5-7-5 syllabic pattern of the Japanese Haiku. Since, in formatting for his final output, this young poet decided to play with his font and color choices – he now claims a new and original form, putting together Haiku and Concrete Poetry. He has decided to call this form the HAIKRETE. J

This fifteen year-old who, from now on, shall be referred to by his nom de plume: CIPHER – not only writes poetry (something he swears he is not good at, even when faced with amazing examples proving otherwise) – he is also now beginning to appreciate this literary genre, as he reads Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” Cipher of course juggles his reading with his other pursuits like his academics, playing the guitar, listening to heavy metal, and playing air soft.