I'm Sorry and I Just Sued the School System- Prince EA

Group Slam

"Letter to your Flag"

A variety of Spoken Word Poems

"Text Me" submitted by David O



"Times I've Been Mistaken for a Girl"  submitted by Autumn






"To the Boys that one Day May Date my Daughter" submitted by Max




"I am Not Black, You are not White"  submitted by Baptiste


 "Love Letter" by Sarah Kaye submitted by Millie




"No More Heroes" submitted by Tsholo


"Smile" submitted by Zoya

Simile Poem - "Thinking About You"

LISTEN CAREFULLY, 
A SPEW OF WORDS COMES FROM THIS POET'S HEART. 
CAN YOU RELATE???


  

What makes this a good poem?

Social Justice, Emmett Till

THE STORY OF EMMETT TILL (you can find more information about Emmett Till at this link)

THE STORY OF EMMETT TILL IN A LONG AGO 
WRITTEN SONG AND
A NEW SPOKEN WORD POEM.

The Poetry of Protest Against Human Rights Violations

The Death of Emmett Till 

Was down in Mississippi not so long ago
When a young boy from Chicago town
Walked in a Southern door

This boy's fateful tragedy
You all should remember well
The color of his skin was black
And his name was Emmett Till

Some men, they dragged him to a barn
And there they beat him up
They said they had a reason
But disremember what

They tortured him and did some things
Too evil to repeat
There were screaming sounds inside the barn
There was laughing sounds out on the street

Then they rolled his body down a gulf
Amidst a blood red rain
And they threw him in the waters wide
To cease his screaming pain

The reason that they killed him there
And I'm a-sure, it ain't no lie
'Cause he was born in black-skin barn
He was born to die

And then to stop the United States
Of yelling for a trial
Two brothers, they confessed
That they had killed poor Emmett Till

But on the jury there were men
Who had helped the brothers commit this awful crime
And so this trial was a mockery
But nobody there seemed to mind

I saw the morning papers
But I could not bear
To see smiling brothers
Walkin' down the courthouse stairs

For the jury found them innocent
And the brothers, they went free
While Emmett's body floats the foam
Of a Jim Crow southern sea

If you can't speak out against this kind of thing
A crime that's so unjust
Your eyes are filled with dead men's clay
Your ears must be filled with dust

Your arms and legs
They must be in shackles and chains
And your mind, it must cease to flow
For you to let our human race
Fall down so God-awful low

This song is just a reminder
To remind your fellow man
That this kind of thing still lives today
In that ghost-robed Ku Klux Klan

But if all of us folks that thinks alike
If we gave all we could give
We could make this great land of ours
A greater place to live

Madiba Poem

"An Issue in our City"

ANOTHER ISSUE ORIENTED SPOKEN WORD POEM.

WHAT ARE THESE KIDS SAYING?

"Let My People Glow" by Lebohang Masango

Somewhere in America

Sarah Kaye "Hands" - Lilah "I am Different - Telling Lies Poem

Part of Body POEM

Now, using Sarah's poem as inspiration, write a poem about a part of the body that we never really think about, but take for granted.  Hands - Feet - Eyes - Fingers - Head - Hair, etc, etc.

Telling Lies

Telling Lies Poetry

A different way of looking

One of the pleasures of writing poems is that you can tell lies without getting into trouble! It’s just using your imagination.

• Each member of your group will write three lies about the something other than the sea (the sky, the moon the stars, the sun, the clouds etc. can also work well)

• Be wild and imaginative with your lies avoiding the obvious or the dull (the moon is made of cheese).

A few examples of what they could write are:

The sea is made of blue ink and green paint

The sea hates it when it’s drawn as a wavy line.

The sea is cold because it hasn’t got a coat on

The sea going up and down is a sign it’s still breathing

The sea feeds on rubbish but even he can’t manage it all

If you smack the sea it will splash you back

The sea has a small cousin who is a pond

The sea will wave to you when you turn to leave

As you can see, what starts off as a lie becomes a mix of word play, sometimes truth, and off-the-wall creativity. It gives a chance to use imagination without forcing it and with a sense of fun.

Your group will perform/read the poem aloud - reading each member’s own line.

Spoken Word Poem Guidelines and Link to Organizer

LINK TO SPOKEN WORD ORGANIZER

GUIDELINES FOR SPOKEN WORD POEM    

DUE May 21 (BD) May 22 (EFH)

SPOKEN WORD poetry is poetry that is written on a page but performed for an audience. Because it is performed, this poetry tends to demonstrate a heavy use of rhythm, improvisation, free association, rhymes, rich poetic phrases, word play and slang. It is more aggressive and “in your face” than more traditional forms of poetry.

Solo or with 2 or 3 partners

2 to 4 minutes

Must have an overall theme - cannot be random

Must come from a place of angst, a place in your heart, - passion is the driving force

Minimum 6 stanza w/6 lines in each stanza

Must memorize

USE exciting words - refrain from the mundane

CUT out the fat

USE poetic tools and figurative language that help you create rhythm

            Alliteration, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, similes, personification, repetition, line

            Length, etc

READ aloud and make changes

PRACTICE with your group - be dramatic and passionate

Kid Poems and "If I had Only Known

If I Had Known

Related Poem Content Details

BY ALICE MOORE DUNBAR-NELSON

  If I had known

  Two years ago how drear this life should be,

  And crowd upon itself allstrangely sad,

  Mayhap another song would burst from out my lips,

  Overflowing with the happiness of future hopes;

  Mayhap another throb than that of joy.

  Have stirred my soul into its inmost depths,

                    If I had known.

  If I had known,

  Two years ago the impotence of love,

  The vainness of a kiss, how barren a caress,

  Mayhap my soul to higher things have soarn,

  Nor clung to earthly loves and tender dreams,

  But ever up aloft into the blue empyrean,

  And there to master all the world of mind,

                    If I had known.