~Student Showcase~
poetry inspired by a Steve Ratiner workshop

Benn Singer
Grade 5/Ms. Coppola (2002)

Forever Life

I walk through the forest,
the trees are gigantic,
containing much life,
shading the flowers and weeds and insects.
Leaves falling down,
down to the Earth
dancing in the wind,
reaching for the ground
bringing happiness
to the life of the forest floor.
Life brings life,
and so much more,
birds chirping,
never much silence,
cheer,
and the raccoon's proudfulness of a new baby.
Nothing can stop
the coming of forests;
trees,
flowers,
weeds,
birds,
squirrels,
and chipmunks.
Nothing can stop
the coming of forests,
except for.

us.
Yes, us.
Us, the humans.
The flaw of life.
The sadness of life.
The killer of life.
Take a walk through the woods,
and feel the happiness,
the pride.

Lilly Innella
Grade 5/Ms. Murphy, 2002

NEVER ENDING

It is windy
I am sitting in my room in the nighttime
It starts to rain outside
The windows are suddenly blown open by the wind
Rain comes pouring into my room, slowly rising to meet the edge of my bed
Another gust of wind startles me, shoving me down onto my chair
I hit my head and start to dream
Now I am on a train in a far away place
All is quiet
I see a dot far in the distance
The train runs faster
The dot only gets farther way
I am on a neverending train track that will run forever
Never reaching that small dot.

Olivia Davis
Grade 5/Ms. Murphy (2002)

SHARK!

I am wading, wading in the
water.
I feel the wind gently caressing
my lightly scorched skin.

As I made my way farther from
shore,
I saw a fin.
Not a fish fin but something
that resembled a,
a,
SHARK FIN!
I froze in horror.
The shark (or whatever it was)
dove underwater.
Probably aiming for my legs so I
couldn't escape.
I felt myself rise.
At first thought,
I was sure I was going to
heaven.
But then in spite of my fears,
I thought logically,
And said to myself,
"Olivia if your legs got bitten
off wouldn't you feel some
pain?"
"Since you certainly feel all
your body parts,
There is absolutely nothing to
be afraid of...yet."
Since the creature obviously
under me (and not to
mention pushing me out of
the water) meant no harm I
looked down,
And I saw the two little curious
and playful eyes of a
DOLPHIN!
I jumped back into the water
and hung onto the dolphin's
fin.
Then the dolphin gave me a tour of
the underwater kingdom.
I was overwhelmed by the
vibrant colors of the coral
reef and,
The elegant way the jellyfish
danced.
Puny fish swam in vast schools,
And looked very much like
confetti.
And a turtle advanced just as
majestically as would have
a queen.
It was all so dreamy.
So dream- "Oliiiiiiiiviaaaaaaa!
Wake uuuuuuuup?"
"Coming mom!"
"So dreamy," I murmured to
myself as I clambered out
of my bed.

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