Welcome to Cafe Ujima, the best place in town to hear exciting new poets! Today’s featured poets will leave you dazzled, provoked, and reflective. Enjoy the event, and don’t forget that hot beverages are half off. Just ask your server.
1. Please type your poem, and as you type look for opportunities to continue improving your techniques, word choice, or structure.
2. Post your poem in the “comments” section of this post.
3. Respond (reply) to each other by commenting on language (word choice), techniques, structure, or style. Discuss what you like about your classmates’ poems, and try to explain what those choices made you feel, think, or consider. When possible, “refer to the text” as you comment. Please respond to at least two of your classmates.
ODE TO THE U.S MARINES
In a crowd, undoubtedly you’ll spot them
Back straight, shoulders back, standing tall
You think they’re impressive, but not much impresses them
For they have seen and done it all
Eyes are bold, hair is short, give intimidating auras
But if you look closely they’re smile is a little blue
This is truly the only indication
Of what hell they have been through
They belong to a sacred family
Semper fidelis-they’re always faithful til the end
They have walked right into battle
And walked right back out again
People sometimes think them to be foolish
For their crazy courage and having no regrets
They’re the first to go, last to know
But they never dare question why
For whether it is right or wrong
But only they, do or die
They walk a path most won’t take
They have lost much along the way
But they think a lot of freedom
Is a small price to pay
Yes they, courageous as they are, chose to live a life
Off a beaten track
They know very well when they’re called
They might not even make it back
So please next time you lay your eyes on a Devil Dog
Standing proud and true
Be grateful for what they’ve given
For they have given it for you
Don’t approach to ask what it’s like at war
Just thank god it’s your country they fight for
Thank them for having the guts
To be a United States Marine
Don’t believe me? Because I’m a teen?
Don’t worry I to will one day be a U.S Marine
For now I will live by honor, courage and commitment
But also by the motto Semper Fi
Do or die
Poetry is like ….
My relationship to poetry is like a firefly
A firefly that lights our night
Poetry is like an invisible firefly
Blind to see where it’s going
unseen to where it lights the way
of the words of the incompetence
Poetry lights the day as a firefly lights the night.
The Dark over shadows the day
But there’s a fly a firefly
Leading the way
Way to home in safety, in return,
Return of a tree, a tree of light
Fireflies glowing, flowing as one.
Poetry as to day as night as to night as day as
to fireflies lights the night as it darkens the day
In the end we all say goodnight
To the fireflies lighting our night.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l-09cf7Gu4OhuGEv4kPCJwK59VNquVh-8oM1rmJwpyk/edit?usp=sharing
The game of soccer stands still,
You shoot and you score
Game over
The game is like
Fighting a war
Every second counts
It is the motion of poetry,
every move you make
Results in good or bad
The game may ware
You down but you must
Always believe
the use of simile of comparing a game into a war saying how “Every second counts”
I like your simile, the game is like fighting a war.
I am impressed by the mood that is shown throughout the poem with strong language such as “always believe”
Furious Cheetah
The cheetah stands in
The early morning sun
Ready to strike.
The cheetah is like
A warrior, trying to
Defeat his enemies.
It is a hurricane
Destroying whatever
Gets in his way.
The cheetah king
Of his territory
Power.
Little Angel
Shall I speak of the little angel above
The one lil angel i adore the most
So cute I can’t get enough of his love
Who was not able to join me at the coast
He was tooken into God’s hands so soon
What an unforgettable time to see
That night I looked up and cried to the moon
At this point I knew he was meant to be
Yet being so small he became so bright
That he flickered like a bright light at night
One day I will be able to be his knight
So I can rescue him and hold him tight
This little angel is a brother of mine
Who did not get to live most of his time
Your overall poem was well written. However, maybe consider changing “tooken” to “taken”.
i like how you used an angle to symbolize you brother, nice.
I really liked your poem and the symbol you chose to represent your brother made it all come together!
I like the use of iambic pentameter.
wow this very heart touching. i have brothers and sisters and i don’t know what i would do without them. your poem just reminds me that no one lives forever. and that we have to enjoy each day. good imagery. i also like your last couplet.
Poetry is like
My relationship to poetry,
Is like a student that struggle
About going into the classroom
To learn a new lesson.
Like a person going to the underworld
When they are pass away.
Learning poetry is as hard
As a person looking for water
In the Sahara Desert.
Even this challenge maybe
Impossible to completed,
I need to try
To finish and beat it.
i like you similies
I really like your comparisons.
Our friendship with flowers and trees.
A flower is like a friendship a flower grows and so does our friendship. Friendship is love and also your love for the flowers. Flowers are like trees they both grow and they both live in the wild, they also make oxygen for us humans. No oxygen no humans, no humans no flowers or trees. We have a friendship with the flowers and trees. Our friendship is growing because we humans grow as well but everything comes to a end. Just like us humans are here for a little while and then we leave and same goes for the flowers and the trees.
I liked how you said ” We have a friendship with the flowers and trees”.
Poetry is a mystery
A poem is like a world filled with young adults.
Each adult has their own story,
it’s own meaning.
One must find a poem they find fascinating,
and take their time to discover its significance.
It might take a while,
but when you find the true value,
You can appreciate it just a bit more.
Woahhhh!!!!! This is very good.
I love how you compared discovering a poem is like discovering a stranger hoping to know them more.
The comparison that you made of poetry and a young adult is so true!
I liked how you made a comparison between poetry and a world filled with young adults with their own story!
Winter Candy Apple
She who I met who knew she would be
The marshallese girl that goes down to the chapel
My thoughtful friend I speak to thee
Her soft smell of winter candy apple
Sweet but tough that is my calistoga
Her thoughts full of dreams and wonder
Plays hardcore basketball then comes home to yoga
Were close, but physically were yonder
You speak less about your family to me
Though according to my calculations
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
I see the relations since you are their creation
Winter candy apple you smell so sweet
My close friend calistoga brings me glee
Great poem , liked how you made everything work!
I like your iambic pentameter in your second quatrain.
I like how your comparison of a winter candy apple to your friend is very descriptive with imageries.
Period 1
04/07/16
Lovely sonnet about fam
I love my family, cause they are great
My love for them is like Funyuns, very good
Lots of love for them, not a pinch of hate
Love them even if we are in the hood
My love is as real as McDonalds’ food
If my feelings were a song, it would slap
When they around, I am in a good mood
They do get on my nerves, but I don’t snap
My poetic skills are on point, like fam
Fam is great cause they give me dinero
My love for dem is fatter than a ham
It’s too intense for the month of febrero
Here, take my sonnet, give it a good grade
It deserves it, this is not a charade
I like the last part
Nice sonnet!!!!!!
i like how you wrote in spanish
Nice poem about your fam!!!!
Nice poem about fam!!!
like how you said “if my feelings were a song,it would slap
“
i like the way you use spanish ‘dinero’ in your sonnet, because i want to use chinese too.
The Child in the Wedding Dress
By May Angelina Her
The clock ticks
Time comes
The moment nears
A bride
dresses in a beautiful gown
Her mother drowns her in jewelry
Her mind, however, in only thinking
of the toys in the next room
that is awaits for her
Or so she thinks
In the chapel
her groom
waits to see his beautiful bride
It’s TIME!
The pianist begins to play ‘Pathetique’
and the wedding party begins to slowly
walk down the aisle
She does not seem to understand
what was is going on
nor does she know
the next two words she was about to say
will change her forever
Tears filled her eyes
as soon as she discovers
what she had done
Fear grew in me
As the girl had climbed into the car
of her new husband
Then on they went
I felt the anger that grew inside me
when the child’s parents just went back
to their normal lives as though nothing ever happened
It is Ridiculous.
The last part of your poem really strikes me with the tone you used.
I really enjoyed reading this. I like your use of alliteration!!! Good job 🙂
Inhospitable
I came to this country with a dream
Missing my own family
Meeting new people how can I if I cant even communicate
Isn’t it hard?
Getting a job how can I without getting a background
check
Raising children that I cant even afford to have
Amazing chance that I will hopefully get
Trying to speak, without knowing a single word
In a different language they all speak
Our life is never boring…
It’s something new everyday
New challenge everyday!
To reach my dream and goal
WOOOWW! This is really deep and touching because their are many people who could relate to it.
Ode to Chocolate
I love chocolate & chocolate loves me
So sweet, yummy, and creamy
The thrill of you on my tongue
You make my taste buds pop
Sometimes creamy, sometimes crunchy
Sometimes round, sometimes squared
It’s so good I’ll eat it anywhere
One glimpse and my mouth starts to water
I could undress you right now
Toss your wrapper and
Devour you like you’re my last
Feeling all your textures
I’ll eat you till my last day
Nothing will ever compare to you
My mood goes from bad to good in a second
You make my day brighter than the sun
Just one bite
Taste like heaven
Makes me feel so good inside
Can i have another bite?
WOOOWW! I really like how you used personification.
i like your personification when you said ” I could undress you right now”
I like how you ended your poem with a question!
i like your choice of words comparing your love to chocolate, haha amazing
I can almost feel and taste the imagery, “so sweet, yummy, and creamy.”
i like your imagery “one bite taste like heaven”.
My Relationship with Poetry: A Sock with a Hole
It’s normal but odd,
Uncomfortable
to wear it,
Because the thought
of someone seeing it seems ‒
Embarrassing.
It’s frustrating
for imperfection
Because it’s just like
the wrong words
emerging from my ink,
“Stupid” instead of
naive, ignorant.
I’d never want
to take off my shoes.
When you say that you don’t want to ever take off your shoes, what do you mean?
It means I don’t want to show my poetry just like I don’t want to show my socks with holes.
Oh ok. NICE!
nice poem i like how you used plenty of imagery
I enjoyed your use of imagery.
Very good use of language , i like how you wrote and structured your poem .
Its a great poem Gaoshoua. Id tell you in person but it’s better if it’s permanent on here. But I especially like the end and your comparison with your relationship to poetry to a sock with a hole is PERFECT.
Gorilla-symbol poem Tremaine newton p.1
A gorilla stands tall
In the jungle hear
The pounding on its big chest
Fist protruding into the ground
The gorilla like electricity
Powerful shock every animal
With power
Its fury and toughness
Scares away others animals
The gorilla shifts
Its weight to any competitor
Unleashing
Leadership
This Fire!!!
i like how you use imagery in your poem.
I like how you used imagery in the poem. For example in your first lines it says, “A gorilla stands tall in the jungle hear, the pounding on its big chest.”
Melekiola Finau
April 07, 2016
Period: 01
You
You made me happy ever since we met.
Constant smiles on my face when you’re here.
Walking by your side with no regret.
Being with you until we disappear.
I spend most of my days thinking of you
And the love and joy you brought to me.
Our love is so strong it has come true.
When I am in your presence I feel free.
Oh, how I love you for the way you are
And for how you constantly make me feel.
But most of all I love you for you
Because I know you’re mine for real.
If you ever shall shed a single tear,
Your loving angel will always be here.
I like your sonnet! It is really good.
I like your choice of words. This poem’s really deep.
I love your sonnet! Especially the last part, its very touching.
I second that! It’s a really good sonnet! Girls like poem, show it to your girl:)
Your loving tone is very touching. I like your progression throughout the sonnet.
Tava I really like your us of iambic penta meter and meter. You used stressed and un stressed vowels.Also you used very use voice in your sonnet. For example, hear and disappear.
My relationship to poetry is like eating tasteless fruit.
It’s not really good, but it ain’t the worst.
It may sting and burn, also it’s not sweet like a ripe orange.
Learning poetry when not interested is like eating that tasteless, burning,numbing slices of apples.
Your similes were Fuego
Your poem has a great comparison! I’d like it more if you had gone further though:(
For your 3rd sentence, you could also write it to sound like, ” It may sting, burn, and taste bitter unlike a sweet ripe orange.”
juan i really like your used of imagery and figurative language. For example tasteless fruit and ripe orange.
I love your comparisons. It really shows your relationship with poetry. “Learning poetry when not interested is like eating that tasteless, burning, mumbling slices of apples” is my favorite in your poem.
Your meaning is deep, and I can relate to the “poem is like a tasteless fruit” theme.
I really like the use of your figurative language.
Hands of the Innocent
Its empty shells scatters
Across the ground, as smoke
Comes out of the long
Pitch-black barrel.
It fires again, the loud
Sound is like a nuke
That has just exploded.
This instrument of murder,
It stains blood
On the wielder’s hands.
deeppppppp
I like the simile “Sound is like a nuke”.
“The Gaurdian”
You may run through the flowers with no fear
Without any worries may the sun shine down
Through your eyes of light the world may seem clear
For mine have seen many lifetimes through fine brown
I watch as curiosity fills your heart with wonder
Without a care in the world her smile grows
What goes on in that beautiful mind I ponder
We are headed towards where the wild wind flows
Hand in hand, day by day you’re getting much older
We shall face this world of secrets together
I know sometimes you feel the weight on your shoulder
But no worries my other half I will stay forever
Don’t be scared, no need to go and hide
For I am here, let me be your guide
I love your choice of words and how you put everything together(:
Shining Star
As a shining star is bright, you are too
Giving life to all those below yourself
When can I call you my beautiful boo
One who stands so tall like my pinewood shelf
Oh the nights I’ve dreamt of her pretty smile
Those tasty luscious lips and perfect hair
Together with me we be King and Queen
Unlike the rest I am one you can bear
But one day you will disappear from me
May it be death or could it just be you
The warmth I shall always cherish from thee
Locked deep in my soul like paper with glue
Bright as a star, oh yes you really are
Though years may pass you’ll remain in my heart
“But one day you will disappear from me
May it be death or could it just be you” Those lines were very touching.
In Syria it rains gunshots
A child has just left school
He walks home in fear
Taking the long safe way home
Instead of the short dangerous way
He smiles and waves to his neighbors
Hiding the terror in his heart
Directing his eyes on the remaining ruins
Burnt houses
Bombed buildings
Stains of blood on the concrete
Horrified by the disturbing sight
The child hurries home to clear the image out his mind
He opens the squeaky wooden door
Which to his suprise still works properly
He enters his safe haven
The child glares at the empty living room
Silence…
He searches every single room
But finds nothing
A thought runs through his head
Where is my family?…
A question that still remains unanswered
Like Buddha once said
“ Peace comes from within, Do not seek it without”
Let the child find peace
Let Syria find peace
Let the world find peace
Shall I expect what tomorrow will bring?
Since all I have wished was your presence here
Though as time passed by I stopped daydreaming
But in my heart you will not disappear.
When we fell apart I was filled with fear
Yet I stood up built and dispassionate
Thinking this is how life made it all clear
Though I can not lie I was passionate.
Together or not, I love you the same
The memories we shared they are suppressed.
Sometimes it is a matter of fair game
Always wishing you nothing, but the best.
For as long as I am living my life
By any chance, I am dealing no strife.
You are so right. we will not know what tomorrow brings.
“POETRY IS LIKE”
SOUR PATCH CANDY
SUJEY ALONSO
You can get it easily
But at a price
Once you put it in your mouth
It’s Sour
Your mouth feels like it wants to speak
But you remain unspoken
Words want to come out
But the taste is like a wall
It takes time
Then it’s sweet
Words finally come out
And seem to get into place
The taste breaks the wall
And your emotions come out
It takes time
But it’s worth it
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RGRusGesmAjKC9spwkguUJmjCG5l2-jp8aWHpikKo3A/edit?usp=sharing
I like the use of imagery.
“ McDonalds” Sonnet
I do not like you because I love you
The energy you bring when you’re with me
When we are not together I go blue
McDoubles, fries, frappe, you bring me glee
Even though you are not healthy for me
I will never cheat on you with subway
When I’m with you I feel like I am free
If they separate us, you are still bae
Our love and hate relationship is funny
I hate the fact that I have to share you
I love how you turn rainy days to sunny
Our love is like a boy with better hairdo
I’m like a statue starring right at you
McDonalds, the place to go with a crew
i liked when you said
“Even though you are not healthy for me I will never cheat on you with Subway”
i love your topic <3
I appreciate your word choices since words you used were very trendy. Your sonnet is well written.
Losing Our People
All over the world
A man or women,
Is a daughter, or son
A mom or dad, niece or nephew
Aunt or uncle, wife or husband
Even a brother or sister.
Yet, some cold hearted bastard
Just took an innocent life,
For no apparent reason
A regular car drives by,
You don’t suspect a thing –
She walks, he turns
But they were at the wrong place –
At the wrong time…
1 gunshot, right to the leg
Just enough to shoot them down
2 gunshots, right to the back
Just enough to paralyze them
3 gunshots, right to the head
Just enough to kill them
The car wheels screech
As they leave an innocent body
Crying on the cold streets of violence
A life – lost
Like a star behind dark trees
A life – gone
Like an angels wings beyond the white fluffy clouds
“ Nobody owns life, but anyone who can pick up a gun, owns death “ – W.S.B
Murder is as common as dirt,
Cruel as the grave
And irrelevant as the act
Murder is the death of our society
IN MEMORY OF J.J
R.I.P
I like how you included a quote in your poem
#Black Lives Matter
This just in
young Trayvon Martin dies
by shots fired at him.
With every shot fired
his life fades away.
Discrimination
was hidden under a cloth of shadows
Under the heart of the day
It just took a single girl
Named Patrisse Cullors
the starter of
A new way
It is a change of the way we talk
The way we think
The way we speak
The way we act
Trayvon
A seed to many
Supporting the cause
A group of people for a bright new path
#Black lives matter
They are human
They are they are friends
Then there was another
Then another
Brown and Clark where the water to the the seed
It grew and grew
Til the weak get strong
And the strong get weak
Because Black Lives Matter
Like you and me
This is my news poem