Dream narratives

This week, Belding students read Tom Pickard's poem Valentine, and discussed its dream-like sequence of events and quick-cutting shifts in image and viewpoint. Students were then given three words apiece, and asked to write a poem that somehow connected them into a single work. The students found some wonderfully inventive ways of connecting seemingly disparate objects into a single and unified whole. A few student works are posted below.

From Mr. Merrill’s class:

By Arnel

A blue shell wrapped

in an orange quilt it

fell from a tree the

forest had clean grass

and had less trees and

light came through.

***

The Nice Snack

By Sadie C.

I am drinking tea and eating a fruit salad. Writing

a letter and listening to the radio. The pen sprayed

ink on me. Now I have to take a shower. I feel fresh and I

am going back to writing my letter. I found out why the

pen sprayed me. It was an old pen. I bought a new pen

and went back to writing

to my friend Lily and drinking

my green tea. The radio

was now playing jazz.

***

Dreams About a Forest

By Michael D.

I made a joke

about a mirror

inside a forest.

The forest has a mirror

in it because someone

put it in there.

The joke is about a forest

mirror. There

are also two

spiral trees.

***

from Mr. Aivazian’s class

Valentine

By Chris W.

When I go to the library, I feel a

violin and I touch it. When it was

Valentine’s Day, the cupid shoots

the arrow for the people

who love it.

***

My Family

By Daniela

I eat melon with my family and melon is

green and orange and so sweet and delicious.

One day my mom and dad gave

so many jokes and next we play always with

my dad.

***

By Zachary

I saw a pool it

was green and I saw

a crown in my house

that is inside the

pool.

***

from Ms. Navrocki’s class

Spark Ocean

By Ahlam

The ocean is like spark more than

curtains. The curtains fly above the

spark ocean. The ocean is deep and

you go down you can see flying sparks.

I am in the ocean it flies me back

out spark curtains now flying. The

curtains tie me like a rope. I try

to run but then I don’t escape. Scrap scrap scrap

the ocean sings with terrible joy.

***

by Shanon

Once about a car

there was a rock star

and it was a button

with glasses and ears.

He fell down from the tree

and busted his head, he

cried until

his rock star

mom sent him

to bed. She wore

bifocal glasses

and a bee in a belt pocket.

***

Bell ringing, spiral, and napkin

One day I heard a bell ringing. I went

to see. It was a spiral. When I opened

the spiral, I saw a colorful napkin on it.

I saw words. The napkin said “sleep sleep sleep

with me.” I heard something ring. Not a phone a

bell. I went upstairs to my sister’s room. My sister

had a bell. She gave me a spiral. Then she

told me to open it. I saw the words napkin,

bell, and spiral. My sister asked if it was her napkin and

spiral. I laugh.