Poem in Your Pocket Day 2008

I'm not yet brave enough to compose in public, but I'll take this as a reference challenge to list the poets who correspond to the lines off the top of my head:

The Owl and the Pussy-Cat went to sea..
Edward Lear

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!...
Paul Dunbar, inspiring Maya Angelou

I wandered lonely as a cloud...
Wordsworth

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
Shakespeare

Drink to me, only with thine eyes...
Ben Jonson

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves...
Lewis Carroll

My heart leaps up when I behold-
the sky so filled with buildings old
Such colors at night - they fill the sky
give me reason and hope to try
to reach the level of success
the most amazing city, YES!

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
Metal and glass, and a sky through bars..
City dwellers, behold!
It’s a fool leading fool blindfold.

-JD

Pardon me sir, I have a question or two –

What, pray tell, is this City to do?

It’s never been easy for us to get by

And prices for everything now are sky high

With two years to go, you can still pull us through!

Pardon me, sir, I've a question or two...
about the best way to fix

my heart which is filled with ghosts
in a city which is filled

with the voices of the living and
the going. I have lived here

just long enough to develop a sense
of bird song. Each bird is a ghost

you cannot hold. What you cannot
touch you cannot fix. Stranger,

together, listening, we fix
almost nothing, but we are together.

Jennifer Lauer

Pardon me, sir, I've a question or two …

Ah, the burden you face; wouldn't like to be you.

Everyone shouting to his or her taste,

None of whom helping, just making waste.

But you sir, you care, I know that you do,

I see it in all of your plans through and through.

Mostly, I see it in that no one owns you,

'tis not the case with the rest of the crew.

I hoped that your plan to reduce all congestion

will pass, despite egos, party lines, and recessions

Ah, your long term plan, to save our great city,

Please stay mayor forever, without you, such a pity.

Poem for Mayor Bloomberg Beginning with a Line of His

"Pardon me, Sir. I've a question or two."

That's what they all say.

What they really mean is: will you

listen to my rant of the day

which blames our problems as a nation

on the lack of a unifying vision

giving rise to such frustration

that people will embrace any illusion

that knocks on the door, and more along

these lines until you, Mr. Mayor,

say: is there a question here?

I say: Take the day off. Sing a song

like "(We'll Have) Manhattan." You, sir,

can count on the poetry vote. Cheers!

There was an Old Man with a beard, down the road
His name was Old Man Shilsky, he hated colored people and loved his kind
He had two daughters, and a son
His wife was nearly blind in one eye and her body was ill
The son died in war and both daughters left the old man
The old man got divorced and left the ill woman
That Old Man Shilsky that lives down the road, is know gone
With nothing but himself

When I have fears that I may cease to be...
I look at the faces that have come past me
They are young, they are old
But they all had stories that they told.

When I have fears that I may cease to be..
I look up in wonder at the magnificence and power of thee.
I see your omnipotent hand in every bud, every flower, every tree
And I am assured that your grace is with me.

When I have fears that I may cease to be..
I remember that bud, that flower, that tree..
Yes, they cease, but only for a bit
Because the cycles of life require time to commit

When I have fears that I may cease to be...
I recall the generations that have gone before me.
I accept that they have left footprints for me to follow
And hope that the steps I leave will prove useful tomorrow.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
silent as an ether
gaud looking into vagrant faces, turning
corners, turning graces away
figuring on the places you once
stayed, standing, gazing at lakes
imaging yourself chopped and turned
in the wake or the lattice of
that tall and solemn stone
in Evanston, and wondered while
wandering why you hadn't shared
or bared the gloss of it
before turning towards
the ether yourself

My eyes bear my witness
and your end is still carrying
carrying the soles of my feet
towards my own
more vocal
ending

There was a child went forth every day
So no one thought to look at her
So special that she floated
Obliquely under the gun-rack

There was a child of a child went forth
Every day with artificially orange orange juice
24 hour talk-radio
10 minute red-lights
And 6-packs of Pepsi One

There was a child of a child of a child
Went forth from this crooked drifting girl
As she watched the Kwiky-Mart drive thru
Reign over the obesity equipped child sheet
In a 3rd rate pickup
With the 2nd hand smoke
Of her 1st class family

There was a child

i saw him through my eyes
and tears were sweeping by
he walked through the door
while i hid, from the one that i adore

we looked at each other but i glanced away
the more i thought about him,
the more my thoughts astray
in my head, i wanted him to go
but in my heart, i wanted him to stay

i blocked my face
and wouldnt let him see
the girl that he was looking for,
the girl that he was looking at is me

when it was time for him to go
i started crying, i didnt know
what is it that my heart is trying to say?
i hope i'll find out one day
hopefully, not too late.......

im lost in my world
im lost in my thoughts
i keep on wondering
if he loves me or not
i know hes said "no,"
a million times
and seconds ago

but each time i look into his eyes
and saw that his was on mines
it gives me hope
and a greatful smile
but he takes it away
by looking and going the other way

each time i try to talk to him
theres always something else he gotta do
i know hes trying to push me away
but i love him more each day
i hope he would change his mind and turn this way

i just hope it wont be too late
its too tiring just waiting for my fate
either he changes his mind now
while i would agree to say "i love you"
or never again, will my love be true!

I did the PSA's first line poetry project with two classes of fourth graders - here are some of their fabulous poems:

My heart is like a singing bird
It is always singing
A person comes and admires me
Because my heart is a beautiful thing
It is like a singing bird.

My heart is like a singing bird
It is very shy
But when it feels like someone is nice
It starts to sing a tune
It is like a singing bird

My heart is like a singing bird
It is delicate and fragile
It has no idea what to do
So it stops singing and flies away
Because my heart is like a bird
It has qualities of a bird.
Melissa Petrie, 4th grade, PS 132

My heart is like a singing bird
It is chirping in my body
As long as I don't let it go
It would be warm in my body
It's ok if there's a bird in me
As long as you don't break my heart
You won't break the bird in me.

Mary Cardenas, 4th grade, PS 132

I know what the caged bird feels
Oh!
And when the cage opens, flies at me, I say
Woa!
The bird was putting on a show, and I said
Oh!
And because of that a joke, my face did a
Glow!
And it all started when I said
Oh!

Sierra Rivera, 4th grade

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
I know what the caged
bird feels it feels sad

I know what the caged bird feels
alas it feels lonely

I know what the caged bird feels
alas it feels made

I know what the caged bird feels
alas it feels caged up

But I know it it not all caged up
It feels free now.
Stephanie Ruiz, 4th grade

When you are old and gray and full of sleep
you wake up one morning and feel full of life
You see the people you love and put them to sleep
And you say to yourself wow
I helped a lot of people today
I feel full of light.
You hear the ocean in your soul
and see the birds with worms
you put a smile on your face
and go gray and sound
fast asleep.
Christian Echavarria, 4th grade

When you are old and gray and full of sleep
You have a little bit of hair on you
You are really tired and stressed out
When you are old and gray and full of sleep
You are sometimes wise and sometimes colorful
When you are old and gray and full of sleep
You can sometimes be sad and joyful
You can be thinking that you are silly
You can also be willy nilly!
Jonathan Rivera, 4th grade

Go and catch a falling star,
For it has come from afar,
Made by God's very own hand,
To our beauteous home land.

Go and catch a falling star,
For it has come from afar
Twinkling bright in the dark night,
Shimmering with silvery light.

Go and catch a falling star
For it has come from afar
Hold it close to your heart
It was God-made from the start.

Go and catch a falling star
For it has come from afar
And will find you wherever you are!