A POETRY SLAM 

AT INVERNESS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

The students have just finished the poetry part of the project. They put a paper table cloth on two tables and then covered the cloth with graffiti. They got some bottles and melted candle wax on to the bottles to give them a well used look to create a coffee house atmosphere. When the students entered the room the day of their poetry reading they found candles lit on the tables, the lights turned down and heard music playing and saw a visual display of sounds on the computer screen. All of this was done to create a 60's, 70's coffee house atmosphere. 

Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin was the music coming from the CD. We talked about what a coffee house of the 60's, 70's might have looked like, who you might find visiting one, the music of the day, the political climate, and curtail climate. We talked about Big Brother and Janis, discovering who they were and their music. The students liked the music and a few of them wanted me to make a copy of the CD for them. We also talked about poetry slams. They researched slams a couple of days before the readings. The students were eager to read their poems. The students as they listened offered encouragement through soft quiet verbal praise and even snapped their fingers to the rhythm of the poem. After the readings we discussed the feelings that they experienced as the poems were being read.

 

 

A Homeless Man Plight

As we're walking down the street

looking for some food to eat

though there's only little we find

still we hope for a peace of mind

a home a nice warm place to sleep

to relieve us from this life of grief

as we try to get some cash

people stare and walk right past

not thinking of what we've been trough

no knowing we have no food to chew

they take for granted

the fact that they've been handed

a job a home food to eat

oh it must be so sweet

a comfortable bed in which to sleep

a stove to cook the food they'll eat

still we hope for the day

when we have a room for the night

an answer to our endless plight

few people care

but we're still there

hoping for the day to come

and a normal life to have begun

Homeless

A tear falls gently down my face,

As I stand here quietly,

In this dreadful place.

The people are dirty,

Their clothes ragged and worn,

Stranger's walk by only to scorn.

Children are crying,

From hunger and cold,

No homes for these people,

I look into face's,

And all I can see,

Are scared homeless souls,

How could this be?

A mother cries out,

When her child is gone,

How did how happen,

What when wrong?

How can we help them,

What can we do?

For these are people,

Just like me and you.

Beggars Union

Around a burning barrel,

underneath the interstate,

dwell the broken outcasts,

in a coven of disgrace.

From within the shattered buildings

or inside abandoned cars,

hear the chorus' of suffering,

unaccompanied by guitars.

By: Alva Hare

HOMELESS MAN

There is a homeless man on the corner

Living out of a raggedy old cardboard box

Trying desperately to stay warm to no avail

As the wind blows through the holes in his socks

Crouched over holding his stomach that's grumbling with hunger

Not really sure when he last had something to eat

There's a worn out sign asking for money

Next to an empty cup by his feet

He refrains from having to gaze into faces

Of the strangers that nonchalantly pass him by

Slowly lowering his head

And begins to cry

From a garbage pile close by

The foul stench feels the air

Unwillingly he gives into temptation

His self control fills with despair

Quickly looking around him

For fear of being caught

He finds a half eaten apple

That has begun to rot

He nervously takes a bite

Savoring the taste he swallows

Knowing more than likely

He won't eat again until tomorrow

Laying in his cardboard box

That now is his bed

Some old rolled newspapers

Is a pillow under his head

Looking at the stars in the sky

He silently starts to pray

That tomorrow he will be blessed

To never have to live this way

USED WITH PERMISSION