Poems for The Musical Forest A Chapbook
Words and photography by: The students of the Newport classroom Spring, 2017
Table of Contents by Author Introduction...................................................................4 Xavier............................................................................5 Norah............................................................................7 Piper..............................................................................9 Blaise...........................................................................11 Evelyn.........................................................................13 Eras............................................................................15 Klara...........................................................................17 Cora............................................................................19 Everett........................................................................21 Will..............................................................................23 Stella...........................................................................25 Scout..........................................................................27 Rio..............................................................................29 Annie...........................................................................31 Lily...............................................................................33 Henry...........................................................................35 Luna............................................................................37 Andrew.......................................................................39 Eli................................................................................41 Annabel.......................................................................43 Oliver...........................................................................45 Emily............................................................................47
Poetics and the Poiesis of Childhood It is with great pleasure that I introduce this chapbook of poetry and photography. The following poems, and their respective photographic images, were created by the Newport classroom students. Through the process of finding special places within The Musical Forest to writing poetic works, the Newport students have remain intertwined with a relationship to transformation. Throughout our year together, we have found that poetry itself is a means through which the written language can transform into the imaginative, the emotive, and the evocative. Aristotle’s vision of Poiesis itself embraces the concept of creation through this transformation, a sort of “bringing-forth” through the poetic process. Here, too, we have found ourselves transformed through our place within The Musical Forest and through the words and images this space has inspired. For it is not only the space that has been transformed by language, but our inner selves have gone through a poetic revision as we have come to know and love this Forest dearly. Adventurously, Sarah Hassing, Atelierista 4
Roots The roots are flying They fly around The whole forest They play tag In the air And fly back down To the ground After ten days To take a rest
-Xavier
5
Tree of Lightning Tall and thick The strong tree bends In a storm It hears the wind It feels the rain The lightning touches The branches It helps the tree To grow.
-Norah
7
Branches Light skin, leaves Brownish branches The branches are big hands Holding the leaves They hold them so They don’t blow away The leaves blend Into the bark They are shy
-Piper
9
Breezy Trees The wind makes the leaves Fly off of the trees The wind makes the bird’s Nest shake The wind makes the little, soft branches Fall off The wind makes the strong branches Bend a little The wind makes the roots Go deeper and deeper
-Blaise
11
Rock Quarry She came from Where the rocks are Side by side She built her own Rock airplane She landed in the Musical Forest She found a good spot To lay down She found other rocks To live with They are her family -Evelyn
13
Climbing The Tree I climb the tree Like a cat My claws pull into the bark My feet climb higher The bark is hard and smooth Like kitty food I see a bird I climb faster to catch it
-Eras
15
Drum Mix Blue Green Blue Green Blue Boom, boom, boom The drum sounds Like a knocking On the doors My hands pound My feet stomp I’m writing this song
-Klara
17
Tree Family The tree family Stays close together They don’t want To lose anybody The little trees try To run away and play But they can’t Their mom and dad Gave them roots To keep them in place And safe Their branches snuggle Together -Cora
19
Fire Pit The ancient fire pit Sits and watches all It waits for a fire It likes the sparks And the red and yellow flames It hopes everybody comes And roasts marshmallows It says, “Sit, And rest by me�
-Everett
21
Tree Fort Rough and warm A place to hide The kids giggle And peek out They are playing Hide and seek
-Will
23
The Babies You grew from pine cones In the ground Dirt was a blanket To keep you safe You poked your heads out And said, “We live close to roots!”
-Stella
25
A Stick Named Rick Rick is a stick He’s part of a tree He has a friend bee Whose name is Ree Rick is a stick He likes to grow He has flowers In a circle and Flowers in a row Rick is a stick He loves butterflies In the sky
-Scout
27
Tree House I see the tree I wish it had tree stairs And a room up there I would play there For 100 days It would have a slide And a window And 24 doors It would have soap And a sink, and some candy It would have a rope, And a flag, and a place to play -Rio
29
Trees Up High Seven trees Stretch their branches They want sunlight. They reach for the sun It feels warm On their backs They feel excited
-Annie
31
Music in the Forest A lonely girl sitting In the musical forest She hears the wind blowing She hears someone drumming She wants to play She asks “Can I play with you?” The person says, “No.” The girl felt sad Then she felt happy because The person said, “I’m sorry.” So they drummed and drummed and drummed
-Lily
33
Two Stumps Once there were Two stumps All over them There were bumps The stumps were Good friends One of them Could bend The stump friends Talked to each other One said, “I am your mother” The baby said, “I am your friend” -Henry
35
Stump with a Mushroom Stump with little bumps Full of circles and lines She is happy She is proud She is cozy She is a home For bugs and creatures She keeps them dry and warm
-Luna
37
Flowers in the Musical Forest The flowers are best friends They grow straight to the sun together They like their school They like their home They love to eat brownies Because they know, Brownies are yummy
-Andrew
39
The Old Tree There was an old tree In the forest The old tree stayed alive Forever He gave his mom presents He have her 300 leaves He loved everybody in the world The tree was happy Every day
-Eli
41
The Nook Between the Trees The nook has lots of branches They are stacked on each other All bumpy They say, “Come in the cozy bed!” They hope everyone Will be cozy there It’s night time for the branches Shhhhh. Don’t wake them
-Annabel C.
43
Tree Family The tree family Is standing together They’re talking about Their vacation The baby says, “Let’s go to California.” They pick up their roots And clomp away
-Oliver
45
Elizabeth Elizabeth is A bumpy boulder She likes to watch the Kids while they play The birds’ feet tickle her When they land on her She feels happy When the squirrels crawl on her She is quiet
-Emily
47
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