Amandas Amazing Anthology

When I first started writing poetry, I only thought that poems were supposed to be entertaining and funny. But one of the first poems that I read this year was I, Too by Langston Hughes. This poem was far from what I thought a poem was. I, Too was a serious poem about something that really happened, but with a hidden meaning. And to make it even stranger, there wasnt a rhyming scheme. Poets like Langston Hughes who can write such a powerful poems without giving away the metaphors and meanings, are the poets that really inspire me. Of course, even though I try really hard to write amazing poems and short stories with hidden meaning, it is always really fun to make up a little poem that makes no sense to anyone but me. Making people laugh is my second goal in poetry, so the reader can be serious and try to be a detective to find out the metaphors and laugh along with a poem that is fun to read. The poems that I enjoy reading the most are the poems that are like mazes or puzzles. These poems arent about mazes, but they act like one while youre trying to figure out what one word that doesnt look like English mean or what this metaphor is trying to symbolize. I think that the part that my readers will enjoy the most in my poetry anthology is the different variety of poems in my book. There are concrete poems, free verse, color poems, 5 senses poems, and many more. My favorite poem that I wrote was Strong and Tall a free verse poem that I wrote. I hope that you like it as much as I do. This poem spoke to me as I wrote it, and let me tell you now, in a lot of poems things arent always as they seem. I broke a few rules to make this poem the way I wanted it, and I hope that the readers like it anyway. The biggest thing that you will see in this poem is broken poetry rules, because I am not afraid to make an original poem the way I want to make it. I hope that you enjoy reading my work as much as I did writing it.

Amanda Berrios

Homework
Cinquian Poem

Homework Boredom, Headaches Sighing, Moaning, Dyeing Lying awake at night Hatred

Spiral Concrete Poem

Spirals never stop Spinning Round Who will know Spiral stop They How will this That never stops playing. Keep The game spinning Until
Small

maybe round it gets too Will We

and

Just

Have to wait

SPIRAL
Spinning Never stops singing. Spinning The song that

Happiness
Haiku Poem

Sunshine on our backs Laughter always takes over Climbing to fill the heart

Strong and Tall (A free verse poem)

A building stands strong and tall Even when the wind Attempts to knock it to the ground Or a cloud, Strives to make it unseen, unheard Or lightning Undertakes to destroy it

A new building can Try to stand higher But even though The strong building Wants to give up And crumble down, It must stand rooted to the concrete Or why would it be called

The strong and tall building

Rainbow
A color poem

Yellow is the shining sun Blue is the sky that we can never lose Red is the warmth of a fire on a bone chilling night Orange is the courage from the people before me
Green sounds like the freedom of the first day of summer

Purple smells like lavender buds blooming on the first day of spring Black tastes like dark chocolate melting on my tongue White looks like a cloud, being whatever it wants to look like Gray looks like a kitten purring contently in my hands The world is my rainbow

Lynxian
A Creature Poem

This is a lynxian Lynxians live in lively Louisiana Lynxians eat lettuce, lice, lemons, leopard leaps, and lima beans Lynxians like leprechauns, lightning, lacrosse and learning languages Lynxians are lime yellow like light little lacrosse balls This lynxian saved me from some lazy leprechauns, leashed llama.

I Am I am poem I am a unique student with a big heart I wonder what other people think of me I hear the light bulb above my head click I can see my own success But I want others to see it too I am a unique student with a big heart

I try to pretend that I am perfect I feel though that I am constantly falling I touch others minds and hearts when they need me the most I worry that others will laugh and be mean And I cry when they do I am a unique student with a big heart

I understand that I cant save everyone from the pain of bullies

So I say stand strong and hold your ground I dream to grow into something amazing I try to be amazing now I hope to inspire others I am a unique student with a big heart

Freedom

5 Senses Poem

Freedom is the Red, White and Blue It tastes like cool lemonade on the first day of summer It looks like a cloud, being whatever it wants to look like, the chameleon of the sky It smells like the sweat of hard work it took to reach the goal It sounds like the screaming kids racing out of school on a weekend Freedom is work

Spinach! O, Spinach! Pessimistic Poem

Spinach! Oh Spinach! I hate you! You smell! Whenever I see you I want to jump into a well If only the plants that Made spinach died Spinach! Oh Spinach! I want to throw you aside

Id rather have to fight with a beast Alone in the dark And let him leave An embarrassing mark Id sleep on sharp spikes Or Ill walk on hot coal To avoid you for 1 day Would be a great goal Spinach! Oh Spinach! I simply cant see How people think of you

As a delicacy If you just disappeared I would jump over the moon Spinach! Oh Spinach You make me gloom

The little Dog A limerick poem

There once was a skinny brave dog Who could take down devils while rolling on a log? So to even his weight He munched on reality and fate Then when danger came, he hid in the fog

My Shadow Robert Louis Stevenson I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me And what can be the use of him is more than I can see He is very much alike me from his heels up to his head And I can see him jump before me as I jump into my bed

The funniest thing about him is the way he likes to grow Not at all like proper children, is which always very slow; For he sometimes shoots up higher than an Indian -Rubber Ball, And he sometimes gets so little that theres none of him at all.

He hasnt got a notion of how children ought to play And can only make a fool of me in every sort of way He stays so close behind me; hes a coward you can see Id think shame to stick to nursie as that shadow sticks to me One morning very early, before the sun was up I rose and found the shining due on every buttercup But my lazy little shadow, like an arrant sleepyhead Had stayed at home behind me

Fast asleep in bed

I choose My Shadow by Robert Louis Stevenson because this poem talks to me about something that we see every day, but dont pay attention to. This poem is about a little boy who tells the story of his shadow that follows him around like a dog. This poem was organized having every pair of lines rhyme. The stanzas are placed with four lines with each one. Or in other words, each stanza has 2 pairs of rhyming lines. In this poem, to me, the shadow could be something different than a shadow. The shadow could be he from another angle. When I first read this poem, I thought that he was talking about himself but calling himself the shadow. Perhaps if the boy was really talking about himself, he would have used something else to describe him as.

Fog
By Carl Sandburg

The fog comes On little cat feet.

It sits looking Over harbor and city On silent haunches And then moves on

Fog, by Carl Sandburg is a poem that isnt what it seems. In the poem Fog, there isnt any real fog. The fog is really supposed to be the fear of the unknown, which drapes around you like a real fog. This metaphor of the unknown is the symbolism of this poem. This poem is a free verse poem, without a beat or rhyme scheme. Fog is a very short poem, but is much stronger than a 3 page poem. I can personally connect to this poem because I, like a lot of other people, have been afraid of something that I didnt know about. For example, almost half the 5th graders in my school are petrified of going to the middle school. I am one of the biggest worriers about the middle school, just because I dont know it. The outcome for me is completely invisible, and until I can get a glimpse of it, Ill be freaking out a lot. The moral of this poem is, what we fear most, is the unknown itself. This means that even though people are afraid of spiders and heights, what most people fear does not know what will happen next. Perhaps if the future was visible to those who fear it most, the fear wouldnt be as common.

About the Author Amanda Berrios

Amanda Berrios is an 11 year old girl in the 5 grade. She is unique, funny, and talented and has a big heart. She has a passion for writing, soccer, lacrosse, basketball, cheer and gymnastics. She has two younger sisters, a lot of friends, two hamsters, a dog and a lot of fish. Everyone she knows always picks her up when she falls. Her inspiration is all of her teachers, who have taught her the things that she could never even imagine learning herself. Everyone around her enjoys her company and her personality, and she says that she is going to keep writing, laughing, and enjoying the 5th grade like there wont be a tomorrow!
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