Lauren

=**My Poetry Anthology**=

A Sestina poem by Lauren Anker
 * Wonders of the World**

I would like to go somewhere, that is beautiful and great. To see what there is to be seen and to discover what there is to be found The far reaches of the globe are calling, and I will go, to see the towers (1) and waters of this world.

My journey around the world will take me somewhere that beckons and calls to wander the cities and great natural beauties that can be found, waiting for me to see.

Of all the world I know I shall see the structures made from sweat and evolution of the world, natural and man-made, all waiting patiently to be found. They are hiding somewhere, waiting to show off their greatness. All these lands, calling, calling.

One I know shall be a first to call is the Eiffel Tower, remembered by those who have seen its magnificence, towering over Paris, and its greatness. And another, the pyramids of Egypt, known by all the world. I will find them, somewhere in the desert, still waiting to be found.

Another marvel that I shall find is the Great Wall of China, stretching over hundreds of miles, and calling in Asia somewhere, or maybe the Grand Canyon, golden and immense, which everyone should see out of everything in the world, but it is hard to say one is more than the other when it comes to greatness.

Machu Picchu is another place said to be great of all the things that you can find in this extraordinary world. But what I would like most to do is to call out to all I wish to catch a glimpse, to see and to go somewhere.

And somewhere, I will go like a child for her mother, calling(2), to find what I have been looking for and to see; to look all over the world, to just go somewhere.

1. -Metaphor -A metaphor is a description of something that compares it to another thing without using like or as -“Towers” in this poem is a metaphor because it means two different things. In the poem, it says, “I will go, to see th towers and waters of the world.” Towers means both the mountains and the huge structures, whether man-made or large natural beauties in the world. In this line, “towers” is an important word which symbolizes two different things. This makes the poem more interesting and in my opinion, more clever. It is very important to have an exciting poem or one that uses many techniques to keep a readers interest.

2. -Simile -Describing something to another thing using “like” or “as” -In this poem, the whole point is to talk about how great the earth is and how much we should appreciate and love it for all its amazing places and wonders. I think the concept of people needing and loving the Earth so dearly is like a mother and child, so I used it near the end of my poem. This single phrase, using a simile, sums up the point of the poem of how the Earth is like a mother and how we call for it and all its wonders. This technique brings the poem to life by describing the concept to real life.

**The “I Am” poem:** **I Am a Sailor**

I am a sailor  I wonder where the wind will take me   I hear the crashi (3) of the waves   I see birds swooping across the horizon   I worry the current will blow me off course   I want to sail across the world I pretend I know where I’m going  I feel the spray of the sea on my face   I touch the sails   I worry they will break under the constant force of the wind   I cry out to passing sailors   I am an explorer I understand I don’t make much money  I say I don’t care   I dream of seeing the world from the sea   I hope I will succeed 3. Cool vivid words -attractive and exciting words that make the poem more intriguing and interesting and memorable. -The “crashing” waves and “swooping” birds add a lot of excitement and appeal to the poem. They are rather uncommon in every day word use, so they are rather unusual and eye-catching. This brings life to the poem and makes it more interesting.

-Repetition -When words or phrases are repeated to make a point or to emphasize an idea -Although this is an “I am” poem and “I am” is repeated three times in the format of the poem, the fact that “I am a sailor” is repeated three times add a spark of pride to the speakers tone. Since the speaker repeats saying “…a sailor” 2 times, at the beginning and end, the poem sounds proud and hopeful about being a sailor, even if life is hard for him. The use of repetition in this poem adds a lot of character and appeal to the poem.

**The Pantoum:** I am an American Jew  a girl of two worlds   people will ask me what it is like   I am proud of both my cultures A girl of two worlds  I see things from two sides   I am proud of both my cultures   it makes me who I am    I see things from two sides   I celebrate Independence Day   it makes me who I am   and I celebrate Passover I celebrate Independence Day  people will ask me what it is like   and I celebrate Passover   I am an American Jew.

Acrostic Poem by me  **Remember…** Remember your past, what you did, do you remember? Even the sounds and smells I can recall at the back of My mind from years ago. Evenings spent on a porch, Mornings cold and dark in wintertime. Birthdays and holidays, Exams, interviews, performances, Remember? media type="file" key="On Turning Ten recording for wiki.wav" width="300" height="50"

** On Turning Ten ** ** By Billy Collins ** The whole idea of it makes me feel like I'm coming down with something, something worse than any stomach ache or the headaches I get from reading in bad light-- a kind of measles of the spirit, a mumps of the psyche, a disfiguring chicken pox of the soul.

You tell me it is too early to be looking back, but that is because you have forgotten the perfect simplicity of being one and the beautiful complexity introduced by two. But I can lie on my bed and remember every digit. At four I was an Arabian wizard. I could make myself invisible by drinking a glass of milk a certain way. At seven I was a soldier, at nine a prince.

But now I am mostly at the window watching the late afternoon light. Back then it never fell so solemnly against the side of my tree house, and my bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today, all the dark blue speed drained out of it (5).

This is the beginning of sadness, I say to myself, as I walk through the universe in my sneakers. It is time to say good-bye to my imaginary friends, time to turn the first big number.

It seems only yesterday I used to believe there was nothing under my skin but light. If you cut me I could shine. But now when I fall upon the sidewalks of life, I skin my knees. I bleed. (6)  5. Personification -When objects or concepts are given human/living qualities -This line is saying that the speakers “bicycle never leaned against the garage as it does today, all the dark blue speed drained out of it.” A bike cannot have the “speed drained out of it,” because there is no such thing. But by using personification, Collins can say that the bike that has been ignored for so long has lost its speed and color, leaving it forgotten and dead. Personification can make a poem come to life by comparing it to human qualities, and by using it in this case, the poem (and the bike) comes to life and seems like it used to be alive, but now all of its characteristics that made it a bike are gone.

6. Extended Metaphor -a metaphor, or description of something compared to another but that compares the whole poem to an idea or thing -This phrase sums up the whole poem, which talks about growing up and turning ten and how one must become more mature, is pulled together in the last two lines, which talk about how when you fall now or make a mistake on “the sidewalks of life,” you cannot get up. It also says that you can’t believe things that aren’t true anymore, like how you used have “nothing under my skin but light.” And now you have to face reality. Collins compares sidewalks to the pathways and journeys in life in this poem very neatly by using the extended metaphor. The extended metaphor is a wonderful technique that makes a poem relate to a concept smoothly and makes the poem have meaning.

A free-verse poem by me:
 * Winter will never be the same**

I can’t get it out of my mind, that terrible, sickening night. The snow was deep, the sky was clear with stars gleaming in the chilly air it was a perfect day, no school from the snow that frightened them out of their wits. But even the beauty and peace could not make up for that terrible, horrible night. An unnecessary death, tears, wailing at the heavens for the life, so capable, so lovely, lost. I cannot explain- I cannot say, why it happened, why it had to be us. And I will never speak of it in words. I have tried, oh yes I have tried to speak, to get him out of my mind. But he would not budge. Maybe I am grateful that I can’t forget him, that he won’t leave me forever in my mind, but everywhere I see him. In the autumn leaves on the grass where he would bask in the sun, or when the air turns cold and icy with the coming winter I see him. Everywhere. When I imagine the approaching winter I freeze, I gasp. I smell the cool air that ruffles my hair, and I stiffen, I choke. And I still cry for the pain and horror I can still recall So clearly, so painfully clear, that I want to tear at the grass and make him come back, never to leave us again.