Kelsey

Original Poem High School When I walked thought those doors I knew I was in high school I knew I was ready for the responsibility I knew I could handle it I knew I was in high school Those large glass windows stood tall I knew I could handle it The work load would be tremendous Those large glass windows stood tall Those wide winding hallways The work load would be tremendous The new teachers Those wide winding hallways I knew I was ready for the responsibility The new teachers When I walked thought those doors Techniques "I knew" - Technique used is repetition. "Those large glass windows stood tall" - Technique used is imagery. media type="file" key="wiki project.wav" width="300" height="50" Original Poem I AM an athlete I WONDER why I feel the way I do I HEAR the sound of clacking cleats I SEE the grassy fields I TOUCH the grassy fields I WORRY that I didn’t bring my equipment

I PRETEND to be strong I HOPE to be strong I FEEL the stick in my hand I WORRY when I’m alone I CRY when no one’s around I AM an athlete

I UNDERSTAND that I can’t always win I SAY I am fine when I’m not I WANT to achieve the best I DREAM that I am invincible I AM an athlete Techniques

"I PRETEND to be strong I HOPE to be strong"- Technique used is repetition again.

"I AM an athlete"- Technique used is situation.

Poems By Another Author Who Understands Me But Me By Jimmy Santiago Baca They turn the water off, so I live without water, they build walls higher, so I live without treetops, they paint the windows black, so I live without sunshine, they lock my cage, so I live without going anywhere, they take each last tear I have, I live without tears, they take my heart and rip it open, I live without heart, they take my life and crush it, so I live without a future, they say I am beastly and fiendish, so I have no friends, they stop up each hope, so I have no passage out of hell, they give me pain, so I live with pain, they give me hate, so I live with my hate, they have changed me, and I am not the same man, they give me no shower, so I live with my smell, they separate me from my brothers, so I live without brothers, who understands me when I say this is beautiful? who understands me when I say I have found other freedoms?

I cannot fly or make something appear in my hand, I cannot make the heavens open or the earth tremble, I can live with myself, and I am amazed at myself, my love, my beauty, I am taken by my failures, astounded by my fears, I am stubborn and childish, in the midst of this wreckage of life they incurred, I practice being myself, and I have found parts of myself never dreamed of by me, they were goaded out from under rocks in my heart when the walls were built higher, when the water was turned off and the windows painted black. I followed these signs like an old tracker and followed the tracks deep into myself followed the blood-spotted path, deeper into dangerous regions, and found so many parts of myself, who taught me water is not everything, and gave me new eyes to see through walls, and when they spoke, sunlight came out of their mouths, and I was laughing at me with them, we laughed like children and made pacts to always be loyal, who understands me when I say this is beautiful? **Still I Rise**

BY MAYA ANGELOU You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard ’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I've got diamonds At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise. Techniques "like dust"- technique used is simile "You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes," - technique used is personification.