Creative Writing - Leonard Cohen Modeled Poem

"I Heard of a Man…" by Leonard Cohen

I heard of a man
who says words so beautifully
that if he only speaks their name
women give themselves to him.

If I am dumb beside your body
while silence blossoms like tumors on our lips.
it is because I hear a man climb stairs and clear his throat outside the door.



Foyer

I had met a boy
who sings those words perfectly
that if he were to mention it
the girls would ask to sing along.

If I am still after your touch
while our lack of words burns like cancer in our veins.
it is because I’ve heard him reaching our flight of stairs and stir outside.

By Lauren DePolo modeled after Leonard Cohen’s “I Heard of a Man…”

Creative Writing - Performance Piece

There are birds near the ceiling.
They're floating upwards.
They'll get out of here,
they don't need to be anchored down.
They love you, like I did.
They want you to succeed, as do I.
They'll forget how you hurt them, as I do.
These little birds.
Once in your hands, turning to parchment.
Origami birds will never fly.


1) What voice is apparent within your poem? Please describe in detail.
I don't think there is a specific idea behind the poem, it could be described as dreamy though.

2) What type of mood will you try to express when performing your poem in front of the class?
I think I'll just try to be eccentric and intense.

3) What types of gestures, nonverbals, and or movement will you be incorporating into your performance?
I'll be flailing around in front of the class.

4) What frightens you about this assignment? What seems exciting about this assignment?
I don't like being in front of people, but I'm excited to look like a doof.

5) How does performance poetry enhance the meaning of a poem? Be specific.
Performing the poem can convey a completely different meaning than just the words. You could make your a wholly changed emotion by the way you act.

Creative Writing - Jesus by Brand New

Jesus Christ, that's a pretty face

The kind you'd find on someone I could save

If they don't put me away

Well, it'll be a miracle

Do you believe you're missing out

That everything good is happening somewhere else?

But with nobody in your bed

The night's hard to get through

And I will die all alone

And when I arrive I won't know anyone

Well Jesus Christ, I'm alone again

So what did you do those three days you were dead?

Cause this problem's gonna last more than the weekend.

Well Jesus Christ, I'm not scared to die,

I'm a little bit scared of what comes after

Do I get the gold chariot?

Do I float through the ceiling?

Do I divide and pull apart?

Cause my bright is too slight to hold back all my dark

And this ship went down in sight of land

And at the gates does Thomas ask to see my hands?

I know you're coming in the night like a thief

(So throw your tongue in mine)

But I've had some time, oh Lord, to hone my lying technique

(I know it's so hard breathing in alone)

I know you think that I'm someone you can trust

(And you were right, I know I said you were wrong)

But I'm scared I'll get scared and I swear I'll try to nail you back up

(I always said you were wrong)

So do you think that we could work out a sign

So I'll know it's you and that it's over so I won't even try

I know you're coming for the people like me

But we all got wood and nails

And we turn out hate in factories

Yeah, we all got wood and nails

And we turn out hate in factories

Yeah, we all got wood and nails

And we sleep inside of this machine

I chose Jesus by Brand New because it addresses an age old question of the existence of a higher power and the afterlife. It seems like the singer is dealing with something in his life that is hard to understand and fix. He wants to know that someone is there for him but has questioned the idea of a higher being for his life. It's also showing a little of the corruption of society within the last stanza of the song. I'm not a highly religious person but I like the idea of interpreting all of the options. Life is hard at all times and knowing someone or some being is there is hard to always rely on. I chose this song for this assignment because of the constant unknowing of a power like this. I think even those with the strongest faith wonder about existence after death.

Life of a Walking Koi

He gallivants below the surface
His toes digging into the sand,
gills separating oxygen from H2O.
The jellyfish float by,
an electric current through Atlantis.
He passes the hay bales,
seemingly quite dry.
He passes the Amory eels,
slithering and squirming.
He swiftly dances around
a fisherman's hook.
He skips his way to lover's lane.
The birds fly over head,
whilst the angelfish swims by.

Creative Writing - New Love

She laughed loudly, veins full of sugar.
She cared not to sit alone, she desired a frenzy.
She never learned how, but would try to dance.
Just desiring to take off through the rain
To end up somewhere, even if it's no where in the dark.
She didn't ask for more than a warm embrace.

His father lacked the ability to embrace.
Their relationship falling like pouring sugar.
His father always seemed to leave him in the dark.
Trusting him to take care of his own frenzy
In their world, there was nothing but the rain.
He hoped one day, he would learn to dance.

She forgot those who which she would dance.
Seldom recalling those she would embrace.
None of them would ever walk her home in the rain.
Speech filled with lies, maybe sprinkled with sugar.
All they desired was a warm frenzy.
Only what is shadowed by a night's dark.

He floated through night, covered by dark.
The night-time stars twinkled in a celestial dance.
Meteors and shooting stars flew in a frenzy.
The cold enveloped him in an unexpected embrace
making things stick together, like a glaze of sugar.
He went in and onward, avoiding oncoming rain.

The sounds of stilettos, like thunder and rain
Everything in the room fading to dark
Her dress flowing, the color of burnt sugar.
Bartender shuffled like it was his calling, his dance.
She wanted liquid fire to take her in an embrace.
She moved with fluidity while he moved in a frenzy.

They moved together, desire building into frenzy.
The beat pounding through like the outside rain.
He took her into his arms in a new embrace.
Everything around the two turned to dark.
Her body in his arms, their lips would dance.
Both tasting quite perfect to one another, like sugar.

In a love like a frenzy, nothing stopping them, not even the dark.
Even through the days when it would rain, they never forgot to dance.
Their lives were warm, like a constant embrace, lacing each others' lives with sugar.

Creative Writing - Perfection

I'm sorry that I laugh too loud.
I'm sorry that the laughs are out of context.
I'm sorry I smile at people I don't know.
I'm sorry you were one of those people.
I'm sorry I'm too shy.
I'm sorry that shyness brought you near.
I'm sorry my jokes aren't funny.
I'm sorry you made punchlines for the senseless ones.
I'm sorry you saw the meaning of the universe in my eyes.
I'm sorry those eyes made tears in your name.
I'm sorry you were my world.
I'm sorry you gave it up.
My apology is all you'll receive, it's all you deserve.

English IV - AoW Response

This week, we read an AoW about a boy that was charged on adult charges for murdering his soon-to-be step-mom. The immediate thoughts by the public is why a child would be charged as an adult. Though I feel that he may not have done it at all. The article showed absolutely nothing concerning the father or any motives he may have. In my mind, if they kept a twelve-year-old child in an adult institution with this little proof, it's absolutely the wrong thing to do. In the article, all that is stated is that "Police found gun residue on Jordan's shirt," and that "a state trooper testified that the gun smelled like it had been freshly fired." With this amount of evidence, I don't see how someone could throw a child into jail. I'm sure it would be extremely easy to set up a child at the age of twelve. If, he did in fact kill someone, he should absolutely be charged as an adult. Murder is murder, no matter what age the killer is.

amenable; liable to be brought to account.