Thursday, October 1, 2009

One Sentence/15 Sentence Poem

The One Sentence Poem


The Red Wheelbarrow
by William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.



The New Dog
Linda Pastan



Into the gravity of my life,
the serious ceremonies
of polish and paper
and pen, has come

this manic animal
whose innocent disruptions
make nonsense
of my old simplicities—

as if I needed him
to prove again that after
all the careful planning,
anything can happen.



The Fifteen-Sentence Portrait

This assignment will generate descriptive writing. It is purposefully guided. So, begin by choosing a person to describe. Then follow the directions.

1. Picture in your mind a person you have strong feelings for. The subject may not be a "love" interest, but should be someone you feel strongly about. The person can be living or dead but should be someone you know or knew rather than a famous character.
2. For a title, choose an emotion or a color that represents this person to you. You will not mention the individual’s name in the writing.
3. For a first-line starter, choose one of the following and complete the sentence:

1. You stand there . . .
2. No one is here . . .
3. In this (memory, photograph, dream, etc.), you are . . .
4. I think sometimes . . .
5. The face is . . .
6. We had been . . .

1. Following your first sentence, build a portrait of this individual, writing the sentences according to these directions:

1. Sentence 2: Write a sentence with a color in it.
2. Sentence 3: Write a sentence with a part of the body in it.
3. Sentence 4: Write a sentence with a simile (a comparison using like or as).
4. Sentence 5: Write a sentence of over 25 words.
5. Sentence 6: Write a sentence under 8 words.
6. Sentence 7: Write a sentence with a piece of clothing in it.
7. Sentence 8: Write a sentence with a wish in it.
8. Sentence 9: Write a sentence with an animal in it.
9. Sentence 10: Write a sentence in which three or more words alliterate; that is, they begin with the same initial consonant: she has be left, lately, with less and less time to think . . .
10. Sentence 11: Write a sentence with two commas.
11. Sentence 12: Write a sentence with a smell and a color in it.
12. Sentence 13: Write a sentence with a simile (a comparison using like or as).
13. Sentence 14: Write a sentence that could carry an exclamation point (but do not use the exclamation point).
14. Sentence 15: Write a sentence to end this portrait that uses the word or words you chose for a title.

1. Next, read the portrait. Underline sentences in which you discovered new things about this individual or your feelings and attitudes toward him or her.
2. Now, use this portrait as a starting point for a poem or prose portrait or simply revise what you have. (Be sure to keep a copy of the original, so that you can examine the changes between original and revised piece.) Do anything you need to make this a piece of writing that you like. Choose a new title, use the person’s real name, and so on.

28 comments:

  1. Taylor Rugg

    Her paint-covered fingertips
    trace

    rain drops that are
    racing

    while streaking her own
    paths

    that follow the rain
    down.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cassidy Rose Hammond

    wedding lace
    lies on the floor

    the white thread creating
    misunderstood shapes

    weaving yet another
    fairy tale ending.

    ReplyDelete
  3. sleepy eyes mingle with
    cold feet

    the window only shows
    bare trees

    and the blue birds
    don’t sing

    ReplyDelete
  4. Briyanna Brinkley
    one sentence

    Snug in his arms
    clouds moving
    with the cool breeze

    smell of wildflowers
    and his cologne
    drifts me off to sleep

    here his voice coos

    he hands me a nowlater

    ReplyDelete
  5. The candle flame in the pumpkin
    glowed brightly

    Laughing at the wind that tried to blow it
    out , feeling courageous and special as it melted

    away.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Angela Boyle

    I heard a crash,
    looked over,
    and saw
    my mother.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Apricot

    The face is breaking in your memory
    Green with envy as her tears blind with sorrow
    Your hard hands strike her as guilty
    Your words are as harsh as the roaring sea
    It begins with her and it ends as a point where the both if you can’t pick yourselves up and just forgive and forget that she’s left for entirely to be dead
    Did you forget when she was alive?
    You burn the memories like that old dirty sweater she brought you
    She wishes you could see her in truth, but you only see the disgrace
    Her face reminds of you a brooding dog, one that begs, but you think
    She shouldn’t sell her soul for someone’s sadness
    And it’s fueling into your pain, your anger is all you know, can’t just get over it
    Your hate smells familiar to her pain, it’s red and it stains
    It doesn’t leave a color as strong as your fear
    You’re so blind you could only see the lies
    That paints the sky good morning.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was finally free
    sitting on the beach

    soaking the sun
    with the smell of the ocean

    but then I looked over

    and there he was
    coming for me yet again

    ReplyDelete
  9. Desire Giddens

    When you called
    I didn’t answer the phone

    because
    you disappoint me.


    In this picture you are leaning over me.
    Your chestnut deer eyes look down in glee.
    You lean your big baldhead on me.
    I feel my neck burn like your firing a laser.
    I can tell that one day I will hate you,
    because you don’t care enough to stay
    with me because of your own dumb insecurities.
    This isn’t about you
    Your bright yellow shirt hangs loosely over your thin body.
    I wish you’d be here to keep me warm.
    You’re too busy trying to bribe me with new puppies.
    Don’t dare drag me down
    I am, what you would say, wiser then I look
    You smell like axe, the kind they say is chocolate.
    Personally, I think it smells like gasoline.
    I hate how you forget me
    just remember, this is just a picture.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gabriela Julia

    Simmering on a hot
    summer day,

    the cold, solid
    ice melts

    and the condensing
    droplets of water

    slide down across
    your burning palm.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hannah Klaver
    One Sentence Poem

    We stood there together,
    gazing into the sunset

    The weather grew cruel
    and blew a gust of wind

    It threatened us
    with flashes of lightning

    ReplyDelete
  12. Vibrant Yellow

    We had been friends for only
    a short while but it felt
    like we had known each other for
    an eternity, endless like
    a black hole.

    Our minds seemed to connect
    when we first met thanks to
    a friend who knew us both.

    It was like love at first sight
    but it was a friendship, not love.

    It has been three years now,
    I feel as though I know you like
    a book, and yet there are still things
    about you that I still have
    yet to find out.

    I hope we remain friends
    forever.

    You are like an old sweatshirt,
    worn down to being very comfortable as in
    you are comfortable to be around.

    I wish we had been sisters,
    though we could be, so we could
    see each other everyday.

    You are like a monkey,
    hilarious and can be clumsy.

    We love laughing, living,
    listening to music we both love.

    We share so much in common,
    yet sometimes we seem so far apart,
    miles away and struggling
    to come back together

    You are like a vibrant yellow,
    full of life and crazy at times.

    When you yodel it drives me crazy,
    you are definitely one of a kind.

    We got married, not literally,
    but in a sense and I’ll never
    divorce you.

    You have flaws, but so do I,
    and that’s what makes you, you.

    You are my friend forever,
    may we never part.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 15 sentences Briyanna Brinkley
    we were like best friends
    always wearing the same color
    always walking together in the park
    you were like my teddy bear
    safe and always there
    we trusted each other and I thought that you would never leave; I thought we be forever and that you’ll never go but you did, your gone
    I lost you forever
    your Miami dolphin sweatshirt still hung on the chair
    I wish you would come back
    watch you drift to sea away from me
    you, always-got upset cause I hated peas but, you could never be mad for long
    your cookies smelled of love with a golden crust
    hug me like a teddy bear

    R.I.P Uncle Daryll Lee

    ReplyDelete
  15. Cassidy Rose Hammond – 10/1/09

    peridot drops

    you’ll stand there
    with your little peridot drops dangling from your ears
    I can hear your fingernails tapping on the doorframe
    like the sound of high heels click-clack-clacking
    or maybe it’s just your feet tap-tap-tapping as you stare at me disapprovingly from the hallway because I’m still not done with my homework or chores.
    I’ll do it later, I promise.

    but later you’ll put on that black dress
    wishing all the while that you were younger and didn’t live here
    with the mice and without your family close at hand
    doing something so destructive as sitting with your friends
    sipping some sort of sinful drink
    night, after night, after night

    green apple perfume floating in your hair
    like the famous movie director who’s got it all, who you wish you were
    Oh, if only I could’ve helped you before now!
    and as you stand there dreading that I’ll turn out wrong and lazy
    I’m dreading the day I get those peridot earrings.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Taylor Rugg
    Fear

    No one is here
    but the ghost of who you were.

    Images of blood red
    mixing with the beige sand
    threaten my memory.

    The snapshot of your
    spine curving over the water,
    and your head
    disappearing under the surface.

    Our screams were like sirens,
    bouncing off the lake.
    One minute you were next to me,
    the next you dove off the dock…
    then you were floating in a position
    I knew just wasn’t right.

    I can’t remember if I screamed.

    My heart was as heavy as the
    cinder block that he hit.

    That night,
    Pooh Bear kept me company in the crowded room
    of tears and strangers.
    I buried my face in his stomach
    and filled my nose with father-daughter comfort and pull
    the faded pink blanket over my legs.
    And I pulled your jacket that smelled
    like beer and campfire
    closer around me

    and drank you in.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Angela Rollins

    A Fork in the Road

    The wind
    pressed against my cheeks,
    pulling my hair
    in all directions
    while I wondered
    in which direction
    my path truly should bend,
    and in what way
    would everything
    altar
    once I took my first step
    into the unknown.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Angela Rollins

    Our Portrait

    In this photo, my chubby face whispers in your ear.
    The green coat that has passed between still hangs over my shoulders, before I'd grown to tall.
    Your pink lips pull up into a fragile smile.
    The rest of the world can wait, because we're frozen with smiles on our childish faces as we watch for forces to pull our faces downward and time to separate us.
    Your dark sweatshirt is still keeping your arms warm here.
    I wish we could stay like this forever.
    You talk about your former cats, and we talk about our future dogs.
    We run and rush right through the house,
    you need to catch the bus, I need to say goodbye, and sometimes these don't coincide.
    Would you just stop locking me out of my own room?
    In this photograph, we're the best of friends, and better yet,
    we're still smiling like the best of sisters.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ashley Lawson

    I come home
    to a hectic life,

    and my only escape
    from this reality,

    is through the letters,
    and symbols

    that my hand guides,
    the pen to write.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Evan Bartter creative writing 9
    Ms.Gamzon First part last
    Tears don’t wash away the past


    Now I am just waiting to see my father’s reaction
    Then they treated me like I wasn’t there
    Now I look down seeing everyone in shock
    Then not even my friends cared
    Now I can’t believe there are anyone here
    Then I never had these thoughts
    Now my father looks up and try’s to say sorry
    Then my father looked into my eyes and showed he didn’t care or want me
    Now I tell him he is the reason for this
    Then my mother always protected me
    Now she is not here to see what is going on
    Then my father only told me he was proud when I was good.
    Now my father cries wanting me to stop
    Then I never thought this would be the only way out
    Now I feel the air pushing against me as I fall

    ReplyDelete
  22. The Pale Grass
    By Kaisean Roseboro

    The leaves dance over
    grass

    that is pale but
    weak

    in the strong winds of
    October.

    ReplyDelete
  23. When I was young one
    By Kaisean Roseboro

    No one is here to play, or sit, or laugh but me.
    My hand strokes the bar of the swing set.
    It is hotter than a stove from where I stand.
    It has to be at least over eighty degrees,
    I can’t believe the memories I had here,
    with just me and my friends hanging out.
    When I was a young one.
    The broken swing set where
    I tore my favorite pants.
    And then I wonder over the monkey bars.
    I wish I could relive these.
    Of when I was a young one.
    The dolphin water sprinkler,
    Its gone now.
    That is before, it was beheaded.
    The laughs, the cries, it dries,
    Since I was a young one.
    The smell of the black tar
    That holds so much memories.
    It like heaven on earth to me, to us, to them,
    When I was a young one.

    ReplyDelete
  24. The tire swing hung
    all alone from the thickest branch

    swaying in the wind
    callig my name

    asking me to swing
    once again.

    ReplyDelete
  25. SPELLING ERROR!!!

    * calling not callig

    ReplyDelete
  26. Here's the one sentence poem, I did it earlier this marking period, but just never posted it:

    While you’re sitting at the bar
    I’m wishing on a star
    It’s not getting me very far, and
    When I’m waiting for a letter
    Or maybe just a call
    It’ll be just another lonely night in the cold of the fall

    Here's the 15 Sentence Poem, Finished & Edited:

    Memory

    You’re standing there, mesmerized by how much I’ve grown up
    In this memory, you are speechless, and stand motionlessly in shock
    That single tear rolled down your face
    Dark brown eyes look me up and down, as you realize I look just like you
    Your shaky hand holds a cigarette anxiously
    It seems like it been forever, but it’s only been seven years
    “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” you whisper, leaning in to hug me, as I step back
    Don’t you dare touch me, liar.
    Sometimes, I wish that I hugged you back.
    This is what I’ve secretly always wanted, but I’m realizing that I don’t even want to be near you, as my head touches against your navy blue sweater, and you smell like beer and cheap cologne
    I pull away from your tight grip, and walk away
    I slam the door on my way out, and the moment I felt the bitter cold evening air fill into my lungs, I cry harder than he did, and it’s getting harder to breathe, as if I was suffocating
    Do you remember that sound, of the door slamming in your face?
    I hope you do. That’s the last you’ll ever hear from me.
    You didn’t even come after me.
    It’s quite upsetting, that this is the only memory I have left of you.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Temielle Floyd-Fruster October16, 2009
    Creative writing Ms. Gamzon



    1. When the kids told Nia parents about the pregnancy the parents were very surprised and her mom was smiling and when the mom smiles it means she is very upset.

    2. I think if Nia were alive Bobby would be happy because without her its like he is lost and he wishes she were here because he really did love her. Life would be much easier and his daughter would have a mother figure in her Life because right now she doesn’t

    3. I think if I was going to have a baby at an early age I would not be as brave as Bobby and Nia because I would not be ready to take care of a baby because I am a baby myself. It would be a lot of responsibility

    ReplyDelete
  28. This is just a poem I did when I finished everything:

    Shannon Kalia Mrs. Gamzon
    Period ¾ October 20, 2009


    The clock is ticking upon the wall
    Fingers tap anxiously as the doctors’ stall
    Reading over their clipboards, whispering in each other's ear
    Diagnosing diseases quietly as I’m struggling to hear
    The waiting room’s full of people anticipating the news
    I’m sitting here worrying about you
    The nurses come and tell me I can visit until eight
    Then I have to leave, because it’s getting late
    I’m sitting by your bedside, watching you sleep
    Listening to the sound of your machine beep
    You lay so peacefully, entangled in wires
    You’ve been here all week, you must be tired
    I touch your hand, and you start to grip
    Until a few moments later, when your fingers start to slip
    Breathing slows, and you let out a final breath
    Still holding your hand, I realize this is death

    ReplyDelete

Montana 1948 Readings/Natalie Goldberg Test 1 "I remember"

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