I am from

I am from picture frames,

From Pine-sol and air freshener, 

I am from the small house on the left,

Where everyone is welcome. 

I am from the soil,

The oak tree,

Whose long gone limbs I remember 

As if they were my own. 

I'm from homemade banana bread and blue eyes,

From Dawn and Jeffrey.

I'm from smart-alecks, quick thinkers,

And hard workers. 

I'm from "No" and "You can be anything you want to be."

And "This Little Light of Mine".

I'm from Robbinsdale and the Czech Republic,

Southwestern sloppy joes and pickle roll ups,

From counterfeiters,

Who were caught and jailed for five years. 

From military flags sitting on bookshelves, 

And my great-great-great grandmothers clock, stored away on the basement brick work. 

Poem

Background: Growing up, my mom experienced a lot of abuse from her father. Physical, mental and emotional. He was very controlling and angry and would walk out all the time. When my mom was 22, she married my father. Let's just say he was not any better of a man than my grandfather was. They had three kids together, but that only made their marriage more strained and eventually, it fell apart.

Before:

The Endless Game

I used to be,

So broken,

So fearful,

So isolated.

I felt as though I was sinking,

So much deeper,

So much lower, 

So much faster each day.

Everything I did as a wife,

Was wrong to him,

Was never good enough, 

Was never enough,

He wanted more.

When he would lie,

It was as transparent as glass.

The sadness his unfaithfulness and abuse brought me,

Engulfed me, pulling me under,

Twisting, 

Turning,

Spinning me around.

I left broken

After: 

A New Beginning  

I am strong now,

I stand on my own,

I got myself together

And created a life for my family.

I have three amazing kids,

Who shine as bright as the sun.

My love for them

Is as strong as Hercules.

I have a house

That I pay for on my own.

I have a job

That allows me to put food on the table

Years ago, 

I thought I needed him,

To live,

To feel loved,

To be worth something

I realized that I don't

I am strong now 

Reflection; 

In my poem, I used personification (the sadness...), simile (is as strong as Hercules... as transparent as glass...), allusion (same as the simile for Hercules) and repetition. I thought I did an okay job on this, it's definitely something I could improve on because it has been years since I have written poetry, I used to do it every day. I feel like I needed a little more time and help on writing this, I feel like it isn't as strong as it should be and I'm disappointed with myself. 

Poem

Background: Growing up, my mom endured a lot of abuse from her father. Anything you can think of, she probably went through it. When she was 22, she married my dad. He was very controlling, angry, abusive and neglecting at times. You could say she got out of a bad situation and into another..


Before:
I used to be
So broken,
So fearful,
So isolated

I felt as though I was sinking,
So much deeper,
So much lower,
So much further down

Everything I did as a wife
Was wrong to him,
Was never good enough,
Was never enough,
He wanted more

When he would lie,
It was as transparent as glass.
The sadness his lies and abuse brought me,
Ran deeper than an ocean

I left broken


After:
I am strong now,
I stand on my own,
I got myself together
And created a life for my family

I have three amazing kids,
Who shine as bright as the sun
My love for them
Is as strong as Hercules

I have a house
That I pay for on my own
I have a job
That allows me to put food on the table

Years ago,
I thought I needed him
To live,
To feel loved,
But I don't

Because I am strong now

Lord of the Flies Connection -- Basically Good or Basically Evil?

Basically Good, or Basically Evil?

To me, this article makes it seem like people can be basically good and evil. 

On September 17, 2013, a man named Aaron Alexis, 34, went to a navy yard in Washington and unleashed a barrage of bullets using an AR-15, and a semi-automatic handgun. The AR-15 is believed to have been used for most of the attack. The gunman killed twelve people before being killed himself by police during a shoot out. The part where I believe that people are basically evil is when I read that the gunman was shot and killed. I get the police were just doing their job, and that twelve other people were killed, but things  could have been handled differently. They didn't have to kill him.

The news influenced Sen. Dianne Feinstein, one of the strongest proponents of a ban on assault weapons like the AR-15, to issue a statement the same day asking, "When will enough be enough?"

That statement is an example, to me, of people being basically good. The Senator is trying to do something good for this country by banning guns. And I see his point. There's been too many tragedies involving guns. So, when will enough actually be enough?

English 10 - First Poem

Hi, how are you?
Yes, I am a soccer player.
I've played for 10 years.
Yes, it involves a lot of running. We scrimmage a lot during practices, and we're constantly running during games.
I have asthma, so sometimes it gets really difficult to run. It feels like I have a ton of bricks on my chest, my throat feels like it's closing and my lungs start to burn.
I play defense.
Yes, there's a huge amount of pressure on defensive players.
We're required to support the goalie and help keep the ball away from the net as best we can.
Yes, I've been injured.
Pulled muscles, rolled ankles, knee problems, and loads of bruises.
No, I would never quit.
It's not "just a sport", it's my life.



Why I wrote this poem:
I wrote this poem because many people think that soccer is a fairly easy sport. Well, it's not. It takes loads of dedication, commitment, practice, hard work, sweat & injuries you don't plan on getting. Many people spend more time with a soccer ball than they do with friends, family, or even on school work. It's something that floods through the veins of soccer players that makes the sport so great. The skills & technique isn't just handed to you, it's worked for & earned. So if you believed soccer was easy before, try it & think again.