The James and Grace Lee Boggs School
Poems from You Are Only What You Want To Be, v.1, (2017)
No Words
If the world did not have
any words it
would be like
a lollipop with no taste
or a church with
no pastor, or a family
with no mom, or even
a crying little girl with
no shoulder to lean on,
or a person with no personality
or a bank with no money
or a rainbow with no color
or a pregnant mom with no
baby inside her, or just a world
with no words.
What do you think
the world would be like?
What would you do?
Rene McLemore
The Moon
I think that
the moon
used to be
a hot dog but
aliens came
and ate it
and it turned
into a heart
and then some
more aliens came
and put the white
stuff back in it
and it became
the moon.
Now that I know
the moon is the moon
I know the moon is
our friend and it
is big and bright and
beautiful.
Rene McLemore
My Joy
My joy for Bear goes on
longer than magician’s tricks.
I have more love for him
than a cheetah’s spots.
My love is as hard as a
turtle’s shell or a baseball
player’s helmet.
When my day ends and I
come home to walk him,
Bear comes up to me with his desperate
eyes as if he knows my secrets.
Lucie Putnam
Inside My Magic Pencil
I see a red clock on a big wide green wall. The clock is ticking. Very fast. Then I look a little closer and I see a man riding on the hands of the clock. The man was holding a red and yellow peach in his left hand and was reading a big book called How to Tell Time. Each time a minute goes by the peach gets more bites in it. But the man never even eats any of it. It’s just magically getting bites in it. Then the hour reaches midnight. And the man is gone. The man has disappeared behind the clock’s numbers but will be coming back with an apple the very next hour.
Lucie Putnam
Self-Portrait with Metaphors and Similes
My hands are silky giants declaring
war with everything they touch.
My shoulders are like mountains
tumbling down to earth when I laugh.
My hair is like a Slinky being
bounced by a happy child.
My nose is like a deer’s antler.
My legs are two trees moaning and grumbling
as they walk around on a gloomy morning.
Lucie Putnam
Advice To Donald Trump
Don’t build a wall.
It might be insulting to other countries
and make America go to war.
Respect everybody, no matter
their color or gender. Invite
immigrants to live here. Finally
listen, just listen, to the people’s voices.
Sebastian Dorn