Because

Poems in response to an exercise I borrowed a couple of years back from Rick Meier. The students read Yannis Ritsos' poem "Because" and wrote their own, hopefully image-based poems of illogical explanation. I encouraged them to think about the outside world. Some of the poems turned out to be strong personal and political statements...some are just darned interesting. Check out the videos of two students reading their poems at the bottom of the post.

Mrs. Van Zytveld's class

Because
Keven T.

Because the magia se fue
Because el señor tenia una bicileta
Because his wonders made a book
Because the homework was a lot
Because the dead body came alive
Because the fire burned a house
Because they ate oatmeal
Because all of that made me think “Yes”


The World
JaVonna C.

Because the people are having children
Because school days are Monday through Friday
Because the animals are having other animals
Because the number one pop stars are singing
Because wrestlers and boxers are winning championships
Because the people are having pets
Because Martin Luther King, Jr. preached
Because of this, I love the world


The Darkness Prevails
Cassie R.

Because 8 birds fly through the dark sky
because an abandoned puppy trembles
because a black dragon looks for its prey
because the gargoyle comes alive
because the snow bunny eats until it can’t
because a cat travels looking for shelter this rainy night
because the cat eats 1 bird
because the shadow hides the night
because of this, only because of this, I told you lies.


All the Great Things
Madeline N.

Because the noise outside is work
Because people tell secrets
Because the clock goes tick tock and takes time
Because the picture is so bright from the light
Because the music is so loud it makes motion
Because of these things
I learned about agriculture.


USA is Cheap
Max O.

Because hobos sit and stare
Because condos are being built
Because they built Trump Towers
Because they are made in the USA
Because they use stuff from China
Because the building will fall
Because we are cheap
Because of all this, I lied


Mrs. Garay's class

Because
Jaques C.

Because Eric got crushed by a pink donut
because a blue cop fell
because I met an octopus
because Godzilla destroyed the city
because I saw Bigfoot
because the raging tornado picked me up
because I was swept away from the broom
because I went to the black moon
because of these things I couldn’t clean my room


Broke
Justin O.

Because Godzilla was in Tokyo
Because he went brokyo
Because the horse fell down a mountain
Because he saw a fountain on another mountain
Because Homer fell down a mountain
Because of Dunkin Doughnuts
Because of grown-ups
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I went bankrupt


Because of Weird Things
Kayla A.

Because of you I walked up the thousand foot tall building
Because I have a sticker on my desk
Because of a little boy eating Fruit Loops
Because learning is boring
Because the fairy made the dragon into a bigger dragon
Because I watch “Elmo’s World”
Because Ghost Busters is a cool movie
Because a little birdy told me
Because silver turned to green
because of the polka dot railroad
because of these, I told you weird things


Ms. Otero's class


Because the People of Chicago
Leo S.

Because the people are voting
because the buses are crowded with people
because the teachers are teaching in school
because downtown is cold
because the snow was falling
because people are going to work and school
because kids are learning in school
because stores are opening and people are buying
because of all this I see a hobo


My Because
Ebene A.

Because the cat had no eyes
because the man was riding his
bike rod into a steel pole
because Santa was in Hawaii
because the time goes slow
because the water bottle could walk
because they couldn’t cut his hair pit
because the man-woman had bear claws as teeth
because the parrot couldn’t shut his big mouth
because the tiger didn’t have a tail
because of these things I punched my pillow


Wrong Thing
Sabrina V.

Because a girl can’t see the world
because people are away from the line
because everything we see is gone
because a person was wrong to do that
because things are strange to know
because now we don’t have anything
because it was hard for people for that girl
because she couldn’t see a thing
because of all of these things, I did the wrong thing