Poems
What have I learned?
Use teamwork
Earn runs
Hit the ball
Turn the double play
Own the highest team batting average
Fight as a rookie
Play for the best sport’s city
Is a big dinosaur
Play for Cubs
That’s what I’ve learned.
Darwin Barney

What have I learned?
Make a joke
Predict the victor
Announce the game
Say the score
Love da bulls
Yell nicknames
Be the best Bulls’ announcer
Tell them “don’t do em like that’
Ask kyle for “Hot Sauce”
That’s what I’ve learned.
Stacey King


MOVIES
Copyrights protect them
Directors direct them
Thieves take them
Producers make them
Actors need them
Stars lead them
Critics rate them
Shows hate them
People own them
Money postpone them
DVDs include them
Endings conclude them
Children talk of them
I really love them
Movies


DOOR COUNTY
Creator of memories,
Fighter for fun,
Attracter of tourists,
Swimming, smiling, relaxing,
County of Happy People:

They tell me you are cold and I believe them, for I
have seen faces shiver even with many jackets.
And they tell me you are dangerous and I answer: Yes, it

is true I have seen people get hurt.
And they tell me you are small and my reply is: Yes, it is

true I can walk out in minutes no matter the direction.
And having answered, so I turned once more to those who

giggle at this my town, and I give them back the

giggle and say to them:
Come and show me another town with all ages singing,

so proud to be farming and visiting and small.
Farming cows and horses, here is a happy child amongst

big stressed out adults;

Fun as a rollercoaster with flips, drops and spins,

laughing as a kid riding his 1st bicycle,

Farming,

Attracting,

Visiting,

Enjoying,

Swimming, drying, boating,
On top of the world, cheese in his mouse,

grinning from ear to ear,
Visiting his family, playing checkers,

Swimming in the lake,
Eating dinner with his family, playing

with his children,
Plucking the strings of the guitar

with his fingers, resting the neck

on his shoulder, and the base on his hip


Smiling!
Creating memories of pure joy, fighting for

Everyone to enjoy themselves,

Swimming with the tourists,

County of Happy People.




WARNING
When I am an old man I shall travel the world
With a hat made of straw which I would never wear,
And I shall see places that no one has seen,
And I shall visit countries no one has heard of.
I shall rent a 5 star hotel when it gets dark
And ask for room service
And order breakfast with dessert
And I shall make people see me as though I am rich.
I shall buy a fancy suit
And wear it to places like McDonald’s
And learn to Dougie.

You can stay still and don’t move
And never see the Rockies
Or the Cubs
And pass in the same place you were born.

But now we must stay with our families
And pay taxes and live in Park Ridge
And not let ourselves loose
We must take baby steps to breaking free.
But I might want to start by leaving my house,
So people aren’t surprised when I’m not around
When I suddenly am old and travel the world.


High School
At first, it is like being in a room with people you don’t know,
It is going from an apartment to a mansion*1,
It is confusing like Inception,*2
It separates people into groups
It hears your cries*3, but ignores them,

But then, it stops referring to you as a freshman,
It makes you realize what happiness is,
It lets you feel things for the 1st time,
It encourages safety,
It helps you fit in, and get courage to join teams,

Finally, it show you how independent you must be,
It teaches you everything you need to know,
Helps you realize you are strangely normal*4,
It is only as good as you let it be*5,
It taught millions how to manage seriousness and playfulness,
It can be the best time of your life.

1)
Metaphor between size of apartment and mansion
2)
Comparing confusion of high school to the movie Inception
3)
Like every line, it is personification, says that high school can hear
4)
Oxymoron strange and normal are opposites
5)
Theme: of story is to make the best of every moment