2. 2
Amanda Seferian
CREW 2003_31 Creative Writing: Poetry
Reflection:
I really enjoyed this poetry class this semester. I feel like I really got to understand a lot more
about what it takes to create a poem and how to construct a poem properly. I feel like we focused a lot on
cementing a poem into a certain place and how being vague isn’t helpful to a poem. I learned about how
words can sound amazing when they’re next to each other and how some work better with others (but
to keep away from the obvious, clichéd ones) and how ionic pentameter can help a poem sound better to
a reader when its better balanced. I also learned a lot about constructing poems in typographical form
(about how not to center it and how to can exaggerate words with capitals and spacing) and that some-
times a poem can mean something else entirely than from what you intended it to do in the first place,
and that its okay for that to happen!
I feel like I had fun with these poems, especially the last set of revisions. I only wish we got to learn
a lot more about technique and how sonnets are constructed (because they seemed a little intimidating to
approach) but other than that I really just enjoyed talking about the different poets of our time and read-
ing their work and also reading the work of my fellow classmates. I am expecting to see some of them on a
bookstore shelf on the poetry section a few years from now!
3. 3
Table of Contents
Haiku ...4
Packet Poem 1 ...5
The 10 Word Poem ...7
Packet Poem 2 ...9
Online Poem ...11
Packet Poem 3 ...14
4. 4
Haiku
Revisions: I didn’t have anything to revise on these because I loved them so much! The one about
the pillow came a bit easier than the flower petals one, but it was worth the work I did on it in the end. I
enjoyed haiku’s before this assignment, but I really enjoyed writing my own and reading all the good ones
we got in the handout in class.
Magnetic Pillow
Magnetic Pillow
Pulls the head down for rest
Salvation at last
Petals
Landing softly there
The tiny eggshells of blue
Promises of spring
5. 5
PacketPoem1
Revisions: I learned about centering poems with this piece and how it isn’t customary (or profes-
sional) to hand in a poem like that. I decided to follow the classes advice and split it into two different
poems because the language felt split. I think it works better as two different poems myself.
First Alcohol: Part I
You’ve always wondered, right?
What’s so special?
What’s the big deal, here?
Relax, I’ll wait for you to find out.
When your curiosity pores over,
filling your fingers with heavy temptation.
Your sand-bag hands will feel the cool bottle,
falling in love with the weight instantly.
Your lips will help guide me, alive but unsure of what they’re letting in.
Keep going.
You’re just getting started.
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First Alcohol: Part II
You have a long way to go to catch up.
Reach the point where words begin to just slip out, like a bar of soap from a hand that’s too grabby.
Hidden honesty’s,
tainted lies,
memories buried in the bottom of the dark toy chest.
All will be revealed.
A sea grows inside.
You are a pirate! Sway to the breeze of your own flag
The map is gone. Forever lost.
But don’t worry,
I’ll take care of you.
7. 7
The10WordPoem
Revisions: I really enjoyed writing this poem! I’m especially glad that my friend who chose the
words happened to pick one of my favorite poems by Elizabeth Bishop, “The Fish,” and I didn’t even
realize it until after I had written the poem. I admit, I kind of cheated and made my friend switch the last
word “fought” with another word for this revision that sort of fit with the theme of my new poem, but I
think it was for the best. That last word was the reason I was kind of having trouble with the ending, but I
feel like I got a little closer to what I wanted to achieve with this poem.
The Wallpaper
Have you ever thought
wallpaper could be interesting?
Even cave men drew on walls,
too plain to leave them be.
I see ancient trees.
Tremendous.
Roses scattered round the roots,
a garden planted over a baby’s crib
Look up.
See the strings?
They travel down,
thicker, thicker
Until they become a rainbow.
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There’s an orange sun over there,
a painted face
so it can breath
the oxygen of the tree.
Take the corners of the room
And fold them like origami
To make a paper crane
For the tree to float down stream
9. 9
PacketPoem2
Revision: I was inspired by the repetitive phrase in this piece. I ended up adding more and played
around with the rhyming scheme that I created, and I feel like I was able to cement it down a little more in
a place and time for the reader.
There It Goes
Time steps away on the watchful clock
There it goes, there it goes
It moves forward ever so
Is it fast, or is it slow?
There it goes, there it goes
Hear the bell chime, quarter to noon
There it goes, there it goes
So light, it sounds, from the distance
The calling proof of its existence
There it goes, there it goes
Said I had some time to kill
So I walked down Plankton Hill
On my leg, a creeping chill
Climbs up my skin as I sit still
There it goes, There it goes
A breeze blows hair across my lip
And allows each strand to take a sip
the moist, plump surface holds its grip
until the wind begins to whip
There it goes, There it goes
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I watch the clock with butterfly eyes
See the hands wave slow, small “HI’s”
But just as quickly, say “good bye’s”
Pushing forward with weary sighs
There it Goes, There it goes
Looming hands begin to poke
The seconds on the edge invoke
Before they take their final stroke
The face naive of hands that choke
There it goes, there it goes
11. 11
OnlinePoem
Revisions: This poem was a fun way to make up a class. I enjoyed the poem that we got to read for
the assignment and felt that it inspired me in a different way, which was interesting. I really learned a lot
about repetitive-ness with this poem and also theme. Before the comments were taken down I was able
to read one helpful comment about the second section and found it most helpful, so I changed a word to
make the sound flow better. I also ended up adding in two verses that I had been working on before I
submitted the poem, but couldn’t submit because of lack of time. I hope it turned out well!
By the Sea
Little one who plays by the sea
With steps so small, so small
Waves with tongue so vast and swift
Sprout forth to lap them away
Only to return for more
She swings her hem in crinkled bundles
Watching it rise and fall
Twirling, twirling in circles of tender sand
Until her whole back is speckled
And as she goes, her mother takes her by the hand
Filled with woe over ever buying her daughter a white dress
Little one who plays by the sea
With steps so small, so small
Waves with tongue so vast and swift
Sprout forth to lap them away
Only to return for more
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He inches closer to inspect
Unsure of where the tide goes
When it drifts back into the sea
A lion roars; its wet jaws leap
To lick his face in salty delight
Sand traps his heavy feet, and he falls to the ground with a “plop”
His tears flow down the round red cheeks
Returning home from a long, long journey
Little one who plays by the sea
With steps so small, so small
Waves with tongue so vast and swift
Sprout forth to lap them away
Only to return for more
I watch the nails become shovels
As siblings continue to dig
Like dogs who never know when the hole is deep enough
For their bone to rest safe and sound
Before they are able to finish, they feel the rumble
Of a hungry tide too eager to wait for the bell
Foam filled fingers grip the edge
And pour into the man-made chasm
Leaving nothing but outstretched hands
To reach for the sky in defeat
Little one who plays by the sea
With steps so small, so small
Waves with tongue so vast and swift
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Sprout forth to lap them away
Only to return for more
Red stripes, blue stripes yellow stripes tickle
The round surface of the little ball
As tiny arms lift it into the air
But oh no! Wait!
Wind wants to play too
And passes it to its teammate, Blue
The little boy learns fast that Blue is a ball hog
And reaches his arms out in desperation
For Blue to give back the colored sun
He loved so dearly before
Little one who plays by the sea
With steps so small, so small
Waves with tongue so vast and swift
Sprout forth to lap them away
Always to return for more
14. 14
PacketPoem3
These were a short series of poems that were inspired by my favorite T.V show, Adventure Time!
They were fun to write and I loved doing research on them too (wink) but more than that, I enjoyed trying
to find all the hidden messages that I think the episodes tried to teach. I will include the episode number
with each short poem that I developed. Enjoy!
S5E19 James Baxter
Sometimes
Sometimes all it takes
Is a funny voice
A name and a beat
To find all that’s right with the world.
S1E5 Memories of Boom Boom Mountain
Solutions
Be ready
Because once the men start roughhousing
To pull the thin long strings
That swat the flies away
To send them to the coal man
To plug his ears with buzzing
He will gladly give two coal bits
To switch the plum and triangle
and make the mushrooms laugh
To pollinate Momma cactus
For her baby buds to bloom
To itch the dragon’s troubles away
So he can blow fiery breath
To heat the ice cube’s tub
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And warm him to the brim
So happy, he becomes steam
That he rises in front of the mountain
To block the sorry sights from his ruble eyes
And make the man not naked
And keep his back lookin’ good.
Yes, please be ready
To have all your problems taken care of.
S1E8 Ocean of Fear
Fear Feaster
A hero’s greatest mission
Is to conquer his greatest fears
So struggle to face step one
And let your fear surround you
Step two is to let fear hold you
Like a child in a mother’s arms
Step three is hard, but worth it
So don’t scream or give in to the madness
Just move on to step four
And find the haunting beauty lurking within
To ease your mind, if only a little
Then comes your true test
Would you save the one you love
When staring into the face of fear?
That is the mark of a true hero.
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S2E14 The Eyes
See Me Stare
Do you feel my stare
Baring into the backs of your heads
As you lie there on your beds?
Even my shadow grows eyes
To watch you both more for me
Please try to understand
That you guys cannot make me quit
So stop your plans to rid yourselves of me
Since each attempt only makes you grow wearier
And tears your minds apart
Because, you see, I need to learn
How to find the answer to happiness
That you both know and I don’t
S4E13 I Remember You
Who Is He?
I dream of a man I don’t know
When I wake I remember that he helped her when she cried
And wished for nothing but her happiness
But I still don’t understand
I think nothing of it
Because that man is not me
But when I think of him, I feel strange
Like my heart is trying to squeeze him out of me
Like a lemon that cries when you juice it
It’s a sour feeling.
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I miss him when he leaves me
Because I am always alone
And I want to know what is wrong with me
So that I can stop the madness
But every time I try to stop him
He takes all the answers away
She make me think of him
That man from the dream I had
Because she always looks like she wants to cry
Every time she sees me
Just like the man when he is staring into the face of my ice
My cold, unfeeling ice,
that drives me deeper into darkness.
When I see him again, I will make sure to ask him
Why he always looks so sad
And if there is anything that I can do
For that girl who cries for him
But I fear that day will never come
For I cannot remember where I left him behind
