Peaceful Poetry and Contest

Code-man's 5th grade class wrote a lot of poetry this year, and published their poems in books at the end of the school year.  To celebrate their efforts, they hosted a poetry coffee house this week (Huh.  It just occurred to me that I didn't see any actual coffee at the coffee house--just as well, because it was pretty darn hot in there).  Each of the kids got up and read a couple their poems.

Parents were invited to read poetry as well, either something they had written, or a favorite written by someone else.  Code-man told me I had to come, and I had to write and read a poem.  "It's easy," he insisted.  In fact, he made up this 5-W poem standing at the bus stop that morning:

Bubby
screams
from dawn to dusk
all through the house
because he wants to.

I thought that was kind of harsh, and not at all true, so I made up this one (inspired by actual events):

Bubby and Pal
play with trains
after lunch
in the living room
because it's fun.

I also wrote this Haiku, because, well, Haiku is easy:

Code-man graduates.

The time passed by so quickly.

On to middle school!

I was all set to read them, really I was, but because of a brain fart that accelerated our departure, I forgot my 3x5 cards at home, and I wasn't sure I'd actually be able to remember them under the pressure of 60 pairs of eyes gazing at me expectantly.  And then there's the fact that when Mrs. B asked if any parents had any poetry to read, no one else stood up or raised their hand or anything.  Oh, right, and I didn't know if I'd be able to get through that Haiku without sobbing.  My mom would have recited something, had she been there (but she's a lot braver than me)...

Chip says I should host a poetry contest on my blog, and I say "why (would I want to do that? There would be) not (more than 3 people who would actually enter)?"  So leave a comment with an original poem.  Heck, feel free to leave 5 or 10, just so it looks like I've gotten a lot of response.  I'll post my favorites in, say, a week.  I'll even draw a random poem to receive a fabulous prize (that has some restrictions).

Here are a couple of my favorites from Code-man's volume of poetry, titled "Peaceful Poetry":

Black

Black is the night sky.

It is a black cat running by.

Black is space and all that is in it.

Black is rich soil and a pit that has no end.

Black is a storm cloud waiting to rain.

Black is a stormy night.

It is the spent coal after the fire.

Black is a quiet lake at night.

Black smells like smoke.

Courage

Courage is like a boulder.

They are both strong,

but can have cracks and dents.

Courage almost never moves,

and can stand up to great forces.

It is carved out by different events.