To be a poet when it’s cold and snowy

Posted 3/3/15

Editor’s note: The Feb. 20 column by Chicago Tribute columnist Mary Schmich, “Waxing poetic on days of cold” served as the inspiration for this page. The Beacon provided copies of …

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To be a poet when it’s cold and snowy

Posted

Editor’s note: The Feb. 20 column by Chicago Tribute columnist Mary Schmich, “Waxing poetic on days of cold” served as the inspiration for this page. The Beacon provided copies of the column to Darlene Netco, department chair of English for Toll Gate and Winman, and she shared it with students. Here are selected submissions. When informed high school students would be writing odes and winter poems, Schmich wrote in an email: “I’m delighted you’re doing this.”

WINTER IN THE
SMALLEST STATE
Sarah Hackworth, Grade 11

The winter sunsets are the ones
With the most brilliant colors
Watercolor paint smears
Of blues, reds, pinks, purples and yellows

Christmas wreaths rest on front doors
Until mid-February, the final remnants
Of holiday cheer, and Christmas lights
Are up in gorgeous displays
For weeks upon weeks

People discuss family trips to La Salette,
Often bearing the cold
Just to see the Festival of Lights
In Attleboro, to feel the warmth of the holidays
Pierce their hearts despite the cold

Teenagers start shoveling businesses,
Traveling up and down the streets,
Knocking on doors in all of their winter garb,
Than plan trips to Toll Gate with their friends
To sled before the sparkling snow melts

The principal of Moses Brown
Makes a parody of “Let It Go”
To announce that school was closed,
And every major snowstorm
Gets compared to the Blizzard of ’78

I-95 gets backed up constantly,
And all that can be heard inside cars
Is sand and salt being kicked up off the pavement
Plows run at all hours of the day and night,
And sidewalks are treacherous

Despite what we all say,
We Rhode Islanders love our winters
We may complain all through them,
But we miss winter once summer rolls around,
And some of our best moments of the year
Are drinking hot coffee with our loved ones
And watching snow fall

ODE TO WINTER
IN RHYMING COUPLETS
10th Grade Honors (Period 5)

When a blizzard is said to be ahead
People will go crazy for Wonder Bread

Sharp skates hit the ice on the frozen pond
Kids dance around each with a special bond

Snowflakes sink in slow motion to the ground
The outside world is silent, no real sound

The snow’s cold can get to the best of us
Ice crystals fall to us like asbestos

It could be 10 degrees below zero
But some iced coffee could be my hero

By the fireplace we spent the very cold night
It was much better than getting frostbite

Snow is falling slowly from the gray sky,
Bears crawl quickly to shelter looking shy

Going to the store to buy some spray paint
Spraying spring onto the snow till we faint

Take a breath and your lungs fill with ice
Black sheets cloak the ground, which will not suffice

The winter snow can be soft and mellow
As long as you don’t eat it when it’s yellow

Snowflakes are unique, different shapes and sizes,
When you look up, snow will fall in your eyes

As we go soaring through the white fluffy snow
Down the hill we go through the snow

Sensation goes, as does society
Water into ice and man’s misery

The big snowflakes were falling to the ground
In the snow my lost mittens were then found

TWO SHOVELS IN
Caroline Waggoner, Grade 11

Out on the driveway

The snow falls slowly down

Pretty, it looks,

But then it sticks to the ground

My dad bundles up

And starts the snow blower

He wants some help

And looks to me and my brother

Ugh. I don’t want to

I need a way out, and excuse,

But then my dad says

“You have arms, so put ’em to use!”

I grab a shovel

And start digging away

Maybe I’m dramatic

But I’d just like to say:

Snow, though a beauty,

Is annoying and tough

Only two shovels in

And I’ve had quite enough!

UNTITLED
Cary Fields, Grade 11

Winter in Warwick, oh what a blast

Everyone always comparing it to the past

So much snow on the ground, eh mate?

People saying as much snowfall as ’78

So many days bored in my house

Not being able to go about

All the roads icy and wet

Just makes me very upset

Can’t go out, why? Because of the snow

So now I’m stuck at home watching some dumb show

Can’t wait ’til spring, actually summer, even better

Playing sports and not listening to the icicles go “titter tatter”

2015 already has started as a weird year ’cause of this

So much snow in February, why not just a light mist?

I walk outside and I feel like I’m inhaling frost

My hands so cold I can hardly even toss

I try to drive my car but the steering wheel feels like ice

Lots of times I’m so cold I feel immobilized

ICE IS LIFE
Nolan O’Brien, Grade 11

Winter brings back so many

Good memories from being on

The ice, with friends I’ve made

And relationships I have made

From the past hockey seasons,

And the new ones to come

Hockey has been in my life

For my entire life,

I started on a backyard rink,

I have played on frozen ponds,

And now I mostly play indoors,

But whenever I see ice,

It reminds me of my past,

Because ice to me,

Is my entire life

S.A.D.
Mitchell Marotto, Grade 11

Man turns blue, so I ask what ails him
Iced roads slicker than a used car salesman

Mounds of white flakes heavy on his shoulders
Not dandruff, snow. Tell me when it’s over

My head, frostbitten in and out
One more storm and I might move south

SHOVELING GOOD
Lavin McGarry, Mrs. Bozigian

Snow piling high

You know how I feel

Snow falling from the sky, you know how I feel

Flurry wind drifting on by

You know how I feel

It’s a snow day

It’s a cold day

It’s a gray day

For me

And I’m shoveling good

Freezing every sea

You know how I feel

Not a lake flowing fluently

You know how I feel

Snow falling off the trees

You know how I feel

It’s a snow day

It’s a cold day

It’s a gray day

For me

And I’m shoveling good

THIS YEAR’S WINTER
Shania Vincent, Grade 9

This year’s winter, snow

Snowflakes falling to the ground,

Beautiful snowflakes lightly and

Gently perfect ones, but blizzards

Come, snowflakes fall fast and clumpy

Stick together, not a pretty sight

To see, We wish and we pray for it

To go away, for the beautiful, perfect

Snowflakes to come back for us to see

WINTER FUN
Meghan Ferns, Grade 12

Looking out my window to see the glistening snow

Excitement in my brothers’ faces, they’re ready to go

Laughing and sledding down our steep driveway

Dad wanted us inside but we wanted to stay

Nose went numb from how bitter it was

Getting excited for spring to come

Hot chocolate with whipped cream how it sounds so nice

Although I wish we could go right back out to the ice

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