Phases

Roses are red,

Violets are blue,

Little Judy is nice…

Don’t cry, Mommy,

I still love you, too.

 

Bicycle, my bicycle,

My everything!

You never tire of me,

And, oh, the joy you bring!

We go fast, we go faster,

You’re my friend, but…

I’m your master.

 

I’m an enigma, it’s

A maze in which I dwell.

Ignorance was bliss, but…

No more. Judy’s gone,

The bike’s a wreck,

I don’t know where to go,

But I can’t go back.

 

Gatekeepers forget

They used to be me.

Time to go, I’m the

New cuckoo bird

In the nest…

It’s a universal law,

Not blind chance.

 

Most colors are gone

From the old box of crayons.

I hum a wistful song, and…

Sketch a pair of black swans.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Really excellent rhyme scheme in this. This reminds me of Gwendolyn Brooks...I saw her a few times in person and got to chat with her each time. Great lady and poet. She was really good at this kind of poem. She could write from the perspective of an 8 year old, teenager...whatever age...she did it so well that the first time I saw her, I thought she was reading poems from kids she met.
Most of the colors are gone from my crayon box now...but I can't sketch...not even a stick figure.
j.

[Laz K.]

Wow, that must have been a great experience to meet her! "We Real Cool" is taught around the world in high schools. Thanks for sharing (and for reading and commenting, of course), j!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I told her that she won the Pullitzer the year I was born, 1950. So, she asked me if I had read the notices that she was going to get it. I told her I was still inside my mom. She laughed. And here is a fact about "we real cool" which you probably already know. But that poem was being taught in high schools but then was banned because they said it promoted bad things, like drinking, skipping school, singing sin....but obviously it was not because "we jazz june, we die soon" says the opposite...so they let it back in.

[Laz K.]

yeah, i know it was banned. however, i doubt it raises any eyebrows among highschoolers these days. they have heard and seen much worse than that on the internet...haha...

i've seen an interview with her where they asked about that poem. as i recall, she said it was supposed to be a cautionary tale and that she wrote it from the delinquents' point of view.

thanks again for sharing your personal experiences!
:)