For National Poetry Month, The New York Times asked readers to write haiku about the city: three lines of five, seven and five syllables. The response — more than 2,800 submissions in 10 days — was as impressive, and as exhausting, as the city itself. Writers were asked to stick to six subjects: the island, strangers, solitude, commuting, 6 a.m. and kindness. Beyond that, poems could be fashioned from whatever inspiration the five boroughs provided.
April was National Poetry Month. Our E3 class wrote a booklet of poems (sonnets). Here’s one by Leonardo Castillo:
Oh Money!
There are people that adore money
It is their honey
They are drunk on success
They don’t know the stress
They don’t feel any pain
If it isn’t related to their gain
They can work the whole day
Without ever hitting the hay
They want to own the water
To control the world better
They dream about how it would be sold
As a way to amass a lot of gold
And the most important issue, they think
Is to exhibit their wives wrapped in mink
Leonardo Castillo
Click on the picture below to read more. Comment and let us know which ones are your favorite – you can even write your own sonnet! Enjoy!
Bill Withers is an American singer and song writer. He was born on July 4, 1938 in West Virginia. Bill joined the US Navy when he was 18 and served for 9 years. Afterwards, he moved to California and began his music career. Bill Withers has written some of the most well known songs of our time; “Ain’t No Sunshine“, “Grandma’s Hands“, “Just The Two Of Us” and many more. Below you can listen to Bill sing his song, “Lean On Me”. Also below is a video of the song with lyrics you can read.
Let us know what you think about the song in the comments section.
Is it a happy song or a sad song?
What does the phrase ‘lean on me‘ mean?
Do you have someone to ‘lean on‘ or does someone often ‘lean on‘ you?
What does the phrase ‘swallow your pride’ mean?
Have you ever had to ‘swallow your pride‘?
Listen to some of Bill Withers’ other songs and tell us what you’re favorite is.
Since it’s summer, and a very hot one at that, we thought we’d share a poem about summer with you. It’s a sonnet by William Shakespeare. Below the poem you will find definitions for some of the more difficult words and Chinese and Spanish translations; above you can watch a video of someone reading it. Enjoy:
Sonnet 18
by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this and this gives life to thee.
Click on the picture below to read autobiographies, poems, interviews and advice written by this past year’s Evening Classes. There are also some writing prompts towards the end. Let us know what you think about these writings in the comment section and send us your writings at usadultliteracy@gmail.com Congratulations to all of the students on a successful year. Write On!
More poetry coverage for National Poetry Month. This is a story from the New York Times about a group from New York who performs poetry in public places.
Watch the video and read the article (don’t forget to read some of the NYT comments to see what others think about this story).
Comment below, let us know what you think about the video and answer some of these questions:
How do you feel about performers on the subway? Do you prefer to be left along, or enjoy the show? Have you seen any of these performers on your train rides?
You can find more information about Pop Up Poetshere.
You can also read some great poems about New Yorkhere. Which one is your favorite?
