Friday, November 19, 2010

Cascade Poem for Big Tent Poetry

In a cascade poem, the lines in the first stanza are repeated as the last lines of the subsequent stanzas.

I wrote this poem yesterday during my British Literature class.  The students were taking a quiz so I sat on my raised chair behind my podium, turned my seating chart over, and wrote this poem on it.
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A Few Quiet Moments

Outside my classroom window
trees are shivering.
Inside, students are bent
over their quizzes.

I can see their thoughts
swirling around their heads
like the invisible air
outside my classroom window.

Some kids chew their pens.
One has her glasses on her head.
Others are staring into space.
Trees are shivering

like the first students to finish,
all restless, looking around,
doodling, making eyes at each other.
Inside, students are bent.

Yes they are crazy as hell
but I love ‘em. Finished,
they switch papers and we go
over their quizzes.
at

12 comments:

  1. Cynthia ShortNovember 19, 2010 at 8:30 AM

    Good work with the cascade, and I love the little twist about the "bent students"!

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  2. gautami tripathyNovember 19, 2010 at 9:58 AM

    How I can relate with this!!

    You did very good with this form!

    claustrophobia

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  3. flaubertNovember 19, 2010 at 11:21 AM

    Linda,
    You have written about the atmosphere of the classroom perfectly. Amazing you could write this while they were taking a quiz.
    I have to watch my kids carefully so they don't cheat.
    Pamela

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  4. Victoria (liv2write2day)November 19, 2010 at 1:26 PM

    Really enjoyable read, Linda. I felt like I was in the room, watching you glance at the kids, outside and then scribbling your poem.

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  5. ElizabethNovember 19, 2010 at 2:25 PM

    Really like this glimpse inside your classroom and those bent students. You captured it well,

    Elizabeth

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  6. Tumblewords:November 19, 2010 at 5:23 PM

    I've often wondered about bent students! :) Love this piece - it's so visually effective!

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  7. AnonymousNovember 19, 2010 at 5:24 PM

    you sketch a nice scene here :)

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  8. AnonymousNovember 19, 2010 at 7:28 PM

    I love the juxtaposition of the shivering trees, and the bent students. Well done!

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  9. ms pieNovember 20, 2010 at 3:39 PM

    how perfectly you have recreated that very space with tender loving care within the form of a cascade bringing out details we may have missed...

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  10. Wayne PitchkoNovember 20, 2010 at 5:16 PM

    nicely done Linda.....the cascade form worked well here....and thanks for sharing your words

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  11. UnknownNovember 22, 2010 at 12:52 AM

    What a great sense of place. I could feel myself settling in. (I was one of the pen-chewers)

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  12. RallentandaNovember 22, 2010 at 1:11 AM

    I am more concerned about the 'bent teachers'. Have met quite a few of those lately:)

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