AP Lit sails across the ocean of poetry and surfs the wave of illusion. Twenty-two poems, one dramatic monologue, one prologue, and a soliloquy trimmed the main sail, going upwind towards the Bitter End. Now, the challenge stands tall like a mast, for “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” Welcome to a new perspective.
The movie Dead Poets Society, which won the Oscar for best screenplay in 1990, was our source of inspiration. Students visited the Jesuit Garden and the football field to write their poems. Then, they delivered their barbaric YAWP (Walt Whitman’s style) while shooting a penalty kick.
“The Flying Roar”
The Rat
As the fleeting stars graze by,
the roaring scream subsides.
The valley settles down, becoming
ever so silent. Yet again,
the calm ceases as the roar laps the vale.
The souls fly by, one with the track,
shifting their pull with every twist.
The roar, a monotone hum,
cuts with each gear.
Tires kissing the ground
reaching the end,
the end of their journey
but the soul, the soul goes on.
The whine, the pull, the strength.
the rush, the stress, the battle.
the gap not taken, the winning pass,
the star flew by and the soul
crossed the line.
"Ode to Grandma"
Botswana
What will your verse be, as the moments flee?
Not fame's embrace, nor adulation glow –
For you, the mark of life is to be free –
To live with purpose, letting essence grow.
You tread the line where impact meets the void.
With every breath, her struggle, gently fought –
Yet in her eyes a vibrant truth employed –
A Cuba Libre and Cider in hand –
You ponder life's great mystery, and think of
time's sweet passage, moments softly planned.
So let your verse be one of life and grace –
In fleeting time, find joy in every space.
"Beyond"
Anonymous
Overwhelming pressure is all but gone,
Persisting till the arduous task is done.
Wake active minds and overstressing hands
In which thoughts are not as fluent as bands.
Birds leaving their mother's old priceless nest
Fearing fall and coming eternal rest
Growing and hoping their hunt is enough
To fulfill minds and begone of lost thoughts.
Join a rampant squad living without rest,
Fore deceit can shatter reality.
Do not concentrate on passing your best
And connect to embrace fraternity.
You may lose a needed eye through the work.
Yet, image is clear as intents cease lurk.
“Fall”
Anonymous
As the tree in a
forest grows, does a river
flow like blood in a
human’s body, circulating like a
desire to swim or drown
when you go against the
current—that is society itself,
societal norms, that make one
decide whether to walk or fall.
"Freedom in Afterlife"
Julio Borges (Neil's Perspective)
Dreams, to follow not to sorrow.
Free will, Free speech, Freedom
A poet never lets his dream be snaffled
like a fly in a flytrap, incarcerated.
no fear to sleep; to die,
FREEDOM IN AFTERLIFE!
by midnight, the endless sleep called
too late for goodbyes, freedom in afterlife
“Dead Poetry”
Vittorio Ribera
A simple truth,
spat onto the shore
by intransigent waves.
Vain faces floating in the half-light,
opening sanguine sores
and locking up the bay.
Is there nothing left in this mist,
this phantasmagoric dance of vulgar voices
and voyeuristic bliss?
Is there really nothing left to harness?
Will democracy drown and die in darkness?
“CSI United”
Anonymous
Our school is under attack,
And we the students must act.
This is a call for the few, the brave.
We must fight, fight for our name.
Yes, we’re to blame, but punishment was too severe.
The 1st round, won by us.
The end of this trial is near
-soon it will be done-
and in the playoffs, winning and having fun.
“The Tree Wisdom of Death”
Alejandro Reynés
Floating in Vastness -
Vastness by which they go to.
We the dirt that claim that Vastness-
The claim of Knowledge-
Yet action of Death.
Thus, we call thy selves saviors
Yet believe we need to be saved,
Saved by the same thing-
We run from.
The Death that lights our path
Path created-
By sight creatures.
Birds sing and dance in my tree
While for others, its flames that rise
Fire that sings, Fire that dances,
Against them, where their tree devours
Fire created from the creatures’ breath,
Now rises against them, an embered foe
For which Death they seek.
The Gift of a new tree they want
The olive tree that gives wisdom
Wisdom we seek,
Death we need.
Where the stars come falling down -
Down to the Olive Tree
And you the Fire blaming them of the spark
When the Fire is the one who beats and wants more dirt in its heal.
Notwithstanding the thickness of my liquid inside of thy Seed
And even when our sun comes down that doesn’t stop the spread.
And now you want their Tree - their Olive
When you come from that White-Tailed Eagle.
Wisdom we seek,
Death we need.
“Desert”
Geremis Claudio Colón (guest)
Desierto el cual miro y observo
Mientras más navego más denso
Sin Brújula me pierdo.
Un desierto que parece océano
Con olas de vientos y dunas de caramelo
Le digo hola a esas olas y como quiera me pierdo.
Me engancho a los barcos de color fresa, pero con sabor a caramelo.
Mientras en ese desierto, sin brújula navego
Y siempre me pierdo.
“Looking At Me Who Is Not me”
The Voice from Saturn
Who could frame beauty
-worse now-
Into the self portrait of a distant future.
Is this hypocrisy?
Yet
We believe it to be necessary and proper to be optimistic,
For mirrors must not be broken, and
Light should not shine in trifles of shards.
No, we look at ourselves through a singular image
-charming visage-
Holding out with
Open arms for the day we embrace “there.” Now, is this
Delusion? Not seeing the time as
Malleable -for glass may not be
Chiseled-
Does lead to unsightly
Conclusions.
Now, Look at yourself.
There,
Truly
Is
Beauty.
“Two Sides of the Same Coin"
Maximiliano Dávila
Two sides in which one forces
the other into submission. Two
sides of the same coin in which
others eliminate the coin to try
and escape their constraints
of insanity. Two sides in which I
constantly struggle to decide in
what to do, to where my soul
is beginning to explode. To be
or not be, a simple question that
drives these two sides, as there
were of the same coin to madness
in understanding. Two sides that
lie to me as these two mysterious
figures, latch onto me, like a toy
stuck between two kids wanting
their turn to play with it. Two sides
in which the other take control
and temperance, to understand
their destiny in life to succeed in
it. While I watch those stars
fly away into the horizon, while I
stay in darkness that burns me with
those two sides. I may never understand
how I will escape this pain or should
I try failing. But for you Mother
and Father, I will keep burning my
rage of hope. So that one day, the gates
of Eden open once more to justify
my actions to the all mighty one.
“My Pain”
Maximiliano Dávila
Hear the drumsticks of Victory
fall down from my arms,
as another army falls from my hand,
never regaining the triumph I once had.
Falling in the ground, I see the faces
of those who trusted me in this mission.
Never able to regain what is lost
as my heart is filled with thorns
destroying my insides.
Why were you not there?
Ask the same remedial that ignites
the pain of self-hatred
that hurts me once more.
Why? Why is it the same?
Please help me. Help me!
Standing there, blood up
against every wound I created
with fears in my eyes,
I see the last light of faith
vanish before my very eyes,
as I scream with tears in my eyes.
“No, no, why was I so foolish,
why can I not have been there,
when everybody else was.”
Lashing out in the ground
-like a wounded dog-
whining for my mistakes,
wanting to sleep forever
on the ground to never
Wake Up Again.
“Can I not just end My Pain,
my suffering from what
I have failed to accomplish.”
I look to the sky, calling upon
Someone or Somebody
to give a resolution for my suffering.
But slowly to see that
the pain will go whenever
I leave this country or the next one
when it is my time.
Rising, looking around
to the place I called home,
buried in a desolate waste land
and start walking towards it,
while gazing at the failures,
I committed.
“Perception vs Perspective”
Nuwanda
Max, travel the world and “suck out all the marrow of life.”
Andrés, “throw off the bowlines, [and] sail away from the safe harbor. May the wind be always at your back.”
Alejandro, your valorous perception stimulates your perspective, which brings you closer to God.
Víctor -sophistication of thought- your words have “forked [a] lightning.” Go ahead and “sound [your] barbaric yawp!”
Marcos, your mindful work ethic “burn[s] and rave[s] at close of day.”
Julio, humble and resilient, we shall find you in “leaves of grass.”
Salvatore (Salvador, Savior as the Christ in Christmas) set an example by being loyal -to yourself.
Daniel, “one equal temper of heroic heart,” your superpower lies in kindness: the universal language.
Jorge, where do you come from? Saturn? “[catch] and [sing] the sun in flight!”
Manuel, “strong in will,” happiness is your state of mind.
“Strive, seek, and find.”
You are all one of a kind.
You’re on the inevitable grind
Of becoming students for life.
Never too tamed, always very bright,
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Comentarios