Assorted Poems From High School Hallways (1)

Fly on shoe,

how do you do?

Why do you land,

land on my shoe?

Grade twelve lockers,

one after another, 

charge no rent

to friend and brother. 

Orange and blue

upon a wall

near red and green

with buildings tall. 

In my school there is a bench,

a bench within a hall.

And on this bench sat items,

like a textbook lean and tall. 

Tiles upon the hallway floor,

some rose, some white,

each one within a memory. 

Three humans in a hall,

yes, on a bench.

One eats, one writes,

the other reads. 

Across from me

there is a man,

a man they call the thinker.

From there, the further left you go,

the wall becomes the pinker.

Foreshadowing in A Tale of Two Cities

    A Tale of Two Cities was written by the famous English novelist Charles Dickens and was published in 1859. It is set during the time of the French Revolution and focuses on the two cities of London and Paris. The novel follows a time line, but also drops many hints about what is going to happen later on in the book. Especially in chapters two and five, it becomes obvious that Dickens is using foreshadowing to hint at civil unrest in the future of the book.
    Chapter two begins with a coach struggling up a muddy hill. It also happens to be a misty night in November. Struggle will be a common theme in A Tale of Two Cities, and the dark misty night also points ahead to dismal and chaotic times to come. A mysterious messenger comes to the coach while it is struggling on. This really makes the coach guard suspicious. He thinks the messenger may be a highway robber and even threatens to shoot him if he isn't careful. By this, Dickens shows that people of the time period were distrustful because of dishonesty, and did not want their money being taken by other people. It is possible that this lack of trust in money-snatchers will reveal itself in a more complete way later on. Perhaps Dickens is alluding to the French government lying to the people and taking heavy taxes from them.
    In comparison to chapter two, the foreshadowing in chapter five is much more obvious. When a wine barrel is broken on the street, many poor French people rush towards it to indulge themselves and forget some of their worries. But then something else happens. A man scrawls “BLOOD” upon a wall. Dickens then adds a chilling line after that. “The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there” (Dickens 32). This alludes to a future time when inhabitants would gorge themselves in a more gruesome way to attempt an escape from poverty.  The people in the streets of Paris were so poor and hungry that they were killing their dogs, searching for offal, and eating bad black bread. The situation was so bad that people mused about enduring gallows, an ordinary thing in their lives. But then Dickens adds something chilling. The people also muse about inflicting gallows on the people that are hanging them. Revenge is in the air. There are more hints towards the future in chapter five. It is said that “the birds, fine of song and feather, took no warning” (34). This is most definitely a reference to the French royal house. They eat, drink, and are merry while foolishly disregarding the people.  Finally, Mr. Dickens emphasizes a word later on in the chapter. He writes: “In the gloomy tile-paved entry to the gloomy tile-paved staircase, Monsieur Defarge bent down on one knee to the child of his old master, and put her hand to his lips” (37). At the beginning of the sentence it is quite clear that Dickens does not use the word “gloomy” twice without a purpose. Not only does this sentence seem to evoke a sense of dark humour, it also makes a serious observation on the gloominess of the time period in general. Readers of the book are left curious as to whether or not the gloominess will be tolerated for much longer.
    A Tale of Two Cities is a classic piece of English literature for many reasons. One  of these reasons is its' successful use of foreshadowing. The beginning of the book has two or three confusing chapters, but they begin to make more sense as the story goes on. Each chapter leaves you with questions that can only be answered by reading further. As a result, the book is a joy to read as it leads you further on a quest of discovery.


                                                                       Works Cited
                  Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. England: Penguin Classics, 2000.

Marshmallows or the Lack Thereof

I used to like marshmallows. I really did. Really.
I liked the sweetness of a taste, the roasting, that pleasant
crackling of the fire that split grim silence of the night.
I liked watching as my wool white friend would turn a crisp brown
and then onward to a blacker hue.
But all that changed went to my dismay
I learned--
learned I had lost the skill, that great ability to roast with ease.
The wool whites fled my presence for the first time and dropped past my knees.
And what once was sweet turned bitter in my mouth.
In honesty, most of them came not near to my mouth, or to my hand,
but they came nearer and nearer to the blaze as they dropped,
for he must have offered them something I had not.
Every time one slid, the heavy thud
resounded through my heart and mind.
What had happened? Why had they betrayed me?
So long old friend, I can not bear thy kin anymore,
lest yee jump from my stick and die amidst a flaming fire.

Mon voyage au Kazakhstan

(Grade 11 French Assignment)

Maintenant, je suis dans Astana, la capitale du Kazakhstan. Je suis arrivé hier à onze heures la nuit. Aussitôt que je me serai brossé les dents demain, je pense que j'irai à la tour du Bayterek. Dès que j'aurai fini à la tour du Bayterek, j'irai au Khan Shatyr, une tente énorme avec une rivière pour la plaisance. Il sera fantastique! Après que j'aurai mangé mon déjeuner à la tente et je serai prêt pour une belle vue de la ville. Le palais de la paix et la réconciliation a une belle vue. Dès que j'aurai fini avec la vue, j'irai voir le musée de l'archéologie. Je pense qu'il est en bas. Quand le taxi arrive, je serai parti pour mon souper au restaurant "Ali Babas." Lorsque ma nourriture arrive, j'aurai demandé le lait cheval avec les boulettes et agneau. Il sera exquis! Quand je me suis couche, j'aurai vu les nouvelles du coin et j'aurai lu ma Bible.

An Ode to Orange

Blazing like fire,
soft as sunshine,
delicate like a fine rust,
exuberant like the peel of a citrus fruit,
bringing the joy out among a sea of gloomy blue, it's partner.
Often seen, and quickly forgotten like a ray of sun.
Orange rises above the other colours in a class of it's own,
confident despite going unnoticed by men.

Poem on Perseverance

Perseverance is a small pebble.
    Out of ancient rock it comes,
it follows the great rivers, rolls down
the rocky slopes of mountains and of time.
               It refuses to die, to dissolve, defying weather,
the waves of water, the whips of western winds.
                            It rolls onwards along the fast forest
                 streams to an ocean, a vast lake it has
                                              not known before.
   It fears nothing from the men of mines and mills,
                          and is content with it's condition.
        Longsuffering, it endures the thunder, lightning,
and hard hail from the heavens. It gets through the rapids
with more than ease, the water nor the rocks
can harm it, can kill it.
It is rewarded for it's quest with
                                     a home.
   Among the other pebbles who have made the
               journey, it sits joyously upon the beach,
                     basking in the sun of day and calmly
                                               resting in the moon of night.
The children light upon the beach, joining the pebbles in festivities.
                                    Where did these come from? How did they get here?
     One from the mountain, one from the desert, one from the plain,
                                                 one from the field, one from the isles.
                                                 Down the rivers, across the waves.
                                             Perseverance is a small pebble.

English Assignment- From Someone Else's Shoes

Write On! - Josiah

       It was Saturday in Big Town and Billy and Gunter were playing baseball
with their friends Jim, Bob, Fred, Hans, and Ivan like they did every Saturday
after all their chores were done.
       "Strike one!" yelled Ivan. He didn't say "strike" again because Gunter
suddenly hit the ball very hard. It went flying all the way past the benches and
the fence. Fred ran and ran but he could not catch it. Gunter ran around the
field and got a home run.
       "Awww come on Gunter," said Hans. "Poor Fred didn't stand a
chance." Fred came up to them laughing.
       "It's alright! I didn't mind, really." Billy checked his watch.
       "I reckon it's nearly four o'clock. Why don't we go biking now?" Billy
did not like baseball. He always missed the ball.
       " No, biking is stupid," said Jim. "Baseball is way better, right guys?"
The other boys didn't know what to say. Jim was nearly a head taller than
most of the other boys so they were scared to say that they wouldn't mind
going biking.
       "Yeah, baseball is way better!" one of them yelled. "Biking is for sissies,
Billy." They made Billy sad. He sat down on a bench and watched them play
for another hour before everyone headed home for dinner.
       Jim came home tired and laughing. He was glad they didn't go biking.
       "Hello Jim! It's about time you came home, your supper's nearly gone
cold." Jim quickly sat down and started eating.
       "Anything new at the old baseball diamond, son?" said Jim's father.
       "Nope. Billy wanted to go biking but I told him that was stupid and we
should keep playing baseball." Jim's mom and dad looked at him.
       "What?" said Jim.
       "You know Billy can't play baseball well, Jim! How would you feel if
everyone always went biking when you wanted to play baseball?"
       "I, I, I guess I didn't think of that..."
       "And just last week he was nice enough to buy you a nickel's worth of
candy from Mr. Jones!"
       "Yeah, you're right! He did, didn't he?!"
       "Son, I think you should make it up to him next Saturday. The poor
fellow doesn't have many friends in these parts and he can't play sports
very well. Just give him a chance." Jimmy felt bad now. He knew he should
have been nicer to Billy. After all, they spent nearly six hours that day playing
baseball, so he could handle an hour of biking for Billy.
       The next few days went by fast. Jim found out it happened to be Billy's
birthday on Saturday and that he wasn't having a party since he had no close
friends yet.
       Jim made up a plan. Together the boys would have a surprise birthday
party for Billy and go biking together.
       Saturday morning at 10 o'clock Billy came to the baseball diamond. He
thought he was late but no one was there! He turned around.
       "Surprise!" All the boys were sitting on their bikes. "Happy birthday
Billy!"
       "You guys want to go biking? With... with me?"
       "Yeah, come on! And after that you can open presents!"
       "You bought me presents?"
       "You bet'cha!" Billy laughed and crowed.
       "You guys are the best!"
       Jim got off his bike and walked quickly up to Billy.
       "I'm sorry for being a jerk last Saturday, Billy. The truth is, I can't bike
very well and...and I... well.. yeah. Can you forgive me?" Billy smiled.
"I think I just might be able to. I'll teach you how to bike if you teach me how
to hit a home run."
       "Deal!" All the boys biked happily down the street together. And they
lived happily ever after except for Gunter who unfortunately had to move
back to Germany when it was discovered he was an illegal immigrant. But
even then, they still sent him postcards and cookies through the mail.

The End.