Pursuit of Poetry:
Mrs. Streight's Class
[On November 30, 2000, Mrs. Streight's 4th grade class at
Chadbourne Elementary School in Fremont, California wrote this group poem.
The class was preparing to visit The Oakland Museum's exhibit, "Secret
World of the Forbidden City: Splendors from China's Imperial Palace."]
Also see the individual poems written
by the students, both on November 30th and after their visit to the exhibit
on December 3rd.
I Am—
I am the kangaroo who jumps
across the Outback
in
one hour.
I am the calm sloth who sits
in a tree scratching flies
off its sides.
I am the black bear who can climb
a high tree.
I am the strong gray wolf who fights
and always
wins.
I am the elephant seal who can
cross the ocean
without taking a breath.
I am the fish who can breathe
out of water
and flop one mile
from the Sierra Mountains.
I am the catfish, quick and speedy.
I am the strong fish who swims in the sea,
day and night.
I am the dolphin who glides in the water.
I am the dolphin who can swim the Atlantic Ocean
in seventy minutes.
I am the blue dolphin who swam the Seven Seas.
I am the fast-swimming otter who
zooms around everywhere.
I am the otter who dives and plays in the water.
I am the playful otter who
won't come home to dinner.
I am the musical light breeze
who lightly caresses the face as it passes.
I am the musical nightingale
who sings for
love and happiness.
I am the canary who sings
for the whole village.
I eat ice cream as fast as a cheetah runs.
I read as fast as the cheetah runs.
I am as voracious as a lion chasing its prey when I read.
I am the cheetah who runs like the wind.
I am the cheetah who runs so fast
that he looks like a missle that
streaks through the forest.
I am the cheetah who runs so fast
he looks like a blur in the sun.
I am the quick rabbit who seldom gets caught.
I am the fat black bear
who ate
all
the honey in the world.
I am the sneaky racoon who steals food in the night.
I am the macaw parrot who talks
from dawn to dusk.
I am the peregrin falcon who dives
at one hundred thirty mph
to catch its prey.
I am the responsible elephant seal
who takes care of his herd.
My aim with a bow and arrow is as good as
the huntsman shooting a hummingbird.
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