French class this week we have been learning about poetry!! It may sound boring or incomprehensible (Shakespeare) but it is actually an art that everyone should have the privilege of hearing or reading. Most of you may think that poems have to rhyme but really they don’t. For example, Haiku is a Japanese form of poetry but it does not rhyme! It is 5 verses of non-rhyming beauty! Poems that do not rhyme are called Free Verse poems. I am going to show you a poem I wrote that does rhyme. I hope you enjoy it.

The sky is dark and empty
No moon to grace its void
No stars to twinkle everywhere
No warmth to be enjoyed

What happened to this happy place
What happened to the glee
Now all I see is emptiness
I wonder how that could be?

The ground is dry and empty
No footsteps make a sound
No plants or life or trees or grass
No living soul is found

The peaks are white and empty
The rocks are jutting out
Prepared to make you feel so small
Enough to make you doubt

The streets are cold and empty
Greif is in the air
No laughter to be heard
No smiles to be shared

Children running through the streets
Is but a memory
Open doors, inviting hands
You will rarely see

Poetry does not necessarily have to show how you are feeling, it can just be some inspiration you pull out of the air, like how an author writes a book!! As you can tell by my poem, I just pulled an idea from the sea in my brain and went with it. In fact, my inspiration was a project we were doing about global warming! We had to draw a picture that represented global warming and I drew cracked, dry earth and it made me think that it was just empty! No plants no humans, no animals, and no life. Empty.

When you think of poetry what words come to mind? Maybe rhyming, stanzas or music! The truth is, poetry can describe so many different things. It is used to convey messages, feelings, thoughts and emotions. It is also used to paint pictures in your minds! Did you know that poetry is all around us? It is!!! Song lyrics are poetry as well as some types of books! All in all, poetry is a very important thing and we should all learn about it!!
I hope you see poetry differently now!

Poetically yours,

Serena Wambura.