ShanayiaRoland

During my poetry portfolio I tried to step out side of my usual writing and write very specific descriptions instead of the long photographic descriptions that I usually write. For example when I write poetry I usually write descriptions like "I was inspired by feet pounding praise dancing/by the spirits of the holy ghost carrying your feet on air/while you float on the high in which the excitement of the lord gave you." during this poetry portfolio I tried to short those descriptions and make them seem more simple like when i described the way I looked for my first day of school and I said" shirt white, skirt blue, and socks blue/I was a new girl now I was a big girl now/Yes I was excited, but yet nervous. I also wanted to work on repetition and symbolism. For example during my I wash inspired by poem" I was inspired by feet pounding praise dancing/by the spirits of the holy ghost carrying your feet on air/while you float on the high in which the excitement of the lord gave you. I used the genre of gospel praise dancing to also symbolize the way i was inspired by religion and religion based figures and morals. Also in my ode poem i used the cell phone to symbolize the way relationships have their ups and downs until the break. "Connection Failed/We have no reception/No connection/relationship failed." Repetition was in many of my poems like i was inspired by and also in my memory poem i reported the line "New." Over all I think this project was a very opening process that helped you to remember what you really can appreciate about you writing style and how you can make it better.

Poetry is a doorway to the soul.- Floria

**Memory poem-First day of kindergarten** that day its today my grand mother would no longer walk me to preschool I wouldn't have the smell of nicotine and 40 lingering on my cheek any more because Today was New kindergarten was new? New kids, New teacher, New everything. I was going to begin to survive this new lifestyle. my mother said: dress yourself. I put on my uniform I can remember it blue and white shirt white, skirt blue, and socks blue I was a new girl now I was a big girl now? Yes I was excited, but yet nervous... Scared of what the called school the bigger kids walking by me they looked huge. it was the first day of kindergarten and I was brand new.

**Ode to my cell phone** They complete or communication talking to one another Through mind heart and phone line hello, hello, hello Shay? yes beep beep,signal failed. you survive through our outbreaks my heart cracks when you break when your gorilla glass of a guard breaks hands clutching against the volume button Keep your tone down this isn't the time or the place Ring Ring hello, hello,hello Metro PCS beep, beep. battery dead. Connection Failed We have no reception Relationship failed.

**Getting to the work!** You have to write a found poem It needs to b 10 lines Can we use lines from other poems? Can we uses 10 lines from another poem? I don't even know what that is. Can I go play with the ball No it homework time Can yasheed come out? No Do you know what time he's gone be done I done, Thats good Put your name on it AND I did a good job

**I was inspired by dance.** I was inspired by feet pounding praise dancing by the spirits of the holy ghost carrying your feet on air while you float on the high in which the excitement of the lord gave you. Where Clapping your hand was a rejoicing way to to release your thankfulness Where you got the holy spirit and your thankfulness sent you back to your roots in Africa where we were running for freedom. where you could fill the drum beating in your heart, your feet started to move in this pattern and you can her you ancestor screaming liberty(x3) freedom while clapping there hands so hard I could feel that harsh stinging feeling and i called it the spirit.

I was inspired by dance and I danced until I could taste of salt in my sweat. I got hot in Africa. I was inspired by dance African dance I danced bare foot flat feet slapping the ground where you danced for those of who dance for you. I spinet my arms in a circle feeling the wind blowing against my face. They called me Sheba because when i danced i looked like a queen Face glistening and telling my story through my art Throwing my body like a rag doll My ancestors used me as a book spit history through my hands and speaking it through my legs I felt inferior

I was inspired by dance emotional dancing Producing my emotions through the stroke fingers dance was something your never take from me. **My baby angel** Her dark deeply opened eyes took me in. She knew me; in the shook of the moment she learned me It was like giving birth to an angle, so I named my baby angel (in Spanish) The gracious glow of her skin shined so brightly it was blinding so I wrapped my arms around her in attempt to bless her with the gift called life. My first words to her were baby girl you are beautiful. She blinked her eyes as if she was trying to say thank you. We began to bond; we were like the birds and the bees combing to make earth a better place. I began to listen to every breath, inhaling and exhaling it was like god feeding her majestical winds this told me that She was my goddess and I was her peasant so I bowed down like everyone else who will encounter this queen. They will respect you I told her, you would be respected No matter the completion of your chocolate brown skin You will be respected No matter the tightness of the curls in your hair You will be respected You will not speak in a ghetto or up tight accent Just natural accent that shows you confidence because I will raise you confidently Teach you how to hold you head high And walk as if you live on a golden brick road that keeps you from falling because even when you fail you will get back up. An mama will raise you to be loved You will be loved You will be an angle because you are my angle...

beep beep,signal failed. you survive through the outbreaks of being thrown against the ground You crack, when the grilla glass of a cover smacks against the floor hands clutching against the volume buttom Ring Ring hello, hello,hello Metro PCS beep, beep. battery dead.