I Wanna Hear a Poem

Students listen to Steve Coleman reciting "I Wanna Hear a Poem" on Def Poetry http://blog.spokenwordart.com/2007/02/14/steve-coleman-performs-on-def-poetry/. They then write their own poem modeled on his.


I Wanna Hear a Poem by Nazifa Jahan

I wanna hear a poem
about why you do what you do.
I wanna hear a poem
about something I never knew.

I wanna hear a poem
that makes me wanna think.
I wanna hear a poem
that makes me wanna blink.

I wanna hear a poem
about something real.
I wanna hear a poem
that I can feel.

I wanna hear a love poem,
a poem that makes me moan.

I wanna hear a poem
about chatting with friends.
I wanna hear a poem,
a poem that never ends.

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I Wanna Hear a Poem by Joann Ruiz

I wanna hear a poem.
I wanna say “Wepa!” when it ends,
Because I’m sick of saying, “Conyo!”

I wanna hear a poem
About who you are,
And what you are,
And not about how bored you are.

I wanna hear a sad poem, a bad poem,
An “I hate math” poem,

A creamy poem,
An “I’m not what I eat” poem,
An “I bleed” poem,
An “I am a hoe” poem,
And an “I have no place to go” poem.

I JUST WANNA HEAR A POEM

I wanna hear a poem
About my sad eyes, and my tears
And my soul.

I wanna follow my footsteps
And hear the truth
About the day the world was whole.

I wanna hear a poem.

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I Wanna Hear a Poem by Stephanie Rodriguez


I wanna hear a poem
About loneliness,
About what to do with myself
When I get lonely,

And where to go
When I wanna feel
Sheltered and protected.

I wanna hear a poem
About finding yourself,
Because I no longer know
Who I am
Or who I’m supposed to be
Or, should I say, what others expect of me.

I wanna hear
An “I’m sick of being perfect” poem,
Because that’s what I am
Sick and tired of being perfect
Sick and tired of all the pressure
Sick and tired of all the crap.

I just wanna be me,
Accepted for who I am,
And not what others want me to be.

I just wanna relax,
Lay back,
And hear a poem.

I wanna hear a poem.


(Thank you, Susan Klein, for sharing this model and your students' work.)