Name: ___________________________ Color Group: A L S O
Grade 9
Favorite Place Poem Sample
Sample Poems
I am including two sample poems for you.
The first is what I like to call a level one poem.
It doesn’t require quite as much work as a level two poem.
I have included a graphic organizer for the level one poem.
The second poem is what I call a level two poem. It requires you to dig a little deeper.
It does not have a graphic organizer.
You have to think through the story you want to tell,
keeping the important imagery and letting go of the irrelevant pieces.
LEVEL ONE POEM SAMPLE
Title
The Woods in Fall
Introduce your favorite place
somehow
Fall has arrived in my favorite woods,
but it passes far too quickly.
Include something you see
The woods are dressed in splendid colors
like fire and sunlight brought to life.
Include something you hear
I hear birds announce themselves happily,
sharing their soulful songs with me
as I wander the meandering trails.
Include something you smell
I smell the burning leaves of a bonfire somewhere,
signaling the end of fall and the coming of winter.
Include something you feel
Include something you taste
Wrap it up! Perhaps repeat your
first line.
YOUR TURN!
Title
Introduce your place somehow
Include something you see
Include something you hear
Include something you smell
Include something you feel
Include something you taste
Wrap it up! Perhaps repeat your
first line.
A chilly breeze nips at my cheeks and makes my nose
run
while I blow and sip on the hot chocolate I’ve brought,
sweet marshmallows bobbing up and down in my mug.
Fall has arrived in my favorite woods, but it passes far
too quickly.
LEVEL TWO POEM
This imagery chart was the foundation for the poem on the back of this page.
Notice that not every piece of imagery that was brainstormed was used in the poem.
The author chose which elements to include and which to save for another day.
Favorite Place: Grandma’s House
Visual
Imagery
(sight)
Auditory
Imagery
(sound)
Olfactory
Imagery
(smell)
Gustatory
Imagery
(taste)
Kinesthetic
Imagery
(touch
w/skin)
flickering
light of the
television
sound of
baby birds
living in the
air
conditioner
the smell of
tea, dark and
bitter
buttery
mashed
potatoes
the smooth
feeling of
feel of the
being safe
peas as I flick
them out of
the peapod
green and
the nightly
white shutters news on in
the
background
the sweet
smell of
hydrangeas
sweet coffee
the rough
edges of the
puzzle pieces
coziness
screened in
front porch in
the shade
the sound of
a tub filling
up
the smell of
dusty books
and papers
strawberry
ice cream
the warm
water in the
bathtub
routine
dim light of
old lanterns
the sound of
newspaper
pages turning
the smell of
coffee,
inviting
the sparkle of
costume
jewelry
grandma’s
fake teeth
clicking
mushy
cooked peas
the breeze on
the porch
the hug of the
soft
armchair’s
wings
Organic or
Subjective
Imagery
(emotion/sens
ations)
Grandma’s House
I remember visiting you as a child,
falling into your routine like it was my own,
because it was cozy and secure.
It was safe.
It was like coming home.
Everything was familiar.
The sweet floral scent of hydrangeas
as I walked up the stairs,
past the sound of baby birds growing in the air conditioner,
onto the shaded, screened-in porch,
beneath the green and white shutters--Greener even than the peas
we shelled
on that same porch,
flicking the smooth, cool pale green balls
out of the peapod,
knowing you would cook them to mush
later that evening,
to be served with buttery mashed potatoes,
hamburger fried to grayness, and
dark, bitter, tea.
I never cared how bad it was,
because you made it.
You made it for me.
We would settle into the evening
tracing the rough edges of puzzle pieces
while the light flickered from the television
and the sound of grandpa
flipping pages of the newspaper
couldn’t quite cover
the sound of you, grandma,
clicking your fake teeth.
I miss that sound.
I miss you, grandma.