Modernism by AmLit

With your partner, follow the character’s thoughts on his way towards his love and despair. Make him imagine the conversation, and trace the thoughts he has about his own inability to connect. Use surprising imagery and metaphors, unexpected rhyme, free verse.

The Love Song of Gerald Thompson III (2018)

Let us go then, you and I

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a volcano pouring destruction across the land

Lava vaporizes our toes

So we fall

in love. Later, lava

Ashes our hearts.

Aspen leaves evolve through the cold river

Swirling scarlet stains of nature’s morgue,

The tomb of folded pages,

A trace of letters imprinted in the cold stone

‘R.I.J….

A sudden whisper in the wind

Like flies swarming the lungs

For I don't know what love is

If the truth’s not in your profile picture

We were never meant to be here and we knew it

The trees tell me to do it

They say I’m going the wrong way

Am I naive to turn back?

We will join the pirates on the moon

And ride with Mator and McQueen

Let us go where goblins cross

Magic vines that cover oceans, a graveyard, a fish pond

Where we feed the helpless fish souls

While shelling turtles

We were never meant to be here and we knew it

The trees tell me to do it

They say I’m going the wrong way

Am I naive to turn back?

I will go to the depths of the ocean and drown

I will greet the ocean man

Who takes me by the hand

And leads me to death

There is something so threatening

About lying on a cold slab

Waiting for the embalming fluid

The tall trees whisper to us

“What’s up?”

We do not respond

Our hearts are barnacles - and wonder.

(Aidan, Jack, Torria, Brandon, Cliona, Caeley, Joy, Maddi, Haley, Sadie, Audrey, Darrion)

The Love Song of Joaqin Ponyfeather (2017)

Let us go then, you and I

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like peanut butter in a cherry pie

Let us slip down muddy streets

And take flight like a raven

Don’t be frightened, don’t be scared

I am everywhere

Head underwater

A shivering moth

The leaves whisper of chocolate fountains

But then the fall comes and death

Sweaty palms clasp together

I wet the bed

With the rivers running down

A rock in the chest

Mic drop but no impact

And you looked adorable with your little bow

Don’t be frightened, don’t be scared

I am everywhere

I see you when I sleep

The poofy haired douche

Whose hair is not fabouche

You bust my heart

I slur my words to tell you how I feel

I need to gain some confidence

Milkshakes on a sunday morning

You smile at me, and I smile back

With each step toward me

Walking closer, passing by me, to the other guy

My smile retreats

To the castle of my heart

I stand up, my boujee shoes wet with tears

Drive in movies and corn dogs

Like a baby straight out of the womb

Where shall I find the courage to talk?

Beards are growing

Love is flowing

But not for Joaquin

Not for Joaquin

He’s gone

by Anna, Geny, Kaydee,

Kacie, Makaya, Madison,

Liam, Ty, Judah, and Mr. K.

The Love Song of Shia Trump (2016)

Let us go then, you and I

When the morning is spread out against the sky

Like rusty spoons in empty cans of spray cheese

Doomed to continue being brushed away by my feet

With an equal amount of significance as you

and me.

The crows circle

When this evening ends I will surely be disappointed

I long for the day it rains eggo waffles

The world descending into peace

No war no hate

Just waffles for everyone

Who believes

A crepe on a skillet,

Sizzling with butter that tastes like motor oil.

Your eyes shine like the steak juices that run down my face,

Rocketship ride:

I can see their beauty from the reflection in my clock.

The crows circle

When this evening ends I will surely be disappointed

I refuse to cry even though you treat me as if I’ve already died.

I think of your eyes.

I wish maybe I had a different smile

by Alec, Zach, Ella, Mariah, Finn, Lauren, Shannon, Ry,

Natty, Nisha, Griffin, Sofia, Jaden, Abbie, Paul, Charlie,

Scout, Sidney, Kristian, Preston, Alannah, Evie, and Mr. K.

The Love Song of John Cena Jr. (2015)

Let us go then, you and I

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a chewed wad of gum on the bottom of a school desk.

Let us go through the trees in the sky

That are filled with pencil shavings and strawberries.

Let us go, with the Grim Creeper stalking,

Chasing women that rapidly speed up their walking;

Running from alleyways, blowing whistles in vain,

For the sound is covered by a passing train.

I am not made of soggy bread and second hands

But indeed of steel and padlocks

I wish I believed.

In the room the women come and go

Talking of teen pregnancies, and snow.

Rain bloods the street like tears on a pillow

leaves of a willow

Like the stillness of a bread baker

Let us don our gloves and

Oppose one another with equal reluctance

with our eyes locked in the inevitable battle that is to come

I cannot help but dwell on my incompetence

And indeed there will be space

For you to cry throughout the night

Your tears made of silver drops

Your hair red as counterfeit bloodstains

eyes blue like bruises

willingly gained.

And all the world will be at the mercy of over sensation

For I have been to the Subway building,

I have bought that $5 Footlong

that makes a cheap date

Last too long.

He made me think of love and I

Would like to curl up and die.

And the rage of my enemies reflects

How many times I have failed my father

I will again

He body slams the ones he loves,

And whispers in my ear,

it's all ogre now.

I am not a fighter who enjoys the pain of those I hate

The only pain I like is my own, and constant.

In the room the women come and go

Talking of teen pregnancies, and snow.

No, I am not a poet.

My shoes, untied, clack on the pavement

What will I say

Words behind my teeth

Waiting to burst, sending bits of dentistry flying.

I should sink into the street,

Scuffed shoes first, then pleated pants

Followed by everything else.

The yarn that ties the colors together

Unravels.

Still I drudge on,

In existential dread,

feet, to heart, to head.

--Aaron, Reysa, Courtney, Evan,

Mackenzie, Henry, Elizabeth,

Charlie, Cooper, Keegan,

Owen, Sam, and Mr. K.

The Love Song of Jose (2013)

Let us go then, you and I

to the moon above or

to a cave below

stars or snails as company

and your company, dear?

I pace the floor.

Belly butterflying eyes look straight at me.

Eyes that resemble not the sky, nor the sea, nor the pigment of a Picasso,

but a shade more varied and pure than all of them together.

The sky, an iron mirror, breathes the mountains in, exhales dust of snow.

Mud grips my shoes, flecks my cuffs.

Street lit snow littered roads.

A shriveled rose on a windowsill

My stomach turns twice

I turn and forget

But I am a stubborn man

Will I say the words

or will all go wrong

I never think about what could go right

My shoulders shrug to my ears.

I am a snowflake that touches the sidewalk

and melts in thin and frosty air.

More of me melts: can I

piece back together what has no peace?

What to say or how to say it.

Will she slap me? Or slam the door?

The worst thing that could happen? What is there to lose?

The half-hope she won’t be home

The whole hope she is.

Were I to say…

I don’t fully know you or you know me

but a part of me misses you.

You can see my legs shaking and stomach in knots

but I try to live by a code:

‘Follow your heart’ which has led me here to you.

Let’s go do something crazy!

Walls enclose me.

Strong hands shut off any chance of breathing.

I fight, I squirm like a worm in the grasp of a curious little boy on the playground.

Give me a moment.

Silence is a resounding answer to my pleasure.

I am a mouse in feline eyes.

I am a dove in a fit

flight of fancy, deciding between freedom

and the lioness’ claws

My faults are

the only evidence of my existence.

Hesitation is wisdom, an undisturbed delicate balance

And wisdom is cowardice.

Freedom is the cage

of empty dreams I have abandoned,

all my life.

Comfort versus joy:

Falling onto bed pillows

or thousands of feet from the sky.

A lifetime of solitude or soft red hair and the big blue eyes staring.

I have walked the bridge of heaven.

My vantage took in hundreds of peaks.