Zitch

      Zitch

Stanzas	3
Lines	8/stanza = 24 lines
Syllable/Words	12 syllables
Rhymes	2/stanza
Repeat

Unrhymed version

Birthday Suprises

1              Got to school to learn it was a delayed start day.

    “Go figure,” I thought, as it had snowed ‘slush’ overnight.

                As I walked into the staff meeting my friends yelled,

                “Happy Birthday, Miss Cook!” and boy did I turn red!

5              At least the whole staff didn’t break out into song,

                I would have sunk into the floor if they had.

                It was a nice feeling, none the less, to know they cared.

                Funny how it’s the small stuff that becomes important.

                My friends, after that, decided spur-of-the-moment

10            That we needed to go out to a nice dinner.

                I heard them up and down the hall, to all the staff

                To come and eat out somewhere with all of us.

                I’m not sure where we’re going at this point in time

                But I do know a good time will be had by all.

15            Just sitting and laughing with good friends is good for me.

                Funny how it’s the small stuff that becomes important.

               

                The students in my third hour then surprised me.

                First by remembering that it was my birthday,

                Then by spontaneously breaking into song.

20            It was cute, it was funny, it was WAY off key.

                They tried to talk me into a free day from work,

                I laughed, and told them their present was to do their work.

                They groaned and laughed, but got to work anyway.

                Funny how it’s the small stuff that becomes important.

Zida

      Zida

Stanzas	3
Lines	8/stanza = 24 lines
Syllable/Words
Rhymes	A           e           i B           f            j C           g           k D           h           l A           e           i B           f            j C           g           k D           h           l
Repeat

Ah, Yesteday

                I sometimes struggle as a teacher.

                Am I truly making a difference in my students’ lives?

                Do they really ‘get’ what I am trying to help them accomplish?

                Yesterday my questions were answered.

                The first in a comment I probably wasn’t supposed to hear,

                but at least one student ‘got’ my motives.

                And then a thumbs up from a student who is childish

                because he’s so smart he’s completely bored.

                “Ya know I kinda miss daily writing,”

                was the comment I overheard.

                And my heart almost blew apart in my chest

                and my brain did a little dancing jig for joy.

                Maybe all my hard work to make things interesting was budding.

                Maybe making them write everyday wasn’t absurd,

                it just takes them time to make writing a conquest.

                I hope I’ve made this something they all will learn to enjoy.

                At parent-teacher conferences, I didn’t say

                “Your kid’s a pain in the patooty,” like I wanted to.

                I really do know he’s bored and shouldn’t be in my class.

                I couched everything in positive, encouraging words,

                and got a thumbs up from the kid as my pay.

                Hopefully the teacher-student relationship just grew

                and maybe some of the every day drama we can bypass.

                I really do think my students are great, just not in big herds.

Zeori

      Zeori

Stanzas	4
Lines	6/stanza = 24 lines
Syllable/Words	12 syllables/line
Rhymes
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Emily’s Tree

1              A two-hundred year old oak tree stands in Amherst, Mass.,

                Around which three siblings, a boy and two girls, played.

                Back then it was but a sapling, small and pliable,

                Now it towers majestically above the roof.

5              If it could talk, I wonder what tales it would tell

                Of Austin and Emily and Lavinia.

                “The children were bright and lovely, I remember.

                Playing the games children always seem to play.

                Tag and Red Rover, Mother-May-I and jump rope.

10            The girls would bring their dollies under my branches

                And I would shade their afternoon tea parties.

                Their chattering squirrel voices made the best company.

                “The children grew up so much faster than I did.

                Emily became quite shy as she matured;

15            Hiding herself sometimes behind my spreading trunk.

                A white mouse who locked herself away without walls.

                The children all adored her so she wasn’t lonely.

                Aunt Emily was protected fiercely by them.

                “In the summer, Emily would walk past me

20            With handfuls of cut flowers from her garden.

                She was quite a horticulturist, that one was.

                People come to pay homage to Miss Emily,

                But they don’t know how much I miss her little ways.

                My graceful white star, in the day and through the night.”

Zermon

      Zermon

Stanzas	2
Lines	7/stanza = 14 lines
Syllable/Words	11 syllables/line
Rhymes
Repeat

Yellow Chirps

1              I saw you in the road, but thought you could fly.

                As I got closer you hopped and flopped away.

                I stopped to make sure you were going to be alright.

                When I got close I realized you were just a babe.

5              You couldn’t fly away because you feathers

                Were still encapsulated and growing in.

                You let me scoop you up in my hands safely.

                Sitting on my palm your yellow smile was cute.

                I looked around, but couldn’t see where your nest was.

10           The driveway wasn’t a safe place to leave you

                So I took you into the hay bales in the stable.

                I made you a little nest in the grass hay

                Where I knew your mama could get to you

                And you snuggled down as if it was your own.

Frog-soon

1              After the thunderstorms I heard the frogs sing,

                The song woke me up for several nights in a row.

                I knew the pond was filling up with water.

                The mosquitoes took advantage and swarmed up.

5              Little did I know tadpoles were there too.

                Soon to transform and start hopping through the stables,

                Cute little toads, no bigger than my thumb nail.

                In my mind the frogs start raining down from clouds

                As the next monsoon storm unleashes its’ might.

10           With the population explosion of frogs

                I know two things will happen next, less mosquitoes

                And more snakes.  I can’t help it, I just hate snakes.

                Little frogs you need to hide and be safe.

                I hate to think of your cuteness being gone.