Publish "Yesterday, Today Tomorrow" poems here!

[Publishing Voice]

If you've used Rob's "Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow" poetry lesson at the WritingFix Website--

 

Click here to access this freely shared writing lesson! 

 

--and you have up to three edited student samples to share with us, you can post them by copying and pasting them from your computer into our "Reply to This" box below; you may also add samples by adding them as uploaded attachments (like Word documents) to the box below.

 

Very Important:  Please only share your students' first name and grade level with us when you post.  Do not post last names or school names, or the posts will be deleted.

 

Twenty-five Teachers every semester will win a free classroom resource!  Each semester, we choose 25 new students to publish at our online lessons directly at the world-famous WritingFix website. To have your students' writing considered, it can be posted below in the box underneath  this posting.  In November and May, we will select the 25 students whose writing impressed us the most, and if your student(s) is selected, you will be asked to choose from any of the NNWP Print Publications (http://www.unr.edu/educ/nnwp/publications.html) for us to send to your classroom.

 

Help us celebrate your writers.

 

--Corbett Harrison, WritingFix Webmaster

[Dee Hopper]

Natalie- eighth grade

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Yesterday, the world was painted in bright, vibrant colors

Every day was new and clean

The world was my playground, and even the color of the sky would change to match my mood

Fairies lived in every bush, and the cardboard box our new refrigerator came in was a magic fortress

While my parents were rocks stuck in mud at the bottom of a stream, I was a feather,

Spinning over rapids, whizzing around bends, and rolling over ripples

I absorbed the rays from the sun like a sponge, and I carried that light with me in my soul,

And it was the sunshine that fueled my imagination

 

Today, I am changing into something nameless

I’m somewhere between a caterpillar and a butterfly

The transformation is a terrifying thrill

I can remember the time when my life was what my imagination wanted it to be

I want to lock the memories of those times up and keep them in my pocket, so I could maybe stay the child I once was,

But I can’t

The world is pushing me to grow-up

I’m a crisp green sprout, being excessively watered

The waterer thinks it will accelerate my transformation, when really, it’s just drowning me

 

Tomorrow is a blur of colors

I’m moving too fast to make out what the future will be like for me

Maybe tomorrow, I’ll be able to keep that sunshine that fueled once my imagination, or maybe the sunshine will fuel something new

All I know is that tomorrow’s coiled up and ready to pounce, and surprises will lie around every corner

Like storms, tomorrow cannot be controlled, but it can be prepared for

I know tomorrow, I’ll be something new

 

 

Rachana        8th grade

 

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Yesterday

A mural of bright colors,

Distorted by a puddle of tears

Left behind

 

Today

A never-ending maze of mystery,

Filled with both thorns and flowers alike;

Neither exists without the other

 

Tomorrow

Will it be a red letter day?

Will the sun still be shining?

Everyone says my future is in my hands,

But how will I make it,

Because I am a very big

procrastinator

 

 

Kylie - 8th grade

Sam Temple

Yesterday, I lived in a different world.

Yesterday, I lay on my surfboard, letting the glistening blue waves gently carry me away to a place of euphoria

Yesterday, I was but a child swathed in a blanket of ignorance

Yesterday, I was 14 years old not 40

Yesterday was lucid, facile, and prevalent

Yesterday, is a day I desperately long for

 

Today the darkest of dreams become reality

Today, I am engulfed in a sea of red

Today, I become the leader, the protector, and the guardian of the weak and innocent

Today, I carry the new, chaotic, world on my young shoulders

Today, they broke me, in a way that cannot be mended

Today, destruction and pain obscure my vision

The horror of today is relentless

 

Tomorrow is inescapable

Tomorrow, the glory of the rising sun will fill some with hope, but will fill me with fear of the unknown

Tomorrow is another day in purgatory

Predicting tomorrow is like being sucked into a black hole; it is ineludible and unforeseeable

Tomorrow is a day I am unprepared for

Tomorrow the FAYZ wall will come down and all of us, suffering and scarred, will be freed from this hell?…probably not

There may be no tomorrow for me

 

Hamza - Eighth grade

 

Yesterday; I was a pleased young boy.

Yesterday; I walked around with a full stomach.

Yesterday; I loved my parents for they loved me.

Yesterday; I had gone to amusement parks just for delight.

Yesterday; I had played the piano only to fulfill my joy for it.

Yesterday; I had lakes consisting of nothing but cash.

Yesterday; I was a pleased young boy.

Yesterday was the past, but one that is better than the future.

 

        Today; I’m a desperate young man.

Today; I’m eating no more than an ant does a day.

Today; I abhor my parents for they abhor my.

Today; I toil at a circus only to please everyone but myself.

Today; I operate a tatty piano with complete rue just for money.

Today; I am even less money than the average toddler.

Today; I’m a desperate young man.               

Today is the present, but not the one I asked for.

 

          Tomorrow; is a mystery.

Tomorrow; I might die, I might live.

Tomorrow; I might make it up with my parents, I might despise them even more.

Tomorrow; I might go to an amusement park for fun, I might go to the dump for food.

Tomorrow; I might play the best piano in the world with delight, I might pull strings on a banjo for money.

Tomorrow; I might have gleaming towers of gold, I might be the most penniless human in this world.

Tomorrow; is a mystery.

Tomorrow is the future, but one without any hope for something new.

 

 

 

[Stacy Harkreader Neighbors]

Patrick

“Resemblance, Hope, Joy and Respect”

 

Yesterday

 

Yesterday was a day when I thought lying was better

But later learned that it was like a demon that would always terrorize your soul

When kicking and hitting others was fun

Until you began to get unwanted consequences

Like termites in your favorite tree

Having sizzling greasy summers like a flat top grill,

            which is deeply beyond your control

Forcing you like a tenderizer to dive on a Slippin’ Slide

The extreme heat hypnotizes you inside

Then in a day or two the memory bolts from your mind like a diving determined falcon     after its prey

One week later the grass turns to a dead drown wilting color, like it is filled with  depression

When you put on your fluffy cozy footy pajamas you feel like an owl buried deep in a

            wooded tree

Full of color and humungous feathers

My friends should always be there for me like oxygen in the air,

I need oxygen to function daily like a well rounded friend

My life was filled with love, hope, and grains of sorrow and sadness

Some of which should follow you through life.

 

Today

 

Today is a day when I begin to grow up

My dreams may change, with of which may bring on new life challenges and life lessons

I still live with the life lessons I learned as a child, but I have learned new life

            lessons to go along with the old ones

I have grown out of those sweet loving movies as a child

To scary thrill seeking movies that make you jump like a spooked chicken

Life seems to have flown since the sweet loving days of a child

To the joking and hanging out with your friends days of a teenager

Today baseball is like a way of life

Reddish brown dirt drifting slowly in the air, hard lightly tinted baseballs flying in

            in every direction, and children playing their hearts out and leaving

            everything on the field

Hunting and fishing overload my mind

While reading drifts silently in my soul

Today I do everything with my amazing loving family and friends

They are like “White on Rice” to me

We make some jokes worth remembering for life and go on some vocations that will

            never be forgotten

Today is like a feather floating in a soft cool October breeze

Fast at times but slowly yet surely most of the time

Life has some dramatic changes as you grow up but there are always those small things

            that should never change.

 

Tomorrow

 

Your future depends on what you do now in life

Make good grades and you could be a millionaire living like an Eagle with no predators

But be a failure and you will be living like a dumpster full of rotting atrocious trash

Tomorrow is a day when working will bring along new life challenges

When sometimes joking and childish play won’t be tolerated

Depression will be like a stalker always there looking for the right moment to strike

It seems like a human, it has a mind of its own

Family is very important in your near distant future

When you need help you can be a luscious baby bird, you can go to your momma whenever you need help

Tomorrow you might be caring for a bright young child of your own using valuable

            lessons learned from your parents

Having patience will make me just_____ that much better than every other adult

Patience is like gold, you can get anything with the glimmer of gold

I try my hardest, so I will succeed

I have patience, so I will succeed

I am a human, so I can do whatever I choose to in my future.

 

 

 

[Stacy Harkreader Neighbors]

 Katherine

 

Yesterday, you were different. Tears were shed as we found out your condition. You could walk, jog, and run. You were offended when a stranger mistook me for “an adorable baby boy.” Your heart ached with care for me, your baby sister. You were my favorite sibling, and I was yours. I was always somewhere near you, because our bond was so close. I would follow in your footsteps, because you were my role model. I loved you so much. You’d laugh in that funny way when Mom would fuss you for teaching me a bad word. Yesterday, you were different.

Today, you are still my favorite. It pains me to see the bad decisions you’re making to escape the reality of your disease. I pray every night that you realize the careless choices you make. You don’t seem to see what you’re getting yourself into. I have faith in you and believe you can change. I care about your heath and safety, just as you did for me. I literally start laughing out loud just thinking about the way you laugh or smile. Today, your disease gets slightly worse. You need someone to wheel you up the ramp Dad made to your bedroom. I still love you dearly. Today, you are still my favorite.

Tomorrow, we will still be as close as ever. Your disease will be worse, but it won’t change anything between us. I will do everything I can to get you the help you need and deserve. I hope that you finally decide to change your ways. Wide smiles will stretch across all of our faces as we find out that a cure has been found for your disease. I will still care about you more than ever. I will do everything I can to get you the help you need and deserve. We never know what will happen. We can only hope for the best. Tomorrow, we will still be as close as ever.

  

 

[Stacy Harkreader Neighbors]

Sammy

 

 

“A Life in the Passenger Seat”

 

       

As a child I rode around in a plastic, pink Barbie jeep. The gray hollow tire rolled over bumps, cracks, and rocks. Molly put the put the jeep in full speed, as we crossed the street. I sat in the passenger seat grumpily because she never lets me drive!

The air blew through the place on this tiny car where the windshield should be. Mosquitoes constantly hit me in the face as Molly rapidly drives our purple and gold golf cart. I sit in the passenger seat throwing my arms across my chest because I know she won’t let me drive!

Soon I’ll be propping my feet up on the dash board, sitting in the passenger seat of Molly’s car. I’ll just let her chauffer me around because I know she’ll never let me drive!

 

[Stacy Harkreader Neighbors]

Jesse

“You Will Reach The Future”

Yesterday:

                Rain pouring out of dark shapes in the once blue sky. Levies shatter as they let the mighty Mississippi raid land. Thunder you can hear all the way from the mighty border and farther. Lightning lighting up the darkness like a new light bulb right out the box. Wind moving fast enough to destroy trees and create whirlwinds in the darkness.

Today:

                The horrible sound of shutting lockers as every student rushes to the next class, dropping books on the ground as the bell sounds. All the sliding going on in the classroom as if there is a game of musical chairs taking place.  The teacher quiets the class as she reads over the lesson plan and tells everyone to get started. Pencils rubbing against the side of student heads as new thoughts are being created. Thinking to myself and wondering, What should I write about?

 

Tomorrow:

“2 minutes left 4^th quarter, tied ball game. The New Orleans Saints are in possession of the ball.  They’re on their own 40, Brees steps back to pass, and hits Colstion with a bullet for an eight yard gain.  Looks like they’re bringing Ingram of the bench.  Ingram takes the pitch to the outside running up the sideline getting hammered out of bounds, at the Miami 43. Time slowly going away as we make progress up the field, Clock  just hitting 45. Saints need to pull something together here if  they want to win. Alright just breaking the huddle, Saints come out in a shotgun formation, 20 seconds on the clock Saints have time for one more play. Brees steps back to pass, 5 step drop and a bomb heading to Moore, and are caught in the endzone. TOUCHDOWN! SAINTS! No time left to spare and the Saints have won their second super bowl in 3 years.”

[Stacy Harkreader Neighbors]

You, Me, and Forever.

Yesterday was the start of something new. Yesterday was the end of the beginning. Yesterday, I had less reasons to smile. Yesterday, it was May 21^st. Yesterday, memories were made, on and off my street. Yesterday, my friends and I laughed at so many painful accidents. Yesterday, I was without love… because I didn’t know you. Yesterday, I made mistakes. Yesterday, I was different, and I couldn’t be trusted.

          Today is about living in the moment. Today is about doing what nobody around you expects. I’ve learned to second guess before choosing my friends.  Its also to think twice before doing things. It’s about loving the movies, video games, running around, and not caring about what anyone else thinks of me. Today is about getting used to the homework, then hanging with friends. Its about being different and telling everybody about how much money you have, and what you use it on. Today is about hanging out and having fun with everybody. Today is all about loving to swim, and playing soccer. Today is about enjoying being a teenager. Today, we’re going to break the rules. Today is about holding you tight. Today is about keeping you. Today is about love. Today is about your eyes, and getting to see them every day. Today is about focusing on tomorrow. Today is about your smile and happiness, which causes mine. Today is us laughing together. Today is our names next to forever. Today, my focus is you. Today, I’ll start a fresh new day. Today, I smile brighter than the sun.

          Tomorrow is something I want to avoid, yet something to look foreword to. It’s something I’ve been longing for. Tomorrow is something part of me doesn’t want to come. I’ve already been forced to grow up. I’ve already heard the lectures. Tomorrow, I’ll be independent. Tomorrow is about me… making my own choices, instead of someone else making them for me. Tomorrow I’ll be a fully grown, like a tree. Tomorrow, I will have changed.  I will be taller, stronger, and more mature. Tomorrow, most of me will be the same. I will listen to the same music, do the same things, and act the same. Tomorrow, I want to hear your voice every day. Tomorrow, I want you by my side. Tomorrow, I want my day to start out with seeing your smile.

          Yesterday, I walked alone.

          Today, everything has changed.

          Tomorrow, I’ll be ready for any upcoming challenges.

By Richard

[Stacy Harkreader Neighbors]

"Within Me"
         yesterday
yesterday was the past
Yesterday was a day
Yesterday i was petite
Yesterday i didnt understand
Yesterday i cried tiers falling like and over flowing aqua  blue water fall
Yesterday i left you
Yesterday you didn't remember
Yesterday sound asleep with all your worries behind
Yesterday you left clueless
Yesterday i prayed goodbye
Yesterday was fairwell
              today
Today is a new day
To day is the present
Today i'm not petite
Today i've grown up
Today outspoken
Today i understand
Today starts my dreams
Today the rest is still unwritten
Today i see diffrent
Today i wonder like a lost person not knowing where to go
Today head high almost to the light blue soft pillows in the sky
Today blessed
Today intelligent
 tomorrow
Tomorrow is the future with the past and present behind
Tomorrow i totally understand
Tomorrow leaving mom like a brown crunchy leaf gliding away
Tomorrow all grown up

 

J’Lynn

[Stacy Harkreader Neighbors]

Breanne

“Self Portrait”

Focus: Art

 

Yesterday, I was merely a ball of clay, lifeless and as grey as my thoughts. Pondering nothing more complex than the time I’d get to eat my “nuggets” and watch the purple dinosaur on TV. Walked on and over like chalk art on a pavement as my exterior was a soft blanket protecting my delicate insides.

 

Today, I’m a canvas with very few colors. Messy like a dumpster, unsure of what will be thrown on me next. With every new emotion comes a new color, a glob of ridiculous thoughts bursting into fireworks. Intense strokes being made trying to figure out what will really happen next. Trying to complete myself, but unable to come in contact with the right paintbrushes, the right friends to lead me to my finished masterpiece.

 

Tomorrow, I’ll be completed but not as perfect as I would want to be. Sketch marks here, uneven eyes, and maybe some fly away hairs. Constantly I’ll be adding new things to my painting; a family of my own, new hobbies, and things I may want to achieve later on. New adventures and experiences will help be a pallet of colors of which I get to choose from, then leading me to a Pulitzer Prize – worth collage. Although abstract, I’ll make a difference.