Ancestral Poem

First we took a photo of our fingerprint, then our teacher enlarged it.  We traced around the lines, then got a new piece of paper to write our poem on it.

Mihi

This is the mihi I wrote about myself.  I need to remember all the words, and next week everyone in the class will be tested if they know their mihi.

Yummy

Never use the word YUMMY, our teacher said. It doesn’t mean a thing! Try… delightful, pleasant, delicious, tempting, mouthwatering, tasty, appetizing, flavourful, juicy– the choice is as long as a string! But please, never use the word YUMMY, it just doesn’t mean a thing!

That was Summer

Have you ever smelled summer?

Sure you have.

Remember that time when you were window shopping

in a night market

or trying all the delightful food

and looking at all the alluring accessories?

Remember the ice cream’s scent

and the refreshing smell of mint?

That was summer.

Have you ever heard summer?

Sure you have.

Remember that time when you relaxed on your chair

or were just chilling on the balcony

and you heard the croaking of the cicadas?

Remember how you tried to catch them

but they’re silenced?

That was summer.

Have you ever felt summer?

Sure you have.

Remember that time when you are betting with you friend

or just feel like a challenge

and you tried swimming in a river?

Remember how you felt so freezing and cold

but you still stayed in the river?

That was summer.

Have you ever tasted summer?

Sure you have.

Remember that time when you are clenching an ice cream

or rummaging through the fridge looking for popsicles,

and how satisfying it is when you took a lick?

Remember how nice and cool the popsicles are

and the ice cream?

That was summer.

Have you ever felt summer?

Sure you have.

Remember that time when you came out of the house

waiting for the rain to stop

and caught a glimpse at the muddy and watery puddle

the rain had created?

That was summer.

Leaf

The leaf  flutters and glides

the same as a bird

down towards the ground.

It perches

looking upwards to the sky

on its back

and then is carried away by the wind.

I am a Wave

I am a Wave

I am a wave waiting

to be washed

ashore.

I’m somedays HUGE,

and somedays small.

I am sometimes powerful

and sometimes gentle.

I travel with the

sea and the sea

with me.

I have water inside so

if you touch me

you’ll feel like winter.

I journey along the sea with

nothing inside me.

I’m jolly with the sea with

blueness surrounding me.

I like being a wave because I can

visit every shore around

the world.

By Mengchun

I hear

When i think of the mall,

I hear

Shopping bags rattering,

chattering on the phone.

Children blowing bubbles with their drinks,

footsteps of a leopard.

End of the day speaker.

Slow motion chit chat,

quiet as a funeral.

Doors opening,

doors closing.

All silence, all leave.

Staff pushing trolleys,

splashing of water and mop.

Windows being rubbed,

soft breathing.

And there, outside the playground

As if it had never ceased to be

But only needed listening to

The clicking of cicadas, in the warming sunlight.

I know someone...

I Know Someone...

I know someone who can

fling chocolate in the air

and snatch it with their mouth.

I know someone who can

be a silent mouse.

I know someone who can

lick their nose with their tongue.

I know someone who can

make their index and little finger touch.

I know someone who can

be as sneaky as a snake.

I know someone who can

glide their top lip left

and their bottom lip right.

I know someone who can

sway like a monkey.

I know someone who can

make their wrist and ring finger meet

I know someone who can

make 100 lucky stars in one day.

I know someone who can

do hula hoops non-stop

and that someone is

ME!