A Canadian Winter

A Winter Dawn
Banana-cream and apricot
arose in the eastern sky;
Softly blending with shaded-greys,
it quietly caught the eye.
Dawn is magic along the horizon
before the sun

climbs aloft;
Winter mornings are specially-embellished
with colours more muted and soft.
Snowflakes mirror the pastel tones,
adding their touch

for the day.

Beauty spilled from nature's palette
and meant to come our way.
By: Joan Adams Burchell

What is my city like during the winter? A lot of people do not like the cold snowy winters, but I absolutely adore it. What is a Christmas or a winter without snow? I've had many Christmas's where I would wake up to look outside

my window and see soft and beautiful sheets of snow cover the streets and cars. I miss home. I miss the cold, the snow, the outdoor hockey, and cuddling up under the warm blankets. I've had days where it snow a foot or two over night, to have my mom come in my

room in the morning to say school is canceled. School does not get canceled out for anything less than a foot. I've lived all my

life in Montreal, in a beautiful snowy city and minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit

in January's and February's. I picked this poem because it was such a beautiful poem describing the most perfect winter morning in the world. When a morning like that arises, my day is made, to say the least. Getting to school is a mission because the buses are running late, snowbanks ten feet high are blocking the sides of the roads. Montreal is a beautiful city, especially during the winter. I thought I wouldn't miss the winters when I left my city to come to Pennsylvania, but i truly do. After all, it is my home. I'm very excited to return home for Christmas and to spend time with my family, spending time with each other and catching up on life. I am excited to head back home and inhale that freezing breath of air into my lungs. I am excited to be able to walk down my street to the park with my hockey skates and hockey stick to play outdoor hockey. This is my life during a beautiful Montreal winter.

Hughes to Tupac: The Evolution of Black Poetry

Reaching back and searching for the African roots of poetry's greatest poets. They speak of African American pride through their poems uniting the African American people and freeing their souls from the shackles of history. Centuries of slavery, pain, blood, sweat and tears, Langston Hughes and Tupac Shakur, two sons of Africa represent the fight for Black Power and freedom in America. Langston Hughes was an American novelist, playwright, short story writer, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the new literary art form jazz poetry. He is most famous for his work during the Harlem Renaissance. Tupac Shakur was an American rapper who sold over 75 million albums worldwide. According to the Rolling Stone Magazine, he was name 86th Greatest Artist of All Time. Tupac was also very well known for being a social activist for the civil rights movements for African Americans. The majority of Tupac's songs are about growing up amidst racism and violence in the ghetto and conflicts between the East and West Coast hip hop rivalry.
In Langston Hughes's "Children's Rhymes", his poem is deep, talking about how the white people do not understand their struggle for freedom, a common theme in Tupac Shakur's poem "Panther Power".

Children's Rhymes
By what sends
the white kids
I ain't sent:
I know I can't
be President.
What don't bug
them white kids
sure bugs me:
We know everybody
ain't free.

Lies written down
for white folks
ain't for us a-tall:
Liberty And Justice--
Huh!--For All?

Tupac is basically the evolution of Langston Hughes's poem. Hughes's poem talks about how freedom is just an illusion to black people, but yet Hughes does not speak of a solution to find the freedom that black people deserve, the equal freedom that white people are given and that freedom that Mother Liberty promised everyone. The reason that Tupac's "Panther Power" is similar to Hughes's poem is because it relays the same message, but with a solution to find the freedom they were promised. "Don't ever be ashamed of who you are, it's that Panther Power that makes you a star". Tupac's poem is more enthusiastic and offers the inspiration African Americans need to bond together. It is the voice for the white kids to hear that freedom belongs to everyone. Comparing these two poems are very interesting because it compares the two different attitudes that were expressed between Langston Hughes and Tupac. In Hughes's poem, there seems to be no hope for the African American race, just sarcasm and hate towards the white kids. In Tupac's poem, it feels as if there has been a revival period for African Americans to expose their feelings. As if there is momentum pushing blacks to speak up for what they believe is right. Hughes lost the site of freedom, providing no motivation for the blacks, but Tupac revitalized the black spirit. "As real as it seems, the American Dream ain't nothing but a calculated scheme. It is very important to realize that both poems mock the American dream, liberty and justice, because the American dream which was supposed to be a part of every American, was not given to blacks. It is important to view the changes in attitude from the Harlem Renaissance to the Black Arts Movement/Civil Rights Movement each of them represented. Hughes set the foundation for Tupac black power movements and Tupac set the foundation for unity and pride of African Americans throughout the country.

Christmas is coming so soon. And I am already thinking about what I wanna be doing in Christmas. Then I come to the conclusion that there are just too many that I want to do, but there is one thing I know that I will definitely do. I can't wait to sit back on my, all covered up in a blanket, watching an old movie with family. Maybe a cup of hot chocolate would be good, and I would looove to have some Christmas cookies. AH, I can't wait :)
So I was looking at all these recipes that looked just soo good. I found my favorite, and its called Chocolate Snowflake Macaroons.

This recipe is for a batch of 36 macaroons.
You will need ...


2-2/3 cups (7 ounces) flaked coconut
2/3 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large egg whites
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/3 cup melted semi-sweet chocolate chips or squares


1. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Mix the flaked coconut, sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
3. Stir in egg whites and almond extract until it is well blended.
4. Stir in melted chocolate and blend well.
5. Drop by teaspoon onto greased and floured cookie sheets.
6. Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheets and place on wire racks to cool.


7. Enjoy this Chocolate Snowflake Macaroon! :)

During a break in back home in Korea, I remember I had some macaroons. It was so delicious, I had like 10 of them that time. Those macaroons were the original ones, so I think these Chocolate Snowflake ones could be even more delicious! The recipe sounds so easy that I'm sure everyone can bake it easily, even someone like me who never baked before! Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas! :)

THE LAST

           Although I can’t believe it, it has come to an end. …But really? It feels like the first day I sat in Mrs. Lewis’ Poetry class was just a week ago. Maybe a month at max. Thinking back at the past two and a half months, I can recall so many good memories with this class. Sitting on the floor, reading children poetry, patting Bugsy the Library Dog and feeling so much better about the tiring day, watching the intense Slam video clips, listening to Mrs. Lewis and Mr. Lewis’ love story from 17 years ago, learning all the unhappy poets and some very few happy poets and their poems, competing the blog hits with other groups for Mrs. Lewis’ amazing cookies (can’t believe tomorrow will be the last cookie day with the class L), and many more. This poetry class has truly changed my view of poetry. As I said before, I hated poetry. Although I knew that with Mrs. Lewis, no subject would be horrible, I have to admit that I started off as one nervous kid who did not wanna learn poetry at all. I mean, when I can't even write poetry in my native language, how am I gonna be a poet myself? However, as time went by so fast, I could see the change in myself, becoming more and more open to poetry and realizing that it is not that bad actually. I also think that seeing all different personality of each of us through poetry was really great. Because we all had such a distinguishable and strong voices of our own, I feel like I got to know them so much better after this class. I mean, how am I ever gonna forget this wonderful class with such amazing people? I will miss my CAPS LOCK buddies and all the wonderful people very much. And of course my fav ever, Mrs. Lewis and Buggy :) 

And I know that this is not the end, but another start!

Saul Williams a.k.a. Niggy Tardust

Saul William. When I first saw this guy in his interview in the 1998 independent film Slam, he seemed like a regular poetry guy, just like any others. The interview of him with a baby in his arms made me giggle, and I didn’t see his significance at all at the time. How little did i know, and soon enough, I was stunned by him. His performance, his delivery, his ideas and his expression just left me go wowww. And a couple of days later in class, I saw him again in another film as a musician (he was just commenting on something, not performing as a musician though). What a guy. It got me curious about what more there could be about him.
As I was searching online, I found his website, which made me go woww AGAIN. (Everybody should go check it out: http://www.saulwilliams.com/) I thought it was such a nice website because you can basically find anything about him there. It is run by him, so he keeps updating his music, performances, and thoughts. This website is truly amusing.

“Who I am and what I do seems to vary by mod, mood, and mode of expression. I write. I act. I perform. Most of the labels that are projected onto me are seldom how I would choose to refer to myself. Yet, regardless of how much I might dodge classification, the one label that I tote freely is that of being an artist. And it is the art of self expression that has heightened my experience on this planet and fueled my understanding of love, compassion, and humanity”

I found that quote in his biography section in the website, and I thought those lines really express and define who he is, and what being an artist means to him. As a person who loves arts, I felt like he really delivered the ideal concept of being an artist regardless of however people might think of you. I went ahead and watched some of his Def Poetry Jam performances, and I found this poetry piece called Coded Language. His delivery was just. so. perfect, and it was so powerful, so I'm gonna share it with you guys. :))
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzY2-GRDiPM

DO NOT WANT TO SAY GOOD BYE...

I cannot believe poetry class is over, this is really sad because it is my favorite class in this school. I remember 2 years ago I just came to sem, I got a D- for English in my first term. I never feel confident in English class, and the highest grade I got was a B. But Mrs. Lewis helped me to find my confident of English in the past three months, I can not only write English essays, but also poems!!!

Poetry class is truly my greatest experience at sem, here are my reasons:
1) Instead of reading many story books and get tired of them, I enjoy reading poems so much. I always desire to understand the poem, so I look up every word I don’t know in the poem (which I never did when I read books).
2) As an international student, I really want to learn more about the American culture. Not many teachers will talk about the culture out of the books but I can say I learned more in this class than history class. “Black Art Movement”, “Harlem Renaissance”, “Beat Generation”, these are the items I never heard before.

3) I did a lot of writing without feeling panic, and I can feel my writing skill is improving.
4) We usually only focus on our own work, but we all appreciate others’ work and learn a lot from our classmates in this class. Everyone is unique and great!!!
5) Mrs. Lewis is a very creative teacher, her speaking skills will make me focus on her all the time, and she is very frank and funny. She never critics anyone’s poems and she is always excited to listen to our performance. I think the best feeling for a student is expecting to go to class everyday. “What will Mrs. Lewis do today???” we are always curious about the workshop days.
6) All of my classmates are very special. We always can write different things from same topics. I love sitting in this class because the atmosphere make me relax.
7) Learning should be something makes people happy!! Mrs. Lewis is a very happy teacher which makes us all become happy learners. I gave my best wishes to the class, I wish more and more students can get a chance to take this class and feel how great learning is.

PS, I love the cookie!!!

CHOCOLATE!!!!SWEET!!!

We all know that 10/30 is Halloween, but do you know what is special for 10/28??? It is Chocolate day!!!!!!!!! On Oct. 29th, students in my school should wear customs. I bought a red M&M's chocolate Custom and my poetry class' teacher was amazed by it, so i made a decision to make a super sweet post!!!!
Here I want to share a chocolate poem for Halloween:

Chocolate-Covered Ants
by J. Patrick Lewis

You start with that ant mandible—
Completely understandable—
A chocolate jaw has never tasted sweeter.

Then bite of bit of abdomen
Before you’ve finally grabbed a min-
i-leg, an itty-bitty centimeter.

But ants despise the holiday
That is their grand finale day
When you become The Chocolate Anteater.

I was really amazed when I read Bob Dylan's poem because I never thought that poems can be connected with songs. So poems should be able to connect with food too!!! Music might help the reader to catch the atmosphere of a poem; and I think poems can also evoke people's feeling of good things, for example--food.
I found some mordern poems about chocolate, they are very funny and interesting:

Chocolate

Chocolate is tasty
Chocolate is yummy
Chocolate is better
when inside my tummy

Chocolate is bitter
Chocolate is sweet
Chocolate smells better
than my brother's feet

Not Chocolate!
by April Self

My greatest enemy and my most delicious friend.
An ode to the taste and the flavor that doesn't end.
I scorn you put you out of my mind.
Until caramel chocolate stashed I find!
And much to my poor hips dismay.
I continue munching until the end of the day.
When I'm lucid and calm from your fiendish taste.
And onto my hips and thighs you've graced.
A most lovely array of unnecessary curves.
I can feel the pounds sliding on as I type.
With all society's ideas of model thin hype.
I find myself drifting into despair.
Until I realize I have one piece of chocolate to spare.
And then begins again the fall into sin.
Who cares if your curvy and not stick thin.
Chocolate I give you this decree.
If it weren't for you I wouldn't be me?!



Chocolate
by Ross Bateman

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chocolate chocolate!
When you take a bite, you will taste its delight,
chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chocolate chocolate,
it is so nice, sometimes covered in rice!

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chocolate chocolate!
It will make you scream, and sometimes will be covered in cream!
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chocolate chocolate,
when you take a nibble the side, it will take you on a fantastic ride!

Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chocolate chocolate!
It will make you jump with joy, it will make you act so coy!
chocolate, chocolate, chocolate chocolate chocolate,
Pay for the choclate with every last penny, and buy so many and many!

The first poem is obvious wrriten by a little boy, and the second and third one are from two teenager girls. It's all about chocolate, but I can see how the little boy mocks his brother, how teenager girls love chocolate and "hate" it at the same time. But at this moment, I enjoy reading poems about chocolate and eating chcolate at the same time. Try it!!!