I am the cloud that starts my brainstorms,
The smallest dew drop from the forest of grass,
A body of fingers,
A pickle in a glass jar,
A guard for King Tut’s tomb so no one can get past.
I am a battery of life,
The drum of my body,
A furry mountain on planet Pluto, always furry,
The wild individuality that sets me apart, like the rushing sea during a thunderstorm,
A lost soul upon my life,
A raspberry in a berry patch.
My back is the pathway for the flow of self-knowledge downstream to the sea of destiny.
I am an eggshell becoming stronger and stronger,
A thick rope pulling my body parts together,
A ticking bomb vibrating with life, about to explode.
My freckles are the stars that come out during the summer instead of night that twinkle and brighten up my face.
I am a roller coaster in a junkyard of old things from the 1968 city fair.
I am a college of smart people,
As flat as a deflated balloon left on a table after a party,
A candy cane, curved and straight.
I am just the beginning of my eternity.
– by the 6th Grade Class at the Summer Creative Writing Workshops
[collage by poet John Ashbery]