Without You by Gilbert Koh

I'm riding on a speeding train,
elsewhere, non-existent,
in transit between cold station lights.
You're a thought, just a thought,
in my head, and outside blackness is
screaming past the window.
There are people here, passengers, faces meaning nothing
hands eyes strange footsteps mouths
speaking words collapsing
here and now and all this while
all this distance between us
is closing in swiftly.
I am here with this need
for you, and I can't hear
can't see, for me there's only me
not even me now that I am
without you. When this train arrives,
you'll be there waiting,
a thought in my head come alive,
and true. But in this moment,
I'm still riding on a speeding train,
moving fast, and you're a thought,
no more, nothing more,
and I'm alive, suspended,
hurtling through the blackness,
nowhere without you.

Lesson Idea:
Compare with songs titled "Without You"
- Without You by Nickleback
- Without You by David Guetta
- Without You by Mariah Carey

Poetry & teenagers

Poetry is a good fit for teenagers, she feels, because it "seems like a way to convey a person's emotions, and because teens seem to be going through so much with exams and relationships that they need to be able to put it down somewhere". Meyer feels similarly. "I think that teenagers like writing poetry to let out their 'teenage angst', or to write about things they wouldn't have otherwise known much about. When you write a poem in the point of view of someone else, you have to put yourself in their shoes, and feel everything that they would have felt. It gives you a unique view on events, and I don't know if other teens feel the same about it as me, but it is certainly why I like to write poetry. As for reading poetry online… I think that it gives teens reassurance that other people their age feel the same way as them, and are going through the same emotional changes."

Chanced upon an article on Guardian about the renaissance of poetry in this cyber age - that poetry is a good outlet for teens as they're experiencing changes and need to pen things out in order to cope. They let out their emotions, and write about things that fellow teens understand too.

Movella is a community in which people contribute their writings.

Lesson idea: 
- Get students to think of something they want to blog about. (Fights with friends, misunderstandings, study stress, physical changes, family unhappiness, or even contentment, satisfaction, appreciation of life if they are able to)
- Instead of ranting onto a blog, write it into a poem. Use the afore taught devices and structures to guide.
- This will cultivate a habit of writing succintly and to use the best vocabulary suited for their emotions.

Eating Poetry by Mark Strand

Ink runs from the corners of my mouth.
There is no happiness like mine.
I have been eating poetry.


The librarian does not believe what she sees.
Her eyes are sad
and she walks with her hands in her dress.

The poems are gone.
The light is dim.
The dogs are on the basement stairs and coming up.

Their eyeballs roll,
their blond legs burn like brush.
The poor librarian begins to stamp her feet and weep.

She does not understand.
When I get on my knees and lick her hand,
she screams.

I am a new man.
I snarl at her and bark.
I romp with joy in the bookish dark.


Source: poets.org

Lesson idea: 
- Get students to bring a character to school. Can be an action figure, can be a stuffed animal, anything that can be animate
- Ask them to write from the perspective of the character and what they would do with poetry.