t Sp Ar Ekphrastic P oems by 6t h Graders from Artwo rks at the N ational Gall ery EMS Humanities Program Periods 1 & 6 with Heidi Mordhorst
We gaze upon a future A future where we are accepted To our brothers who are just like us Who left us in the dust We stand outside for a chance at this future Waiting outside for our brothers to let us in Plate from LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL, Ringgold Villains in spotlight | Cecily Davenport A spotlight. An invisible one but still shining bright. We are just there. Watching, with hearts open and eyes wide. The whites are like snakes, hissing like we're the Villain All we do is stare…
Dark, cold, streets, Lights flickering Excited screams circling the park Like vultures Happy kids waiting in lines Yet they’re not the only ones waiting Others are waiting watching the kids play wishing waiting Fun Town? | Sloane Small In the dark cold streets As I roar through the sky in this fun town Yet they know they won’t enter their outside of that fence and they won't be let in with everyone else They’re not criminals or threats, They’re black I look to my right Two kids I see They are different from us But they stare as we scream in delight But they don't enter Because of the rules And now I wonder Can you really call this a town of fun if they are in the suburbs? “Fun Town” | Emely Marquez Two kids. 1 girl, 1 boy, both colored. “Mama, who are they?” “They’re nobodys, meant to be out elsewhere, you don’t even have to think about them.”
Fun is a facade, Fake and enshrouded in lies Unwelcoming Unincluding Not true, nor false. Separate, You and I A border that’s Real and False Place of between | Zachy Lee As the ride starts I see a face One so familiar yet out of place Running to me was a friend But the gates kept him away I tried to break it but the kids wouldn’t let me They said black and white do not go together But how come when they are made for each other? Gray|Davi Cavalcanti The black and the white are separated A gate 10 feet tall separates dark fun “Let us go” the children say But the gate answers “No” The colors can’t be mixed, gray can be beautiful We just need to get in
Watching through my window our eyes met Al cruzar miradas por unos minutos I feel deeply in love with you My mom couldn't help but laugh Through mi mirada de enamorada That Silly Girl | Eliza Lewis Two Women at a Window, Bertolome Murillo That silly girl, staring out the window. That silly girl, in love with that foolish boy in town. That silly girl, sitting and watching for hours at end. That silly girl, looking smitten and brainless. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, With her head in the clouds. That silly girl, too shy to say hello. That silly girl, wishing they would notice her. The Gaze | Mountaga Diallo The beautiful stars The many stars I look at them with my little eyes They glitter, they glow, my, how beautiful In this moment, I think Is there anyone else who thinks of the stars like me The sun is slowly coming down I yearn to see the night sky With the stars shining in the moonlight Don’t you? I gaze dreamily at the night sky I think the night sky is a living thing A living thing in a different world My thoughts My only thought Is to fly and greet the stars
I Sit, A painting on a wall, Nothing more Blending in with the money-green background I've heard this before Madame Henriot, Auguste Renoir Madame Henriot | Lillian Ratto A floating ghost in flowing clothes Smile for the picture, they say Smile for the crowd. What I want to say, Yet I can't say, Is that I’m a person too. I’m just like you! I want to help And I need help but help Is not allowed So I sit Stay quiet, And smile for the crowd. There but absent as if she could be swallowed by her background any moment A painted face a mask With eyes unblinking unseeing made of glass With all her pretending perhaps it’s fit Stuck: | Sofia Legarreta The stained rose glass In its vast glorySuffocates the free wind, That bottles up within. Stuck with a prim smiling face cracks, As the paper tears itself apart- That she should be Leaving only ash An actress
My Power | Maddie Wirth All shall cower before me for I am four and mighty I asked my mother, Do I have power? She replied by saying, You do not have power So I asked my father, Do I have power? He replied by stating, You do not have power So I then asked my dog, Do I have power? And he barked and nodded his head. I hold thee by chain and all shall bow before me My daddy’s got my back so don’t dare disappoint me one day I’ll be king and make you feel sorry You can call me greedy power hungry it is true I’m very mighty Escape | Sarah Kruse Filippo Cattaneo, Sir Anthony van Dyck Prompt, powerful puppy Yet sad, lumpy, trapped Longing to be free I yearn to escape The red collar and chain It makes me shake All he does is stand yelling with pride In his kneehigh socks And his silly white tie The yellow and black Color of a bee If one stung him Oh, I could be free.
Ahh I mean just look at me I got the best cloth out of all of the boys I am even the heir to my father Look at my dog it’s the best looking Just like me I am young I have power That’s who I am This is not where I will end In His Place | Jacob Freudenberger I command But I am still commanded The Royal Child | Herman Cheng He stands stiffly In an official’s clothes A hand on the chain That restrains the pup The other hand on his hip Looking proud as can be But deep inside, most likely, He just wants to play. Standing tall and feeling proud Holding this weak, but well groomed puppy I will make my father proud I will live up to his name Even at this young age I have learned power I will take my father’s place Right after he falls
Where were we? First, in the hands of a mother Then, flying First, below a roof Then, blinded by the sky First, still Then, moving First, heat Then, cool like ice First, a big bright star Then, multiple tiny ones As if the big one exploded into a million pieces Knowing that I shall join them one day Young Astronomer, Brian Kershisnik First, loud Then, quiet First, pain Finally, nothing HOPING UPON THE STARS | Alejandro Vacatello “It all starts with one, a brave soul in the sky looking up to the stars for which they protect in search of some answer that is… out of reach” Fear | Heidi Mordhorst unpoint your finger, mother of stars, and wrap both arms around me I am but small and the fierce darkness with its icy shine means to swallow me Come Child Of Mine Let’s Go Up And Fly Fly Away From These Wretched Quarters Of Where We Stand Come Child Of Mine For We Can Reach The Sky look mama look they blessed me with life I live now once more and can touch the sky fly away fly away for that is my only goal I’ve lived long enough to realise that the lights are here no more ha stupid fools! it's all an illusion! you really thought you could… come to me? i'm too high up in the sky; you’ll never find me!
Fleepit Digital © 2021