Celebrating National Poetry Month

The Palm Valley World Literature class, in celebration of April as National Poetry Month, read a modern poem called, “What Do Women Want” by Kim Addonizio. In this poem, the speaker longs for a red dress which serves as a metaphor for her passion to be understood and appreciated. Inspired by this poem, Ms. Zachik, as the class’s instructor, encouraged her sophomores to write their own poems of “What Do I Want?” The following poems are their unique interpretations of the topic. –Blog Editor Ashley Zhou

 

What do Women Want?

by Kim Addonizio

I want a red dress.
I want it flimsy and cheap,
I want it too tight, I want to wear it
until someone tears it off me.
I want it sleeveless and backless,
this dress, so no one has to guess
what’s underneath. I want to walk down
the street past Thrifty’s and the hardware store
with all those keys glittering in the window,
past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old
donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers
slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,
hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.
I want to walk like I’m the only
woman on earth and I can have my pick.
I want that red dress bad.
I want it to confirm
your worst fears about me,
to show you how little I care about you
or anything except what
I want. When I find it, I’ll pull that garment
from its hanger like I’m choosing a body
to carry me into this world, through
the birth-cries and the love-cries too,
and I’ll wear it like bones, like skin,
it’ll be the goddamned
dress they bury me in.

Peace – Harrison
I want peace.
I want no one to suffer.
I want people in the world to not have to worry about terrorism.
I want everyone in the world to be happy.
I want peace.

Anonymous
I want a paradise by my design. I want to ride a canoe down a winding
river teeming with bears and wolves and snakes and fish.
I want to ride that river until I reach a mountain. And I want that
mountain to scream a challenge to the world. I want that mountain to
loom over the world and blot out the sky. I want that mountain to
challenge ME. I want to meet that challenge and rise above the
mountain. I want to feel the spirit of adventure coursing through my
veins. I want to stand above the trees and the birds and the mountain.
I want it to be me against the mountain, and the mountain has it coming.

Anonymous
I want a day with no worries.
I want a day where I can just lie down and look at the sun and smile.
I want a day where I can relax and enjoy the outdoors.
I want a day to enjoy the world around me.
I want a day of peace and quiet.

Anonymous
I want to see things that aren’t real.
I want all of them to be revealed.
I want to see an iron dragon and giant serpent foul or fair.
I want to see a broken wagon, filled with gold that fills the air.
I want to see a castle great and two clashing armies filled with hate.
I want to see a dying man and save him with my life-filled hand.
I want a sea with oceans green filled with every one of my life-long dreams.

Christian Sadler
I have heard a quote–
“If you want to succeed
as much as you want to breathe,
you’ll be successful”–
I want to succeed
like I want to breathe.
But, now that I check,
I am losing air.

Anonymous
What does he want, everyone asks?
Maybe he just wants to be appreciated?
Maybe he wants to be understood?
Maybe that one cup of coffee is the only thing that makes him get out of bed.
Regardless, he goes on for no reason.
Regardless, he wants to reach his end goal.
He wants to say that he survived it all.

Cameron Cronin
I want a new car.
I want it sleek and stylish.
I want to ride it. I want to drive it until the end.
I want it clean and neat. I want to drive it everywhere I go, such
as Las Vegas, Universal, or even the Rocky Mountains.
I want it bad, the car.

Twark Main
I cannot think of what I want.
I cannot think of what I will flaunt.
I cannot think of what I’d choose.
I must find a compelling muse.
I do not want a car.
I do not want a bar.
Some may say I’d want a dog.
I respond–I’d rather a frog.

 

Sylvia Sheng

I want a cup of coffee
to keep me awake when
I have to stay up late for homework,
to make my eyes open when
I’m in the middle of the lesson.

Anthony Vincent
I want to travel.
I want to explore and unravel new spaces.
I want to stay in new places.
I want to meet new people and become familiar with their faces.
I want to understand new culture.
I want to see a vulture.
I want to travel.

Haley
What do I want?
I want a bad tattoo.

I want it so obvious, until my parents find it.
“Wipe” it all off me.

John
What does John want?
John wants to be home all day,
happy and content with peanut butter and Ritz crackers,
be with my dad and dogs,
but if John has to go to school,
I guess John wants to have awesome grades and
go to the Citadel to make my dad proud.
I kinda just want him to be proud.