Haiku prep: In This Moment (8th grade)

Richard Wright wound a fairly traditional approach to haiku around topics like poverty, urban and rural life, sickness and death, race, and innocence. We read a selection of 14 of his haiku, and I had each student memorize one. We then discussed the themes that Wright seemed to be concerned with, and traced them as they appeared in these selections. After that, I asked the students to complete a freewrite, using the prompt "In this moment," describing scenes that were or could be happening "in this moment." I emphasized that they must write constantly until I told them to stop, and not even to pause for thought or to fix a mistake.

I usually don't post pre-writing, but in this case, I thought it might be interesting to see the process. Notice the strategies that some students employed in order to keep moving when they had "run out" of ideas. I also noticed that some of the stronger, wilder images came through during the second half of writing, as the students unplugged and became looser. As these are going to be turned into haiku, many of the fevered and intense lines that these kids pumped out as I told them how many minutes they had left will, by necessity, be cut and perhaps not appear elsewhere. I post these selections here unedited, as they were written, not as poetry necessarily, but to give you an idea of the landscape and raw material that the students draw from.

###

Mr. Stalla, Rm. 201, 8th grade


Carina A.

In this moment
baby sister
watching TV
eating fruit loops
laughing

In this moment
I’m thinking
bored
wondering
do other people feel
the same way?

In this moment
trees’ leaves
yellow
to none

In this moment
red books
being opened

In this moment
quiet
filled with thoughts

In this moment
mom
cooking
wondering
are my kids OK?

In this moment
snow losing its
white shine
with dirt.

In this moment
with a city so loud
cars, trucks,
factories
no one can hear
the leaves fall.


Adrian C.

A man is in a factory
working a giant machine
Getting tired
Thinking of home
Thinking of his wife
wondering about her little girl
seeing every living being work
minding their business
making a living

Colors dark and light
everything is grey
rain is pouring darkness
sorrow is sad as blood is red
someone just passed
Black is worn around
winter comes in pearls of white snow
Everything is white slightly looking blue

Everywhere I go the wind is whishing
I hear people talking Sound is the best.
people arguing
kids playing in the sand
the sound of waves crashing


Raul G.

In this moment my brother, downtown, driving
a train, the CTA is where he works.

In this moment people are freezing outside
in the cold.

In this moment there are car wrecks
because of the icy roads.

In this moment people are dying because of
the rain, the cold, the homeless, the poor.

In this moment children have nowhere to
stay, nowhere to be warm.

In this moment I am safe.

In this moment the beautiful white snow
is turned black by the nasty dirt.

In this moment the girl with the
brown hair is thinking about the boy in
the black shirt.

In this moment there is no sound just
silence outside everyone is afraid to go
out.

In this moment there are bombs exploding.

In this moment there are children
and families crying.

In this moment there is pain.

###

Mr. Balcazar, Rm. 203, 8th grade


Cesar A.

In this moment garbage is all I think about
my cousin is in the skatepark the sound of the
wheels smacking the ground the sound of cars
passing by the park the color of the skateboard
black the ramp is brown like wood


Amirany L.

In this moment I’m bored
in this moment my dad is working
in this moment my dad is cold
in this moment there is pollution
in this moment my mom is sleeping
in this moment can’t wait ‘til
soccer practice
in this moment I have no idea
what else to write
in this moment I have to
keep writing
in this moment I like poetry. In
this moment I have 30 seconds
to keep writing.
In this moment I’m done.

In this moment I hear a voice.
In this moment I hear knuckles crack.
I hear footsteps around me.
I hear a car slam on the
brakes.
I hear a boom or crash by
the streetlight.
I hear mom mom saying, “I told
chu so.”
I hear I have 30 sec.
I feel like my hand is
gonna fall.

I have black hair.
I have black shoes.
I see the sky is gray.
A stormy gray day.
I see a black-haired guy.
I see my mood is gray.
I see my bracelet is purple.
I see I’m wearing white.


Jaime S.

In this moment I think about what life
is going to be like when I get older.
What is going to happen to me, what job will
I have, am I gonna have good money. Bad job
and have to pay a lot of bills for the rest of my
life. The only way to have a good life
is to go to school and have an education.

In this moment I hear myself, “Why am I
doing this, do I enjoy doing the things I
do,” that’s what I hear but I know I can
change and will try to change.

In this moment I see white snow, I look at
it as it falls down the sky and as soon as
it finishes falling. I go to my friend’s house and
have a snowball fight.

###

Miss Catinella, Rm. 202, 8th grade


Samantha N.

In this moment,
some people are being way too free,
others at work.
In this moment,
new songs are being written by new and old artists.
In this moment,
the world is “going down, in an earlier round”
Too many wars being fought, with child soldiers
In this moment,
someone is writing to someone important,
telling them to send someone to Africa to stop
the war.
In this moment,
a band is thinking about how to move forward.
In this moment,
the people in charge are letting us down.
In this moment,
people I know are being lame,
probably laughing like crazy,
because that’s the way they are.

In this moment,
the DJ headphones blast music so loud,
the “A&R” guy’s phone is ringing again,
people wanting his help once more.
In this moment,
he answers the phone
and he helps them,
in this moment.

In this moment,
green eyes are staring at a tree,
the green leaves give inspiration.
In this moment,
green eyes stare at a stage, watching the bassist.


Victor O.

In this moment I want
to go to sleep I wish I
was at my house asleep in
my warm bed. In this moment
soldiers are fighting Iraq
for my freedom while I’m
just falling asleep during
class, while I listen to kids
in my room laugh and I
hear kids writing I want
to go to Disneyland and
having some fun with my
family…
In this moment I
hear cars moving down
the street I hear
buses I hear rain
falling I hear the air
conditioner
I see a blue whale
in a blue sea, coming
up for fresh air


Alla Z.

In this moment
I am in school
doing some work my mom
is at home waiting for us to go
home. In this moment outside looks
beautiful, the trees flowing with the wind. The
snow covering everything in its path.
The clock is going slow, I can’t wait until
I am out of here.

I hear the sound of pencils writing
on a paper, your shoes tapping on the floor.
In this moment, the sound of leaf falling on the ground.
The green board waiting for someone to
write on it. The blue door of the classroom
waiting for us to leave.

###

Ms. Fenton, Rm. 204, 8th grade


Edwin R.

At this time I am thinking
about when I used to
live at my old house
and how it was so scary
at New Year’s because you
would not know if the guns
are shooting or the fireworks.
At this time I am hearing
the gunshots and fireworks
mixed together and hearing -----
breaking people scream outside it
could be someone born
themselves or they got shot?
At this time I see the
fireworks in
the sky and little fireworks
at the floor for a doubt
I see but it can be
a gunshot.


Name Withheld

In this moment my
aunt is at home with the baby
making food and the TV is
on. The baby is watching
Channel 11 or she is on
her rocking horse
having fun. The smell is the
food and it smells
like milk from the baby.
My aunt has the
pot boiling waiting for her
boyfriend to come home from
work and see how his day
went. She might decide on
going to my grandparents’
house seeing if anybody is
home and wants to see how
they’re doing.

In this moment I
can hear pounding noises outside
my door. I hear a
pot steaming on the
stove. The washing machine
is going round and round
and you can hear it
washing. You can hear the
static coming from the
TV because the movie is
over. You can hear the stairs
creak when someone’s going up
the stairs.

In this moment
I can see green trees with
little yellow lemons growing
in the tree. I can see
shoes the color
of a rainbow.


Jasmine R.

In this moment I can picture kids
playing outside with snowballs.
The things I hear is kids laughing
kids saying, “I’m going to get
you,” and I know they feel
that coldness rushing past their
faces. And they scream and it’s
wintertime.

In this moment I hear voices
all around me I hear the teachers
talking in the other rooms I
can hear the wind on the other
side of the window school I said
with everything rushing around
me.

In this moment I see white
because the walls all around
me are that color I see blue
because all students are wearing
blue.