Slam+Poetry

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 * __Taylor Mali - Girls Lending Pens__**

I walked into the classroom and straight to my chair, But when I reached for my pen, it just wasn’t there! I had no pen! or crayon! or pencil! I was stuck before class without a writing utensil.

I could have asked the teacher (if I had dared,) But I knew she would have said, “You’re unprepared!” So to be diplomatic and avoid the fight I quickly turned to the girl on my right,

//Do you possibly have a pen I could borrow? // //I’ll use it today and have it back by tomorrow. //  “Oh! Furshur! What kind? I’ve got plenty.” And she turned around with a handful of twenty.

//I really don’t care what color or style, // //I’ll take the fountain pen, // I said with a smile.  “Oh, you don’t want that one. It comes out all ugly. <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">And it’s made of pure gold,” she said to me smugly.

//<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">Then how bout the blue? // <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">“No, that one hops.”

<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">Okay, maybe the green?
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';"> “Comes out in glops.”

<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">Black?
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';"> “I’m afraid it’s having trouble connecting.”

<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">Red?
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';"> “I’ll need it if we do any in-class correcting.” //<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">Look, //<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';"> I said, my voice filling with fear,

<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">Just gimme a pen before the teacher gets here!
<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';"> “But this one always comes out in tons, <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">The yellow one skips and the purple one runs. <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">When the brown one dries, it looks real icky, <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">And the orange one’s covered with something sticky. <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">This one’s for emergencies (in case I get confused) <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">‘cause it’s clean and it’s fresh and it’s never been used. <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">I keep this one for quizzes ‘cause it brings good luck, <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">And the ballpoint’s splotchy and the cap is stuck. <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">This one’s empty, with the silver band, <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">And the felt-tip will leak all over your hand. <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">This one’s cracked, and that’s gone berserk! <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">And that would be perfect but it doesn’t work. <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">But here! Take this one! This one’s fine! <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">Oh wait…I’m sorry, this one’s mine.” <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">I think she went on but I couldn’t have cared. <span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">I decided it was better to go unprepared.

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">__**Assignment**__

<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">In this piece of slam poetry, there is quite a bit of rhyming. There is a Dr. Seuss feel to it because of the rhymes and the rhythm. There is not a lot of other poetic devices other than the entire poem seems to be a large hyperbole of how fussy girls are when it comes to pens, or how girls lending pens is often a nightmare. I think that the theme of "girls lending pens" is that girls are quite difficult to handle because of how fussy we are. Some of the meaning of the poem could also be about how being unprepared is your fault and it's hard to get out of so, always remember to be prepared. I chose this poem because I thought that it was ridiculous, funny and felt almost as if it had been written by Dr. Seuss because of the rhyme. I love Dr. Seuss and his rhymes so I thought that it was my favorite poem of all the ones that I had listened to. I also love how silly the problem is and because I've dealt with similar situations, I thought that it was accurate. I think that "So to be diplomatic and avoid the fight I quickly turned to the girl on my right, //<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">Do you possibly have a pen I could borrow? ////<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">I’ll use it today and have it back by tomorrow." //<span style="font-family: 'Eras Light ITC','sans-serif';">is a key phrase because if he hadn't said that, than the girl would not have started rambling on and he would have just come to his conclusion faster that he should be unprepared. Another key phrase is "I could have asked the teacher (if I had dared,) But I knew she would have said, “You’re unprepared!” " because if he had not been afraid that his teacher would have said this, he would never have bothered with the girl who rambled about the pens.