Poet Laura Shovan was our guest speaker at our November Teen ‘Zine meeting. Ms. Shovan taught us about the poetry form called “Sestina“. She explained that, sometimes when writing poetry, concentrating on a poem’s format can warm up your brain. As a group, we wrote the following sestina. Each of us wrote a stanza, then put them together to form an entire poem. Enjoy!

Monday Night Sestina

The early breeze whispered, fresh
With enough of a chill to cause a twinge in the scar
Jack was given by the evil witch.
Many years ago, in an ancient forest far
Away Jack had met his fate in the unforgiving mist,
As sullenly, though the trees, the wind blew.

My heart is blue
Though I feel fresh
I run outside in the relief,
As the soft rain hits my face like mist
I slipped and fell, and then I thought, “this is going to leave a scar.”
I try to reach for a band aid but it is too far
When I thought nothing else could go wrong, here came and evil witch.

It was then wondered which
Of them had gotten so cold as to turn blue
And leave traces of color near and far
Until it snowed and left things fresh
Without leaving any sort of scar
On the rainbow mist.

And through the mist
I thought I saw a fairy or a bird, but I didn’t know which
Stumbling to the safety of my car
I felt a small breath that blew
air that smelled so sweet and fresh
That I wanted to follow the scent to lands afar

Rumplemyer searched far wide and far.
Over hill, under rock, no place was missed.
Seeking the magical grapefruit of love–juicy and fresh,
Or was it an orange? Which fruit was which?
Then a westerly, rushing wind blew
A twig to his face, leaving only a scar.

A magic charm embedded in her scar
Gave the girl second sight. Far
Into the gloom blue
Forms of ghosts moved, barely mist
She saw their bare feed, bewitched
Float just above the snow, unmarked by footprints, fresh.

And not one of them was missed
Still we knew not which was which
The stale blue fog no longer was fresh.

Join us for our next Teen ‘Zine meeting on Monday, November 14 at 7:00 pm.

posted by Administrator

So what is it? It’s a really cool method of getting a scene written out that I discovered a few days ago from this post on Scott Westerfeld’s blog.

A dialog spine is a method of quick writing, mapping out the skeletons of a scene without going to all the trouble of deciding where it takes place, or what, or even who is talking!

You take your two characters, and write out a conversation with just the words. It’s … well … easy!

Example:

“Why are you afraid?”

“What?”

“You’re jumpy. You keep looking around like you think you’re being followed. Why are you afraid?”

“Why do you care?”

“I might be able to help.”

“Oh I’ll bet. Leave me alone.”

“Look, you probably have every reason not to trust me, but I swear I won’t hurt you.”

“Touch me and I’ll scream. What makes you think you could help me?”

“Sorry.”

“You don’t know anything about me. Why are you talking to me?”

“They’re following you.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Alex. It’s time to get off this train. Are you coming with me? We don’t have much time.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Always, but you’ll live longer if you say yes.”

See what I did there? In around 150 words, I have a REALLY expandable scene that creates some tension, and introduces to characters to each other. I can decide where they come from, who they are, what they look like, etc later.

posted by Iris

It’s been a while since we’ve had an advice column, here on Teen ‘Zine, so please welcome Ask Jack!

Ask Jack is a recurring, student-produced feature on River Hill High School’s Hawk Talk. In past episodes, Jack has answered crucial questions, from “What’s up with Jello?” to “Are there any good fish in Centennial Lake?” This season’s premier question is specific to River Hill High School geography, but we hope you’ll love Jack as much as we do. Enjoy!

Tune in soon for more Ask Jack! And if you have something you want to Ask Jack, you can submit your questions here.

posted by Administrator

posted by Black-eyed Susan

In this world, there are

Blue birds
With
Purple chests

Bees
With
Red stripes

Foxes
With
Yellow tails

Pink feet
On a
Hawk

So then
Why is the
Grass so green
And the
Sky so blue?

posted by Black-eyed Susan

posted by Black-eyed Susan

Pink and green

Small and bright

Little stingers

Waving softly

Hiding quickly

Always cares

Never lies

posted by Black-eyed Susan

Nothing ever happens

in the slow pitter-patter

of rain

in my hair growing

wetter by the moment.

The silence is nothing

but gentle drops

underneath my feet

crunching gravel.

Nothing ever happens in the rain.

posted by Iris

posted by Black-eyed Susan

it’s just the push of wooden floors under dancing feet

dust moves in swirls

the smell of worn leather shoes

echoes of leaps and bounds.

posted by Iris