For one of our harder assignments we were asked to write a poem in the style of one of the most famous poets of all time, Rumi. For our Rumi poems we had to go to a site online and read through some of his poems. Then we had to chose a poem that we liked and then we had to write our own version of the poem, but with our own wording. The reason that I found this harder to complete than some of the others was because I found that the wording and symbolism that he used in his poems where actually harder to master than it looked like. The poem that I chose to imitate was a poem about life and asking why cling to life if it hurts to when you will be brought back in a different form when you die.

So here it is:

Do You Need To hold on to It?(My Poem in the Style of Rumi)

By Gus Dotson

Do you need to hold on to it?

It is worn and wasted

You have torn and ripped it

It is ragged and useless

Why hold onto it

The wind will take your soul

And you will live on

One life, Then another and another

You could live on in happiness

Never ending peace

You could be calm

You would never have to cripple and crinkle

You would never die

So why hold on?

During a free writing period I decide to write a poem about my dog. For this poem I decided to base it off of my dogs traits. so I thought of some of his more prominent traits like how he is smart, fast, agile, and brave (just to name a few). then I decide that it would sound even better if I connected these traits to other living beings. So once I had all the traits matched with another thing I then had to figure out the best wording for it. That was probably the easiest part because I had most of the words and all I had to do was use some filler words to transition form one simile to the next

So here it is:

Treble is Trouble:

He’s like a snake, you can not grab him

He’s like stag, you can’t outrun him

He’s like a wolf, wild, brave and swift

He’s like an old man, he knows more than many

He’s like Houdini, he will always escape

He is Treble.

A personification poem is a poem where you give something that doesn’t have a set of characteristics its own characteristics. For our Personification poems we took a ten minute walk and took photos of things that we saw that we thought we could personify. Then when we got back to class we had to chose what the object that we chose would feel like and act like

Then once that was done we started to write. For mine I chose to write about sign that I found attached to a rail beside some stairs.

So now that you know that here it is:

Why a Sign

Why did you leave me here

I wish I still had a purpose

I just sit here waiting for you

You could at least say “Hi”

You used to love me

I would work all day for you

But now I am useless

And you don’t love me

I could have been a black card

I could have been a knife

I could have belonged to a jeweler

I could have been a key chain

I could have been a dollar coin

But I’m just a rusty old sign

For this poem I was trying to write in the style of one of my classmates who’s name is Armant. To do this I had to reach into the “depth of my soul” and find my inner dark side. then I had to channel this dark side to writing a poem about the death of my dog. For about 2-3 years after my dog died every time I thought of him I would begin to cry. So writing this poem helped get all that of my chest but in a way it also made these feelings stronger. so most of the time I can keep from crying out loud but my eyes will still water up every once in a while. For righting this I really had to try and remember some of my most fond memories with him, then I had to turn that into something I would write into my poem.

So Now that I have explained that, this is my poem:

Goodbye Toddy

By Gus Dotson

Goodbye, I will miss you

I wish you had stayed longer

You were like my brother

You were like my trusty steed

I would ride you round the house

You were with me all my life

I hope you will be happy

I want you to come back

I will always miss you

But I still love treble