Ekphrastic Poems inspired by Photos from National Geographic
It sounds like rain pitter pattering on leaves.
Green trees everywhere, tall with lots of leaves.
The trees are squiggly, growing everywhere
and tree bark smells like dirt.
It sounds like the laughter of parrots.
I see monkeys swinging across howling and screaming.
It sounds like monkeys fighting over food.
Predators brawl on the floors, waiting for monkeys to fall.
It smells like grass and the grass smells like tree bark.
And the dirt smells like leaves and fall.
There are cliffs in the distance, flat and high.
It sounds like rocks crumbling.
The mountains are straight, then turn to triangles
with red, tan, and green of trees.
The high mountain slopes down, fog at its tips.
It tastes moist.
The blue-gray sky adds to the scene.
It sounds like the thunder of a storm.
By Sarah, Kayleigh,
The flower petals are soft.
The flowers hide from the greater life forms,
tastes Spring because of flowers.
The mountains are rough.
The mountains loom accusingly
over the trees but they
point at the flowers.
A war breaks out between the three
Tastes winter because of snow.
The snow is cold
tastes like clouds, musty.
The air is breezy.
The war breaks off
and they stay in their places,
the flowers still cowering
in the distance.
tastes clean, no pollution.
The clouds are plush,
the grass is soft and wet.
By Sylvia, Elena, Julia
I am hearing the mist spraying up
It feels relaxing, like a hot shower
I hear the river water flowing
The cold water licks my bare feet like a friendly dog
I hear the rocks falling off the mountain cliffs
I touch the sloping rock, and it’s so smooth that I glide along its surface
I hear the sound of the pine trees shaking in the wind and the birds chirping
The rock on the ledge feels gritty as sand
I hear the camera clicking when somebody took this photo
By Zoe and Ms. Maryann
I hear the wind blowing
The trees are shaking
I see whirlpools in the water
The sky is bright blue
The scenery reflects right at me
There’s snow on the mountain
I taste water that comes from the snow
I feel wet
I hear rocks falling
I taste water from the lake
I feel the bark of a tree
I hear the water flow
I see the ripples in the lake
There are reflections in the lake
The trees are lots of shades of green
There’s only one triangleish cloud in the sky
You can see trees on the mountain
There’s bumps on the mountain
By Rajani, Jonah, and Javon
It smells like sea water and breeze
Waves crashing at the shore
Sun shining on the water
Trees smell like water trees and vegetable trees
People going ooh and aah at the beautiful sight
Blue and white water with a light fog and light brown sand
By Gianna, Emma, and Graeme