To enjoy a poem you must be able to visualize in your head what's going on. In this assignment you are going to read three poems about aliens, see if you can visualize what is happening in the poem and then draw some pictures.
1. Saving The World With Waffles
I learned Morse Code from Dad this week,
so last night I went out and tried it.
I signaled my flashlight up into the stars,
and somebody out there spied it!
To my surprise, from out in the dark,
came a weak, but definite, blinking.
When I flashed my light, the other flashed back!
Hey, I know what you're thinking...
I'm totally sure it wasn't some star,
just twinkling, like in that dumb song.
I really DID talk to some creature out there!
Believe me, I know I'm not wrong.
A kid from some planet called Zippo-Kaput,
in a galaxy far, far away,
Warned me his people were coming to Earth,
to attack, he was sorry to say.
He said they were greenish and twelve feet tall,
with monstrous mouths for munching.
They'd heard we Earthlings (with a little salt)
were especially yummy for crunching.
"When will they be here?" I quickly flashed back,
"I need to go send out a warning!"
"Too late," he told me, "you haven't got time.
They'll be landing at eight in the morning."
Now I didn't panic, you'll be pleased to know,
or try to hide or cry.
I got an idea--knew it might be my last--
but I had to give it a try.
I signaled to Bosmo (he'd told me his name),
that tomorrow, on Saturday,
my Mom cooks the best darn waffles
a creature can put away.
I quickly invited the star fleet to land,
for a super-galactic brunch.
If I fill them up on Mom's waffles, I figure,
they might not be hungry for lunch.
They'll be here any minute and
I sure hope I'm right.
Either I've saved the world with waffles,
or I'll be the very first bite!
Permission Granted for Use by © 2008 Ted Scheu
2. The Aliens Have Landed!
The aliens have landed!
It's distressing, but they're here.
They piloted their flying saucer
through our atmosphere.
They landed like a meteor
engulfed in smoke and flame.
Then out they climbed immersed in slime
and burbled as they came.
Their hands are greasy tentacles.
Their heads are weird machines.
Their bodies look like cauliflower
and smell like dead sardines.
Their blood is liquid helium.
Their eyes are made of granite.
Their breath exudes the stench of foods
from some unearthly planet.
And if you want to see these
sickly, unattractive creatures,
you'll find them working in your school;
they all got jobs as teachers!
--(C) 2001 by Kenn Nesbitt
3. Alien
What would you do if an Alien landed in the playground?
Would you stand there shouting, ‘Teacher, teacher!
Please Sir, please Miss,
There’s this great big thing with wobbly eyes and six pink legs, Sir!’
Or would you stand still and stare,
And maybe poke at it a bit with sticks
And throw a ball in its mouth,
Or perhaps push Shorty or Fatso or Snotty forwards
To see if they got eaten ?
Imagine if the teacher came out instead and shouted,
‘Oy! You there! You with the six legs! Yes, YOU!
Get back where you came from NOW!
THIS INSTANT!’
What do you think it would do ?
Would it sit there, humming,
Before gently lifting off and floating away back into space ?
Or would it stick a long tendril out,
Wrap it around teacher,
And suck teacher back into its mouth?
‘Yum, yum!’ it might go,
And you’d all cheer, and laugh,
And maybe one or two of the girls would cry
Because teacher was really quite nice, after all.
Or perhaps the Alien would open wide a wobbly eye,
Shoot a long, lazy glare,
And then raise two tendrils in a V-shape
Before blowing a big raspberry?
Well, what would YOU do if you were an Alien
Landing in the playground ?
I know what I would do.
I wouldn’t stay THERE!
July 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Copy and paste these poems into a Word document, or read them from this website.
After you have read the poems:
Divide a piece of drawing paper into thirds. Put the name of one poem at the top of each column. Draw a picture of what you think the alien looks like in each poem. Color the pictures.
OR
Divide a piece of drawing paper into 9 sections. Draw a 3 panel comic strip about each poem. (If you need more boxes then fold the paper into the appropriate number of squares or use a different piece of paper for each comic strip.) Color the comic strip and turn it in to your teacher.
