HEARD
S ongs of M yself
An Anthology of Poems and Art
SONGS OF MYSELF
Think about who you are
as you read poems by such writers as
• William Shakespeare • Nikki Giovanni • Shel Silverstein •
• Eloise Greenfield • Karla Kuskin •
and look at images from such artists as
AN ANTHOLOGY OF POEMS AND ART
Everyone asks the question
WHO AM I?
• Georgia O’Keeffe • Norman Rockwell • Mark Rothko •
• Mary Cassatt • Dorothea Lange •
SO…WHO ARE YOU?
Higher in Canada
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MONDO
$6.50
Compiled by Georgia Heard
4/27/10 2:25:16 PM
The Lawrence Tree
Georgia O’Keeffe
oil on canvas
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A star danced
and under that
was I born.
William Shakespeare
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Every Morning
Every morning
I awake
full of dust
and odors
As if
no one has
lived in me
for years
And
every morning
I throw open
all my windows
and doors
Clean
and fumigate
myself
As if
I were just
moving in
George Swede
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Running House/#4862
Nicholas Wilton
oil on corrugated cardboard
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By Myself
When I’m by myself
And I close my eyes
I’m a twin
I’m a dimple in a chin
I’m a room full of toys
I’m a squeaky noise
I’m a gospel song
I’m a gong
I’m a leaf turning red
I’m a loaf of brown bread
I’m whatever I want to be
An anything I care to be
And when I open my eyes
What I care to be
Is me
Eloise Greenfield
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Korean Child, 1958
Dorothea Lange
8” x 10” black and white print
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Everybody Says
Everybody says
I look just like my mother.
Everybody says
I’m the image of Aunt Bee.
Everybody says
My nose is like my father’s,
But I want to look like me.
Dorothy Aldis
Elsie Cassatt Holding a Big Dog
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Mary Cassatt
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The Voice
There is a voice inside of you
That whispers all day long,
“I feel that this is right for me,
I know that this is wrong.”
No teacher, preacher, parent, friend
Or wise man can decide
What’s right for you — just listen to
The voice that speaks inside.
Shel Silverstein
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Echoes of Harlem, 1980
Faith Ringgold / W. Possi
hand-painted cotton, 100” x 96”
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Orders
Muffle the wind;
Silence the clock;
Muzzle the mice;
Curb the small talk;
Cure the hinge-squeak;
Banish the thunder.
Let me sit silent,
Let me wonder.
A. M. Klein
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Adventures Between Adventures
Norman Rockwell
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My Horse and I
(poem for two voices)
We gallop
We gallop
Together
Together
Over the hills
Across the fields
Follow the creek
Who is the girl?
Who is the horse?
I am the girl
I am the horse
I am the horse
I am the girl
We gallop
We gallop
Together
Together
Together
Together
Georgia Heard
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Sky Ride
Janîce Leotti
oil on board
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WHAT IT IS
Nellie Mae Rowe
Atlanta, Georgia
1981
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Running Away
Running away
From the rest of today
Running away
From you
Running away
From “Don’t do that”
From all of the things
I must constantly do.
I feel too tall
I feel too old
For a hundred helpings of being told.
Packing my head
Taking my feet
Galloping down the familiar street.
My head is a bird.
My heart is free again.
I might come back
When I feel like me again.
Karla Kuskin
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