This poetry anthology contains 14 poems about various topics written by Derek Johnstone. The poems cover themes like nature, freshman year of college, blindness, space travel, and the ups and downs of life. The poems are short, ranging from a few lines to a stanza in length. They utilize different structures and rhyme schemes to express different ideas and experiences.
2. Fred Freshman year
There was once a tur‐ I was excited in the start
tle named Fred
And now it’s almost over.
His owner was shot in
The year was fun, it went too fast
the head
Yet I want it to be over.
No one knows why
A lot has happened, and I loved it
The red turtle cries
All, I met new people and made
Except that his owner
lifelong friends,
is dead
I loved it in the beginning, yet I
can’t wait till it ends
The moon Ode to nature Blind
I flew to the moon
Roses are red Why cant I see
Just so I can look back on the earth
Violets are blue Have i gone blind
I’ve wanted to get here since my birth
Turtles are green
I think it is cool Why cant I bleed
I’m having a blast Yes this is true
That’s on my mind
I can’t believe I’m here at last Rocks are gray
I planned this for 15 years I cannot see
Water is blue
When I got here I sang some cheers I have gone blind
Nothing in this world
I used all my money on the space gear
That’s when I realized Is uglier then you.
I only paid for the ride here
3. Highs n’ lows
Things happen and things end
It was a straight path till it came to a bend
And just like that people you know Decide to go
And you feel disgustingly low, you feel horrible from
head to toe
But at the end
You gotta keep your head up
And it might feel as if the thing pushin’ down won’t let up
But push though it
And all along you knew it
You like some and love others
You were so close, just like brothers
You thought it would last
People leave and break you down
And for days on end you wear that frown
And the tears you cry become too deep
And soon you drown
But at the end of the night
You gotta rise above the thing that keeps you down
And eventually you have to turn that frown upside down
