Monday, February 28, 2011

Write a Top ____ Reasons Poem

Top 8 Reasons Why I Want to Be a Grizzly Bear


8 I could stand 10 feet tall

7 I could weigh over 1000 pounds

6 I could smell a rotting carcass 2 miles away

5 I could kill a cow with each blow

4 I could run 40 miles per hour

3 I could outrun a

2 I could out swim an olympian

And the number one reason why I want to be a Grizzly bear is...

I COULD SLEEP FROM OCTOBER TO MAY


Barry Lane (from 51 Wacky We-search Reports)

Friday, February 25, 2011

Write about Race



Double Take

If I were you

and you were me

Oh how strange

this world would be

You’d like pizza

I’d like steak

you’d like puddles

I’d like lakes

I’d like movies

you’d read books

friends would give us

funny looks

Cause I’d be black

and you’d be white

and we would Know

we ARE alike.

For I am you

And you

Are me

Can’t you see!

Can’t you see!


barry lane

Friday, February 11, 2011

Write about a New Day


New Day

1 The New Day (Words and music by Barry and Jessie Lane) by Barrylane55


No more worries no more fears

Something new between the ears

If someone hits you turn your cheek

You own the world when you are meek


For Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day


Don’t judge me by my skin

Take the time to look within

The train of Truth is on the track

When no one talks behind your back,


For Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day


Men and Woman are two wings

The bird it flies , the bird it sings

Much more love and much less Hate

Watch the world cooperate


For Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day


We are the mixed Fruit of one tree

Live in peace and unity

Forget the Old , embrace the new

Less Me me me More YOU YOU YOU


For Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day


People hungry

people scared

they don’t know

how much we care

Face the sun

Soak up its rays

Its time to find

A Better Way


For Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day

Now is the new day.



A Song by Barry and Jessie Lane

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Write about playing a Musical Instrument


Violins in the Schools

There is a
cat in my room
after supper
wailing
to be free.

A young boy
holds her,
coaxes her
to make
sweet melodies,
but she
scratches
back at him
cornered by
his will.

Help me Mozart !
Civilization is crumbling
in my callow fingers.

And The Little Star
high up in the sky
is wondering
who I am.


Barry Lane


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

23 Write about an Ancestor

Rifka

When the
steamship tickets arrived
in the mail
you said no.

You would rather
stay here
with the
hatred you know
then go
to the dark
of a new world
no better than
this one.

And when I look
at your passport photo,
I cant help
but think of all
the journey's you
never took.

How fear holds
us all in place,
glues us
to the miserable moment,
traps light
in its black prism.

Alone in our
tiny village,
we
wait
for the
jackboots
to take us
to a
place
we don't
even
dare to imagine.


Barry Lane For my Great Aunt Rifka who died in Poland circa 1943



Monday, February 7, 2011

Write about a Time you Could Not See Yourself

Cool

When you
look at me
do you see
me
look
at
you,

or are
your eyes
stuck
on your
own
face,

frozen
in the ice of
I'm Cool..

And when
life
melts
your cool
self

will you
see me
standing
here.

Will your
mirror
turn
into
a Window?


Barry Lane

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Write about Where Winter Came From

The Orgin of Winter

One day
the North Wind
sneezed
and a fine
frozen
white powder
blew out of his
nostrils and engulfed
half the world.

If he had only
covered his mouth
there would
be no snow
on my lawn
and I would
not need these
big mittens
today.

But how sad
the world would be
with no
big white eraser
to rub out the driveway
each December.

Winter is a
time to forget
all the
sweet sweaty things
that seemed
so important
in summer.

They now
sleep
under the
snow
dreaming
of
the
THAW.


Barry Lane

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Write about a Brush with Fame

Obama Moment

I am proud to be
an American,
not just because of
the men who died
for me
but for those who
live each day
waiting for
a new rebirth
of wonder.

Standing in a rope line
watching a young
mother thrust her
baby at you
as the flashes
explode around you
like bombs
bursting
in air

Waiting for my
chance to say
one thing
that will change
the course of
history,

The one thing,
that a year
from now you will
recount
near the end
your State of
the Union
address,

'There was
this guy I met
in a rope line
in Dover
New Hampshire
who said
something ...

And then
you turn to me,
your white shirt
gleaming,
the sleeves rolled
up in such
a perfect way
that the cuffs
seem starched
and flattened
against your
dark fore arm,

And you reach
for my hand

and I say
the only
history changing
thing
I can
think of.

" I Love you, man."

Friday, February 4, 2011

18 Ode to Little Brothers and Sisters

The world was perfect
for a few years.

Then you showed up
and perfection took
on another meaning.

holding you,
bouncing you
around the living room,
How many different ways
can you play peek a boo?

And you, so wide eyed
at the moment of
surprise.

You squawk
like a
plucked chicken
and I can't
help but laugh


and know
that I am now the
sun and
you a bouncing
baby planet
running
circles
round me
forever.


Barry Lane

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

17 Write a Wacky Test for Something You are Studying


Is Your Grandmother a Sea Turtle?


This just in. World Wildlife experts today again denied they have been involved in a species re-location program. Jane Wilder speaking on behalf of the group said that rumors that endangered species have been surgically altered to look like human beings and then taught to impersonate family members, is pure nonsense.

(Cut to picture of courtroom and Harold)

This did not stop Harold Hodgskins from claiming in court that his grandmother of eighty years is really a sea turtle from the Galapagos Islands. We at channel 5 news have consulted with experts to devise a simple test for you at home to take so that you can tell for sure whether your grandmother is who she says she is.

Is Your Grandmother a Sea Turtle? A special report.

(screen of the title)



1) Does your grandmother spend part of the year in a hot place like Florida?

(Sea turtles are cold blooded and cannot survive harsh winters.)

2) When at the pool have you ever seen her hold her breath under water for a long time?

(sea turtles can hold their breath for 8 hours)

3) When you look at her from the side can you see the lump

( signs of shell reduction surgery)

4) When at the beach does she sometimes dissapear behind the sand dunes for hours at a time. ( Mother Sea turtles lay their eggs behind the dunes and there babies hatch out and walk to the sea)

5) When you are playing on the beach does she seem to be overly protective when seagulls sour overhead?

( 90% of all sea turtle hatchlings are eaten by predators, No wonder she is worried about you.)

6) Does she frequent sea food restaurants with other suspected sea turtles her age

(Sea turtles have a varied diet some eat fish others sea grasses and plants)

7) Have you ever suspected that her teeth were not human,

(Sea turtles don’t have real teeth but more serrated jaws for eating fish or plants)

8) Does she walk slowly, one step at a time and stop often to sniff for predators.

(Sea turtles have sense of smell except when they are in the water. This leaves them more vunerable to attack outside the water)

9) Has she ever given you sardines or seaweed for your birthday?

( sea turtles eat a wide variety of things based on their species)

10) Have you ever found she has a hard time hearing you.

(Like all reptiles, sea turtles have one bone in their head that helps them to hear. Sea turtles seem to respond only to low frequencies.)

If you answered yes to at least five of these questions there’s a good chance your grandmother could be an a sea turtle. Experts recommend you treat her with respect and kindness because endangered species, like grandmas thrive when we show our love to them.

And for all of us here a World Wildlife News Good night.


Cut to studio

All the technicians are endangered species and the news announce pulls his head through a hole in a fake set. He is a sea turtle or some other endangered specie.

Barry Lane from 51 Wacky We-Search Reports

16 Write about a Moment of Wonder from Your Childhood

Late Night Talk Show

on summer nights
when we lie in bed
too hot to sleep
My brother and I
would do
a late night talk shows
where we talked about
everything
we wondered
about.

If the earth
is a planet and the
sun is just a star,
does that mean
there are millions
of earths
floating
around
millions of suns
and millions
of summer
kids
in millions
of summer beds
thinking millions
of thoughts
that we
are thinking
right now?

In the background
an old fan whirred
and blew steamy
summer air
in our direction.

Why am I me
and not my friend
Johnny Manning?

How did I get in this
body with these parents
in this town?

Why do I have
these thoughts
on hot summer nights?

He would fall
asleep
and I would listen
to his steady
snore,

my mind
buzzing with
the electricity
of wonder
till sleep
pulled me
back into
the boat.




Barry Lane