From The Big Fieid Trip – London and Sofia, September 2009

Moss and grass grow between the cracks in the sidewalks

Crunch, I step on an empty green aluminum can

A bright reflection of the gold dome of a church blinds me for a moment

A gold M, a McDonald’s sign, stands on top of a ten-story building – a big gray block

Tangled gray TV and telephone lines along the cracked plaster of a wall

A parade of beeping cars with streamers stops at a red light, coming from a wedding

The ground vibrates as an electric trolley rumbles by

Ta-dum, ta-dum, ta-dum, a car tire driving over black cobblestones

Screech! A fan belt slips

A white plastic bag whips around in the wind in a trash-filled empty lot

Drip-drop, drip –drop, drip-drop, raindrops ripple puddles in a stone-lined pond then it begins to pour

In the rain, people funnel underground to emerge on the other side of the street

CAESARS CASINO a sign says, a man dressed as a Roman soldier, his spear points towards storm clouds

The rain water seeps into my clothes like a sponge, and I run for cover into a grove of chestnut trees 

 By Cyrus

From The Big Fieid Trip – London and Sofia, September 2009

The violin sounds like the mosquito buzzing in my ear at night

A gray haired man plays classical music on the subway stairs

On the steps of a church an old woman sells flowers in plastic cups

In a park a German shepherd runs “S”s in the grass, chasing a stick

A black statue of a dancer stands inside of a fountain full of chestnut leaves and

Above her 15 pigeons perch on a wire

Passing through a parking lot I smell car exhaust

Vroom! Vroom! A car drives fast and screeches around the corner

Rabbits in a cage on the sidewalk with children’s fingers poking inside

Plastic elephants in the window stare out at me

Black leather high-heeled boots, 300 Lev

Flakey pastry polygons in a bakery window

The smell of fresh bread floats into the air

By Bella

1.      Put on sunscreen so I don’t get a sunburn. Warning – don’t get it in your eyes!

2.      Put on flip flops

3.      Walk along beach and feel waves against your feet

4.      Watch people play paddle-ball and get the ball when it goes in the waves

5.      Lose your flip-flops

6.      Make friends with the paddle-ball players, Isa and Joe

From The Big Field Trip – Brazil, December, 2008

7.      Help Cyrus build a sandcastle

8.      Wash yourself in the waves and almost drown

9.      Walk to the far end of the beach to look for seashells for the sandcastle and get lost

10.  Learn snorkeling with Isa

11.  See a big fish with sharp teeth chasing a little fish

12.  Eat cheese on skewers with Isa

13.  Observe dead crab with Joe and find out that the crab is alive

14.  Take pictures with Isa, Joe, and Cyrus’s sandcastle

15.  Say bye to Isa and Joe and watch the sunset over the sea

16.  Get a ride home on Papa’s shoulders

From The Big Field Trip – Brazil, December, 2008

 (A list poem is a poem that doesn’t need to rhyme or have any meter. It tells a little story in the form of a list. Try one and send it to us if you like.)