Haiku

Wintergreen

Home away from home

Secluded in the mountains
They are calling me
 I chose to make a haiku represent Wintergreen as a whole because it is such a special
place for me and how it makes me feel can be described in a few words. The first line represents
how comfortable and happy I feel when I am up at our Wintergreen House. This line also
perfectly matched the syllable count for a haiku with 5 syllables. The second represents how
isolated Wintergreen Resort is to the world because not many people know about this place as
well as since it is so secluded from the outside world, the stress of life just vanishes when I am
there. The third line represents how much I want to go back to Wintergreen. I haven’t been
there in a few weeks because my family has been very busy, so it almost seems like the
mountains are calling out to me. This photo is of Wintergreen in the distance which influenced
my poem because it is almost as if the mountains called out to me and I am answering the call
and going to the mountains.
Epigram
Skiing

I ski down the slope,

“This is so dope!”
I quicken my pace,
I fall on my face.
 I chose to do an epigram to describe skiing on the mountain because skiing is very fun
and is also accident-prone. When a person skis, they will probably fall at least once every time
they go out on the slopes. Wintergreen Resort is most known for its winter activities such as
skiing and snowboarding, which is one of the reasons I love Wintergreen so much, because I
love to ski. Even though I have been skiing for five years now, I still fall every once in a while.
The first line gives context to the poem because I am describing what I am doing which is skiing
down the slope. The second line represents what I would say to myself when I am skiing
because I love doing it and it represents the confidence a person can feel on the slopes. The third
line represents what a person does because they feel confident. The last line adds the satire to
the poem because when a skier gets too confident and tries to push their limits, they may end up
crashing. The picture I based this poem off of was taken at the top of a double black diamond
slope (the hardest type of trail or slope). This picture emits excitement as well as anxiety
because it can be very fun, but there is also a risk of crashing or wiping out and getting seriously
injured.
Free Verse
Hidden Beauty

Disappearing into the woods

The ominous essence of the trees
Step by step
My loyal companion by my side
As we creep deeper and deeper
Into the abyss.

The rocks shift under our steps

My breath quickens
So close yet so far
Then the light comes through the trees
Luna barks with joy
We are closer to heaven

I approach the edge

Not with worry, but with curiosity
Finally it is here
The beautiful mirage comes into view
Rolling hills into soaring peaks
The diamond in the rough

Blue in the distance

With clouds surrounding
Molded by god’s hands
The sun peaking through
Mixing the orange with the blue
The beauty of the mountains.
 I chose to make a free verse poem to describe this hiking experience because this
experience has a darker tone then shifts to lighter tone that could be matched best without a
rhyme scheme. For this poem, I decided to have a sharp shift in tone show how hiking can
sometimes feel before and after reach an overlook (a opening in the hiking trail that usually is on
the edge of the mountains that shows beautiful views around you). The woods can seem like an
unending trek and the trees block out the sun which can make the forest seem darker and
mysterious. The forest represents inward and outward struggles in life that can hinder or offset
the journey. The light represents the goal that someone is reaching for or salvation, but the edge
at the overlook represents the last step to reach that goal or salvation and that people look at
happiness or salvation from afar instead of taking that extra step to reach it. This photo that
influenced my poem is a visual of the overlook at the end of the poem that shows the beauty of
the destination. The photo inspired me because of all of the colors of the sky and the mountains.
The hike was inspired by my own life because of how things can change so quickly.
Ballad
The Waterfall

The waterfall is flowing down

Away from stress of life
Ongoing for forever more
Where there is no strife

A pool is filled with the blue waters

I reach out to feel thee
The icy touch makes me shiver
But somehow it warms me

The dog runs in without a warning

We shout at “Come Back!”
After a while she returns
The mud on her feet is black

We say goodbye to the beauty

We continue on our path
Through the hills and back again
To not disturb her wrath
 I choses to use ballad to reflect my experience with the waterfall because the imagery of
the waterfall mimics the steady flow of the iambic pentameter of a ballad. The beating of the
water falling down made me think of the flow of ballads that makes the reader have more of an
imagery in their head while they are reading the poem. One symbol I used in the poem was the
dog which represents the humans destroying the environment. When the dog comes out of the
water, the mud on her paws are black instead of brown, which represents the aftermath of the
human destruction such as climate change. At the end of the poem, the line “to disturb her
wrath,” the ‘her’ that it is referring to mother nature in that the hiker and her dog left leaving the
waterfall untouched which made mother nature happy. This poem was inspired by this picture
because the waterfall is so beautiful and untouched by humans that it almost looks not real.
Ode
Ode to Black Bears

What is that noise I hear?

A rustling in the trees
An animal of great might I fear
It could bring me to my knees

I look around the forest floor

Searching for something inside
Oh My! Something I have not seen before
Should I explore or should I hide?

A mom and her cubs are staring back

I catch them in their natural state
The bears on their own all in black
What is our fate?

We quickly go back to the car

The bears run up a tree
They don’t go far
But they are free
 I chose to make an ode to portray the black bears because odes are usually describing
nature and the rhyming would make sense for this encounter. This poem was based on when My
family was in the car and spotted two black bears in the woods. The poem has small fearful
tone because wild animals can do unexpected things and no one can know what they will do
next. The poem is from the person seeing the bears point of view because I wanted to write from
my experience. In the poem the the person is asking so many questions in their head because in
the moment I had all of the questions and more running through my head when this experience
occurred. The picture is a bit blurry to reflect the uncertainty and anxiety of the poem.