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Saturday morning readers share:
Tabitha Ropp and Felicity Tedder
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In the Field
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The soccer field sits wide and open
light brown grass stretching over like it has all
the time in the world
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A class of students drop onto the grass
clipboard down
eyes peeled ready for anything we find
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Butterflies drift through the cool comforting air
never in a hurry
never needing a reason
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Birds are above us
calling out to the sky
as if the sky actually listens
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The breeze slips through the pine trees,
soft as a whisper, cool enough to make us forget
how heavy the day will feel
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For now the field is ours
still, quiet
breathing with us
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And we sit there,
letting the world be simple
for just a little while
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Tabitha Ropp
West Carteret High School
West Carteret High School
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West Carteret High School Soccer Field – photo by Jessi Waugh
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This is the assignment:
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To cap off a unit on the biosphere, students sit quietly in the back soccer field for an hour and document the biotic and abiotic limiting factors they observe. At the end of the lab, students are asked to construct a poem featuring their observations – any form is acceptable.
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These two poems I’ve chosen have compelling language and structure, and these students were happy to have their poems selected for publication.
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Thank you for giving these students a platform to share their poetry. We as educators look to give students the chance to shine – thank you for helping us with that goal and for sharing the voices of many North Carolina poets.
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– Jessi Waugh
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Always Active Biosphere
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A metal obstruction digs into resilient blades of grass.
Joyful adolescents race by.
My pine needles quiver as a black and white ball
strikes me straight on.
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Industrious squirrels race up my bark, in hopes
winter will arrive with fully acorned nests in which
to rest.
Whisps of colored leaves pirouette in the autumn air.
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Soft clouds meander by, masking the cheery rays
with their dreary faces..
A gust tumbles a soaring hawk. Diving sharply in an
elegant feathered display, its eyes fixed on its prize.
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No voices are near. A silence befalls in the sleepy hollow.
Nature, however, speaks loudest when left alone.
The chaos of existence echoes in every direction as the
wind slows to a deadly whisper.
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Felicity Tedder
West Carteret High School
West Carteret High School
I’m 14 years old, enrolled in Earth and Environmental Science, and on the day I wrote this poem, our class took a trip outside to observe the nature of our habitat, including biotic and abiotic diversity. The factors I noticed are what inspired my writing. I find nature compelling. Once all the noise pollution subsided, I noticed tranquil sounds produced by Mother Nature herself. This simply might just be an absurd thought, but hearing and witnessing the environment do the thing it does best, simply thriving, I knew I had to encapsulate it somehow. Through this freestyle poem from the perspective of my local habitat’s primary tree, a long-needled pine, I personified factors I noticed around me: things that a tree must feel, hear, and see as if it had a heart and legs. I imagine the vile intensity that the tree must feel, being besieged by the leftover impacts of man-made destruction. Disregarding these unrelenting pollutants, I hope this tree’s inner soliloquy brings others solace the next time they take a moment to analyze nature’s unabated, profound motives.
— Felicity
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Dusky Salamander in Carteret County – photo by Jessi Waugh
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West Carteret High School is in Carteret County, North Carolina, USA. We are a public 9-12th grade high school, with about 1100 students, in Morehead City (on Bogue Sound). Approximately 40% of students are economically disadvantaged. I teach Earth and Environmental Science, a required course for graduation since 2000. My students are all 9th & 10th grade, ages 14-16. I’ve been teaching this course for 12 years, off and on. I have a Master’s in Teaching Secondary Science, a Biology degree, and I held National Boards Certification until it expired. I like teaching this course and this age group; it’s my niche. I also teach Biology and Marine Science when needed.
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– Jessi Waugh
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Additional poetry by West Carteret students at Verse and Image:
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Thank you for visiting VERSE and IMAGE:
. . . . . every Friday I present one or two poems I’ve read this week that particularly speak to me;
. . . . . every Saturday I present one or two poems submitted by YOU, my readers.
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If you would like to offer a poem for consideration, either by a favorite author or your own work, please view these GUIDELINES for Saturday Readers Share:
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Thanks again for joining the conversation.
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– Bill
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V E R S E and I M A G E 
You are planting wonderful seeds. ---B