Poem from my La Crescenta visit

On April 8th I visited Mrs. Guarino's Creative Writing class at Clark Magnet High School. We started off with her students asking me many questions about my poetry (which they had obviously researched on the internet...far out). I then shared all 12 poems from my new chapbook compilation for high schools (at their insistence, with additional questions asked). After that it was time for everyone to write (payback). I gave them no instructions, just time. The poems they shared were awesome. The poem I wrote definitely demonstrated my favorite quick creation idea: to use objects in the room for inspiration. Here it is:

SMOKE DETECTOR

My heart is
a black teddy bear
looking at humanity

Oh, I've been many places
mountains, tall buildings,
beaches

I've always sought
pink roses
to educate me

amidst the multitude
of colorful faces I've seen
(some cat ears, blue cheeks)

It's like reading
a clock on the wall
I tell the hanging flag

of my brain sometimes I need
a fire extinguisher to leave
my green field mindset

The view out these eyes
so naturally inclined
to want trees, clouds, sky

forgets I can find truth
and beauty in meeting
another new individual

gum chewing human
who sits in a plastic chair
thinking thoughts

And then the little black
teddy bear that is
my wandering soul

smiles just to gaze
upon hair, limbs,
minds which create

poems to share our insides
so we see we are
each others fluorescent lights