Purple Cabbage Wrinkled Toughly

On Thursday of last week, the amazing writers at Evanston Arts camp read Someone Puts a Pineapple Together by Wallace Stevens. We looked at a pineapple to see what we agreed with in his fanciful imaginings, and then I showed them a purple cabbage. They were asked to let their minds go, and write their own transformational poems about the beautiful vegetable! They observed it as a whole cabbage, as just a few leaves from the outside, and cut in half with the inside showing. They came up with some BEAUTIFUL work. Enjoy!

What a Purple Cabbage Could Be
by Madeline D.

A bat soaring through the night.
a bud of a flower, about to
bloom. An owl, whooing on it’s perch.
A ball, being bounced by a boy.
A painted Easter egg waiting to
be found on Easter morning.
A bowl full of cereal. A crown
for a queen or a king.
A baseball cap that’s been worn in
a Yankee’s game. A boat floating
down the stream. A doorway
of an old castle. The origins
of a child.


Purple Cabbage Wrinkled Toughly
by Caelen B.

Purple nightlight glittering
circular and slimy
your purple pig oinking
the cat’s eye
in the moonlight
a perfect layer of
silk lined up
with a purple
checkerboard, a bowling
ball with weepy
paint.

Crunch and sooth
in one peel
a crown for a queen
a bed for a cat
yarn for a kitten
a big black hole
as the portal opens
light goes into the hole
a doorway, purple wall
and a hall, a deep hall
to a bright door.


A Purple Hallway
by Zinnia S.

The glowing inside of a
body. A fat purple balloon floating
lost in the sky. A cold heavy
ice pack. A white piece
of skin. The world glowing
at night. A wrinkled purple nose.
A wrapped present tightly
sealed. A raindrop on a
sunny day. Someone
looking through sunglasses.
A hat on a purple head.
Eyes looking through a wall.
A bowl the cat drinks
from. A boat under a sunset.
A ribbon all wrinkled
up. A hallway stretching out
to an open door. A mirror
with you shining in it.
Rippling water with
a reflecting light.


Don’t Know What its Name is but, It is…
by Maple C.

Big purple ball caught up in a tree, huge purple puffer fish trying to swim in deep dark blue water, smells like old dirty fish, weighs a pound, looks like an onion. Size of a baby’s head or a small watermelon. Veins of an old man as clenches his fist.

Thick calloused skin on the ball of someone’s foot, bathing cap fitted and perfect, purple bowl filled with clear liquid.

Tubes or a sink or a toilet or shower or bathtub as they wind round and round underground, and a person’s brain. Yuck, looks gross, smells like cold broccoli, folded up skin of a baby’s arm.


What I See in My Head
by Cecilia G.

A big heavy purple bullet.
The ruffles of a little girls hair.

The curves of a turtle’s shell.
The depth of a cat’s milk bowl.

The wavy waves of a little girl’s hair
and the tops of broccoli.


Purple Seashell
by Ronni L.

Big heavy purple bowling
ball getting rolled down
the aisle. And it has
a big white spot on
the bottom. And it
is all mushy. And
it looks moldy.
It looks like an
icy popsicle. A big
two headed turtle
with a purple shell.
t could be a hat.
It could be a sea-
shell. It smells
really good. Half of
a purple coconut
with a white spot on
the bottom.


The Cabbage
by Nicholas M.

This cabbage looks like the back bone with the ribs in our body. It’s dark like the color of a rainbow. It reminds me of when I went bowling. It is soft like my puppy. One part is hard like metal. It is lighter than a ball, and bigger than a glass. It is like the large intestine. It is white like the inside of a potato. It is like a big bunch of broccoli.


The Purple Cabbage
by Tilda S.

A solid purple ball rolling with a white spot.
Purple balloon floating in the sky, far far away.

A big round hat that someone is wearing.
A bowl holding a little game like jacks.
A wet, purple leaf from a big, tall tree with a really thick stump.

Squiggly purple lines on a white piece of paper.
Purple sand at the beach with a white crack in it.
A smooth rock that I picked up from the dirt.