Chrestomathy spring 2017

Spring 2017

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Reflections on the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum During the seventh grade’s visit to Washington, D.C., they visited the United States Holocaust Museum.

What follows reflects their thoughts as they tried to digest the unthinkable.

Maude Weber My feeling as I walked into the Museum was almost blank. I never felt that before, like I was so full of feelings swimming inside of me that I felt empty. My body walked in. I looked at the terrifying images and words, and I wanted to look down and watch my feet walk through so I didn’t have to see, but I kept reading and looking. I felt numb walking through.

At one point I looked around, my heart pounding. I looked at the people walking through the Museum. And I thought, these people are capable of genocide. Of something like the Holocaust. Humans are capable of this.

I wondered if it was inside of all of us. I wondered if all people were really just awful deep, deep down. I wondered if I was really awful. Deep, deep down. I looked at myself. It terrified me. I felt my feet walk me to one of those breathing rooms. I sat down on a bench and closed my eyes. I remember looking at the inside of my eyelids and watching the shapes of those dots swirl and fade. I knew that my friends were way ahead of me, and I thought if I should run up to meet them, but I decided not to. I wanted to go at my own pace. I stood up, and walked on.

I soon got to the room of the shoes. I walked around that corner, not knowing what would be around that

turn. The room slapped me in the face.

I stopped and looked at them. I tried to find and count how many children’s shoes were in there but there were too many. I focused on one pair. They were small and pink. It was a toddler’s sandals. They had faded to a dull gray like the rest of them. I could imagine the tiny foot inside of the shoe. I could imagine the child’s laughter. I could imagine the child’s screams as she was killed. My nose stung and I could feel tears welling up. I walked on.

Then I got to the train car. It punched me. I walked through the pathway that went in and out of the car. It forced people to walk through. The students in the past who said they could hear the screams were right. I was skeptical when I was told that, but I didn’t understand at that time. I could have sworn that I heard the echoing shrieks and screams. I could hear the sound of the rattling train cars’ wheels screeching across the rails. The sound matched the people’s screams. I could see the world flashing past them through those tiny windows. They wouldn’t stop screaming. The image hasn’t left me since. I came back to reality and looked at the dark car. It was painted blood-red. I walked on.

The images and words pricked and jabbed me with needles. My feet brought me past the horrifying 3D picture of the gas chambers, with the little people getting undressed for a shower and the small men dropping the nuggets of poison into the chamber.

The faces were set mid-scream. It tripped me and made me fall on my face.

I found the rest of the group waiting for me. I walked out of that museum 3

bleeding and beaten up. And I will never forget any of it.

Eliot Brown As I walked through the museum, I felt like there was something weighing me down. I wondered if other people felt the same way I did. One exhibit that will forever stay with me was the one where I sat in a room with speakers and a recording of Holocaust survivors’ stories and I read along with them.

Actually hearing a real person’s voice made me realize how true the Holocaust was. Another exhibit that will stick with me was seeing all the people’s shoes and hair because hearing about all these terrible things happening starts to feel like no one was actually capable of doing things so bad.

Seeing the hair and shoes made it so real.

When I left, I had the feeling of me wanting to do something to save the millions of people who died in the Holocaust, though I know I couldn’t do that. I am just always going to try to be the best person I can, care for other people, and speak out about injustices I see in the world.

Mateo Sucre When I walked into the museum, it gave me a very strong and heavy feeling. The photos of all the dead bodies really shocked me and made me think about what the Nazi soldiers did to those six million Jews. I didn’t think the museum would release such strong feelings on me. The things they had on display there were crazy. They had a Nazi flag under a photo. The flag

looked dirty, old but its condition was not that bad. It's unreal to think that around seventy years ago that flag was being held up in a country while millions of Jews were being treated like animals.

Some of the questions I have were why did the Germans or Hitler decide to do all these things to Jews? Were some Jews ever treated better than other Jews? What would the world be like now if Hitler succeeded his mission in killing all Jews in existence?

The one exhibit that will stay with me the most is walking through the train car. It’s so hard to imagine a small 4 by 15 foot train car where maybe ten or fifteen humans could fit in. To imagine that the Nazi soldiers would put around one hundred people per car is horrifying.

As I walked through the museum I had a strong feeling. Seeing the pictures they had there really tells me how bad the Holocaust was. I don’t think someone really knows how bad it was until they go to this museum. The things I learned in that museum were amazing.

The last thing I would like to say is how some people deny the Holocaust. I don’t get how they deny it when there is hard proof right in front of them.

There is this museum for people to study about it and people alive right now have survived it. They must have someone wrong with them if they see a picture of dead bodies and deny that anything ever happened.

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Natalie Servodidio I went into The Holocaust Museum already sad because I knew how I would feel when I walked out. The first thing I saw was a large picture of the skeletons of Jews that were thrown into the pits. That was an intense place to start. One picture was enough. I watched a short movie about how Hitler came to power. As I watched it I thought that this was how it all started, this was the ugly beginning that led to the even uglier end. I’m positive that I never smiled once while I was in The Holocaust Museum. It was the saddest I had ever been in a long time and I think that is the intention of the museum.

I don’t have a lot of questions because I think the museum answered most of them, but I do have a few. I was wondering if the striped uniforms were meant to be baggy to hide the starving people so the soldiers would feel less guilty. Did any of the soldiers ever help prisoners escape? Did anyone ever confront Hitler about what he was doing even though it was risky?

with their shoes standing right in front of me. It felt so real. A part of me just wanted to scream “I’m sorry.”

I corrected my thought and instead pictured all of those people in their own shoes, their own clothes, with their hair, smiling. If there is anything I can do to pay my respects to all of the people who were killed, it would be to remember them for who they were and what made them unique, not just remember them as prisoners who died.

Remember in the first paragraph where I said I was sad because I knew how I would feel when I left the museum? I lied. How I thought I would feel was nothing compared to how I actually felt. I was very sad when I left. I had no idea such hate existed; I didn’t know humanity could sink that low. My heart is broken for the men, women and children killed and imprisoned. It sends chills up my spine to think about what their last days were, to die with no dignity and to not even be buried. I only hope they are in a better place with their minds and hearts at peace.

While I was looking at the black and white photos I made an observation.

Because most of the visual documents are black and white every time I picture the people I picture them black and white and a little blurry. If I were actually there, I would see them as clear as I see things now and it would be more real. We have to keep their memories alive, never forget and never let this happen again.

One of the exhibits that really spoke to me was the room filled with shoes of the departed Jews. I watched them for a while and pictured all of those people

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Ariell Haims

Carter Paterson

The Glass Box

When I walked around this museum, I felt like it took a deep, heartfelt toll on my mind. It showed me how the power of words can be manipulated and twist the mind of a person or group. I felt that my religion as a Christian talked about the mistreatment of Jews so subtly, like it wasn’t “important” or that it wasn’t a “big deal.” This really ticked me off because it made me feel uneducated about my own religion.

The Bible I refer to doesn’t even tell me that the Israelites were Jewish.

I walked into the room dead silence for the pictures, videos, movies and artifacts for the Jews who are no longer with us.

A uniform of a German man stands in a glass box in front of me.

I can hear the screams through it.

I can picture the hands that wore it.

I can see them attacking a Jew walking peacefully down the street, the life floating in his hands, the blood that was probably dry-cleaned off his uniform the one I stand in front of – the souls that are still trying to escape from his reach The uniform I stand in front of as I listen to the screams and cries with the silence

The exhibit that really got my attention was the 3D model of gas chambers and the ovens because those were the most horrendous acts of the Nazis in concentration camps. It gave me a much better understanding of how they were built and how they worked.

Another exhibit I found interesting were the recordings of the survivors of the Holocaust.

I felt a better connection to the people who actually endured this mistreatment, like these individuals were actually telling me the stories of their own lives, which was a personal connection. I found it hard to see that whenever someone got a tattooed number, they could never forget this moment in time because they have a physical image of horror written on their arms.

Sophie Held As I step inside the museum, I think to myself, “How could I possibly imagine what these people went through?” The truthful answer is, I cannot. I also wonder if I will leave this museum have the thoughts of the Holocaust dug deeper into my brain.

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I am walking down a hallway with dimmed lights. There is writing on the wall and I come up to this glass exhibit.

It takes me a minute to figure out what is there, but then I see it. It is hair.

Hair of hundreds of people who were in the Holocaust. A million thoughts run through my head as I stare at the mountains of hair on the floor behind the glass. I think, “Why?” How could anyone believe that this was okay to do to people just because of their faith and what they believe? As I stood there, that was when I understood that I won’t ever understand what these people went through. Even at some times when I thought I did understand, I never ever did.

I turn the corner and come up to another glass enclosed exhibit. In here there was not hair, but shoes. Lots of shoes of all different colors. As I look at all the shoes, I think about how much the Jews had, how all of it was taken away from them, and how much they were not given back. It was so little compared to what they had before. How much hate could be inside someone’s heart that they could ever think to do something like this to people?

My head is spinning and I feel as if I am about to tip over. Questions, ideas, and thoughts are running through my head. It is so frightening that this it would make someone happy for another person to be tortured like this.

I also feel confused as to why anyone would feel this is an acceptable thing to do.

things I have seen today almost make me feel as if I am going to faint. I cannot even begin to imagine what pain the Jewish people went through. That walk through the Holocaust Museum has taught me many things. It has taught me that it is impossible to experience what the Jews did and no one will ever be able to experience something like that, without being there. No matter how hard we try, we will never be able to imagine what is what like living through the Holocaust.

There are no words to describe it; there are only emotions.

When you walk through the Holocaust Museum, you can only take in what you see; you cannot try to turn that into feelings of empathy. You cannot take in what you see and turn it into something real for yourself. The only thing you can experience is the sadness.

Nothing else.

Elijah Deutsch When I walked into the Holocaust Museum with my friend, I was silent as if the word were sucked out of me. I was speechless. I really couldn’t say anything; I just took it in. The exhibit that will stay with me is the train car because just thinking hundreds of Jews died there and I was standing inside it is just awful. When I left, I felt empty.

As I continue walking down the hallway, I want to turn back. Tears are filling up my eyes and some of the

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Sokhnamai Kane

Jack Johnson

I walk in the building with wide eyes. I feel excited, but I don’t know why.

Maybe because there was a long wait to get there and an even longer anticipation of what I might see. I have a light skip to my step, like I am on a cloud. I still remember where I am, but all I know is that I am happy. We get together so they can tell us to brace ourselves. I’m not really listening. I just want to go. Finally, they let us leave – or so I thought.

I walk into the big open space that is the Holocaust Museum.

I feel personally connected to the Holocaust because my grandfather is a survivor. I see a lot of natural light that represents what the Jews finally saw after the war. During the war, all they saw was a dark, cloudy, evil sky with one shining glimmer of hope because the Jews never gave up.

We have to ride the elevator to the lowest level so we can work our way up. By the time I see the first exhibit, I feel weights being strapped onto my ankles. The excitement is sucked out of me. My chest is heavy with I don’t know what; just heavy.

I am at the exhibit filled with shoes, kids’ shoes. Dead kids’ shoes. I am crying now and I do know why. It seems like all the little souls came to me as I am looking at an immense mound of shoes – baby shoes, kids’ shoes, all shoes, big and small.

I need to go up now.

I do wonder, with all the evil around and people dying around them, how did the Jews stay hopeful? Do Holocaust survivors come to the museum?

I will remember the “Some Were Neighbors” exhibit because it shows that even people who know each other well and maybe like each other can destroy one another’s lives.

I felt sad when I was in the museum, but it helped me understand what my grandfather went through during the war. I saw upsetting photos and read stories of other families and children that showed the horror of the Holocaust.

It is important to never forget the Holocaust because people need to remember the consequences of persecuting a group of people for their race or religion. Still, this happens all over the world and even in our own country.

Destiny Wilson On our second day in Washington, D.C., on May 3, we visited the Holocaust Museum. Before we arrived in D.C., we were informed that it would be a difficult museum to

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experience because of what it was about and how many artifacts were included. As I walked through the museum and experienced it for myself, I pondered on the point that everything that took place during the Holocaust was because a group of people did like the Jewish people’s culture and religious beliefs. The Jews didn’t do anything wrong to harm or hurt anyone.

An exhibit that resonated with me was the “Shoe Room,” because I could see the evidence of how and beaten up the shoes were. As soon as I walked into the room, a flood of oil smells reigned throughout, causing my nose to turn up. The exhibit verified how many Jews were affected by the Nazis and taught me how many people were punished, abused and battered just because of their religion and beliefs. It also made me think about how many more shoes there are in the world, lying in the dirt of abandoned death camps and it made me sad to envision who they belonged to.

When I left, I thought about how weird it was that we were warned the Holocaust Museum would be difficult to experience, but we weren’t warned about how the African American Museum of History and Culture was going to be hard to experience. It also made me wonder whether some people considered the Holocaust Museum more important than the African American Museum and whether the history of blacks was less important as well.

Something else that still hasn’t been explained to me to this day is how people can stare corpses in their faces, get in contact with them by picking

them up and throwing them into an incinerator without caring in any way, shape or form. Even if I do get an explanation, I don’t think I will ever understand the response.

Oshen Henderson Robinson As I walk into this museum, I think of all the people who were killed above us and if they are happy that so many people come to pay their respects. As I walk through the rooms, I think of how scared, but hopeful all the kids must have been, when there was no hope at all. I feel sad and realize how short life is and that I can help to end so much hatred in the world.

The question I have right now is why, why would people do this? How can people be so brainwashed to murder six million human beings? Why? The exhibit that will stay with me for my entire life is the room with all of the Jewish people’s shoes.

At that moment, I understood the bigger picture, knowing that every single person had his or her own story. It was so moving. As I looked at the shoes, I noticed one pair at the back. They were colorful, which made them stand out among the brown and black ones.

They were dancing shoes – for a woman. I closed my eyes and imagined an elegant, beautiful woman dancing on 9

a stage with those shoes. I felt sad and depressed thoughts and how devastated the surviving families must have been.

I appreciated the room at the end where there were candles circling everyone, representing the memories of all the lives that were lost. I walked around several times, embracing all the things I just witnessed.

When I left the museum, I was breathless for multiple minutes, unable to speak. Then I realized how glad I was to be alive and how valuable life is – and that isn’t something you can mess around with or test. Everyone deserves life.

Hugo Wernstrom When I walked into the Holocaust Museum, I just got hit with this feeling that went straight into my heart and stayed there throughout this very sad rollercoaster ride.

One exhibit that will stay with me for a long time is the one of the shoes of people from the camps. This is very powerful because these shoes were worn by kids, just like me, and adults, just like my parents. It is so sad to think these are the same shoes that someone wore before they were taken away by the Nazis.

When I was in the museum, I felt sad and scared. I was sad because the Holocaust is a horrible part of history.

I was scared because I thought about the Nazis and what they did to innocent people. When I left the museum, I felt strange, like there was something clinging onto my back, like a victim from the Holocaust telling me to stay, almost pulling me back in.

Ella Gullickson We are all tense. We are waiting in a physical line, but also in tense curiosity and fear for what we might see, hesitant and eagerly awaiting what might happen next.

Three words in a single, small exhibit: “Arbeit macht frei.” That phrase will stick with me the rest of my life because I abhor it. It disgusts me! It makes me want to scream and claw at those words that loom over my head until they come crashing down. Yet, they are now always there and forever will be.

After leaving the museum, I have questions. Now, I could try and sound all uppity – I do that sometimes – and use big words and phrase my questions differently, but the topic of the Holocaust isn’t like other subjects, and it strips me of all words. All words, except, “Why?” Why are humans like this? Why do things like this happen?

I know it’s not human nature. That excuse is so weak. All excuses are because there isn’t one. How can humans do something so inhuman?

This abhorrently gruesome monstrosity of what happened not only was done by inhuman humans, it was done by each

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and every one of us who sat idly by, letting the evil spread like a plague far worse and much darker than any sickness. We let that happen. There are no excuses.

When I leave, I feel disgust, remorse, tension, loathing, livid anger, confusing and the inability to use words to express what I had seen.

One exhibit that will stay with me was “Daniel’s Story.” His mom and dad were taken away from him. They both died in a concentration camp. I found this really sad. The Nazi Party did all this for what? Power? Hatred? What could make anyone hate an entire race and try to obliterate them?

What can you do when words are not enough?

Katya Deckelbaum When I walked through the museum, I thought about everything people had to go through. I kept feeling terribly about the families that were split up and the torture they had to endure. I wanted to cry, but nothing came out.

Hearing people’s stories made me wish I could help them and make them feel better. I couldn’t understand how people could cheer on the Nazis and how the Nazis could do something like this. Why would this be Hitler’s plan to “rule the world”?

Martin Oka One of the thousands of things that went through my mind was the numbers. Six million people. Six million human beings, gone.

One question I would ask is how could someone be so devilish? They gassed human beings, trying to kill all of one entire race!

When I was in the museum, I felt like I wanted to be alone, to really try to get that six million people died. Human beings.

I walked across a plastic bridge that led to a different section of the museum. I looked at the clear walls all around me with different names on them. I could see some of my classmates through the wall already finished looking through the museum. I wondered how they could possibly be done with everything, when I am only halfway through.

Maybe it was too hard for them and they had to go through quickly because they couldn’t handle it.

I looked at all the shoes of the people who died in the Holocaust. Some of the shoes were fancy, and I was reminded that they Jews were respected before the Holocaust started 11

and they were treated as humans, too.

They had money and lives. Why would Hitler take away so much, even if it was just because it helped the economy? If he wanted to “rule the world,” then wouldn’t all the businesses run by Jews be helpful to him? What was so bad about the Jews?

heart started to beat a little faster.

With every step I took, my feelings were numb. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. From all of the hair to the children’s shoes, I felt like the devil was inside Hitler. I realized how disgusting this man was and how he knew what he was doing. It’s sick.

There was a room with a huge picture of human hair. When I first saw it, it looked like heads. I could even see the eyes and noses, but when I looked again, I realized it was just hair. That picture scared me, but it was good for me to see it because it looked like it had two meanings. It showed how much was lost and how many people were killed. The fact that it looked like faces to me was even scarier, because I saw people.

Most of the things in the museum were sad and unforgettable. It’s hard to stop thinking about it when it haunts you and things come up, like all of the shoes of people who went to the gas chambers. It made me so emotional to see what people can do to one another.

From start to finish, every little thing brought sadness to my heart.

How could someone possible hate a specific kind of people so much that they were exterminate them? Did the people in the concentrate camps forget things that happened to them before?

Did they forget their identities and traditions? None of it makes sense.

When I was walking through the museum, I felt sad, heartbroken, confused, and angry. I felt something that cannot be described. It was too difficult to absorb everything. All of this couldn’t go through my mind; I was in shock.

Andrew Goodgold When I walked through the doors of the Holocaust Museum, I felt a breeze and realized I was going to cry. I saw thousands of booklets with identities given out to us; they were all dead Jews. Then I went down an elevator that represented a gas chamber and my

Paloma Chapman I walk in and feel the silence caused by sadness rush over me. I fall silent.

As I look around at the pictures and read the sadness on the walls, I cannot comprehend how one could have enough hatred for so many people he never met. I turn the corner and see a deeply sad photograph. I have to look away. I wonder, again, how somebody can deeply hate a large group of people without knowing who they are.

I walk into the death train. I close my eyes and try to understand how anyone

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could do this. I cannot. I feel sad and moved at the same time.

When I leave the museum, I also feel moved that this place was made in honor of the Jewish people who were murdered in the Holocaust. These people did nothing wrong. Nobody deserves what they got. No one.

Kaya David As I walked into the Holocaust Museum, I immediately had a feeling of sadness. It was very difficult to see all the disturbing photos. It was a lot to take in, in those few hours.

I appreciated how respectful people were. I felt heavy hearted because I knew there was a difference between seeing what happened and actually experiencing it. There were exhibits that were beyond terrible.

Ethan Julien When I walked into the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., I felt something indescribable. I was very tense. There was a force pushing me down, making my steps heavier.

One exhibit I saw made me feel sick inside – the gas chambers. There was a clay replica and I just felt sad. People were gasping for breath, holding, but not being able to help their kids. I also read something that said, “Jews had to carry heavy bricks up and down long flights of stairs.”

It’s all just so inhumane.

It makes me question, “Why?” What is one religion or race targeted because of their beliefs? While I walked through the building, I was thinking just that.

Why?

I wondered, as I walked, “How could anyone do this?”

One exhibit that will stay with me is the one of pictures of Holocaust survivors with numbered inked on their arms, along with quotes that people said from their personal experience.

Another exhibit that will stay with me is the one of all the hair. It’s so terrible to think they shaved their heads. Their hair is a part of them and the Nazis took that away.

I felt sadness on my way in and on my way out. However, it was an important thing to learn and the memory will always stay with me.

Victoria DiGiulio The photographs in the Holocaust Museum are hard to look at. I feel like I have to close my eyes in some of the rooms. When I looked at the “beds” they had to sleep in and then saw how many people were in each one made it even worse. I wouldn’t even call what they had a bed – it was more like wooden pieces glued together.

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For me, it is hard to see the actual shoes that Jews wore. It made the people come to life for me.

The room with all the voices of people talking about their personal experiences was really eye-opening because we have learned a lot about the Jews’ experience as a whole, so I was really fascinating to hear about their lives. Each one is different.

When I was there, I walked the museum alone just so I could really be focused with no distractions. I was totally silent and read the paragraphs that went with the photos and videos.

When we left, we walked to the bus.

We were all quiet and kept to ourselves.

Ava Mandel I started to feel emotions before I even went into the museum. I get off the bus and the signs that say “Never Forget” immediately make me feel sad. I then walk inside and feel empty. That this even took place is horrible enough, but that a whole museum is dedicated to it is hard.

I walk over to the elevators and get an identification card that had a woman’s name on it.

Rojske Kisieinicki Sadowsky. I read the card and felt terribly as I fell silent. I just think how a person in power can make such a policy and then six million people perish.

I walk through the exhibits and they will all stay with me. There were the photos of the town that had so many memories and people, but then got wiped out in two days. There are everybody’s numbers and shoes. And

then there is one exhibit that makes me think, how could they do these kinds of things to our people? It is all of the hair. The Nazis stripped away who each person was.

There was no recognition of their identities from their physical bodies.

When I leave the Holocaust Museum, I feel like a new person. I have always heard that this place is special, but not like this. I learned so much from here, especially not ever to have another Holocaust. That can be hard for some places, so I will always have awareness for things like that.

Loren Zorrilla The Jews had to go through so much and I could never imagine what it was like. To see it in the museum, though, was hard and sad.

What is going to stay with me are the shoes. It is so sad and shocking that those were the actual shoes of people who were killed. To see the baby shoes was even sadder because they never ended up having lives. It was still really hard, though, so see the grown up shoes, but the baby ones hit me harder.

When I left, everything was all just piled up one me, especially when it started to sink in.

Liam Harvey I walked through the first doorway.

The first thing that immediately caught my eye was a big picture. I looked at it and moved closer. I started to realize what it was. I was shocked. It was a picture of a pile of burned human bodies. A squad of soldiers stood in the 14

background with sad looks. It was horrifying. So many innocent people were burned for no reason other than the sheer cruelty of the Nazi party. I will never forget this picture. I just came so suddenly, without warning. I felt like I wanted to save them, those poor people forced into such a brutal world.

The exhibit that will stay with me is the model of the concentration camp. I could really see the process people went through here. It showed the underground gassing rooms with so many people in so much pain. It also showed the ovens where they would burn the bodies. It was very scary. It took me a little time to connect the ovens with the fact that they were for burning people. It shocked me and soon after I left the exhibit because it put so much fear and disgust into my mind.

During my time there, I felt very sad and quiet. You know me. I am usually a very loud and energetic person. I like to talk a lot and hang out with other people. At this museum, though, I was a totally different person. I didn’t talk very much and when I did, it was about how shocked I was at what I saw. I walked very slowly and had a sad, resting face. When I left, it started to wear off, but I still kind of had that fear in my mind. It stayed with me for most of the day and I really tried to forget some of the things I saw in there.

I will never forget the Holocaust Museum. It touched my heart and fed my brain in such a beautifully sad way.

I can’t explain what it did to me.

Maya Cook As the door to the elevator opens, so do my eyes. I look around as my heart beats quickly. I find my friends looking at a model of a concentration camp. It had so much detail! There were tiny people with hair and eyes and shoes. It was so realistic that I could hear the screams behind the glass.

We start walking again and I see oldfashioned phones hung on the walls. I hesitate to pick one up. When I do, the voice on the other side goes into my ears, into my head, and stays there until it melts and dries where I’ll never forget them.

The voice said that in the concentration camps, people were starved, beaten and killed. The screen came on and there were screaming families being kicked out of their homes. The sons were pulled away from the mothers, daughters taken from fathers. It all burned my eyes like acid.

There was one thing that actually made me look away – the starving Jews. I saw the outline of their ribs and spines.

When I miss lunch, I say I am starving, but these people hadn’t eaten in days – or longer.

I hang the phone up and tell my friends that when they are done listening to meet me over by the documentary with Holocaust survivors. They say okay. I sit down on the wooden bench and watch the people reliving their terrible experiences. My friends come and we keep walking. I see a train car that Jews took straight to their deaths. I felt the cries of people as I stood in the dark train car. I walk out, feeling chills crawl up my spine. I start walking in 15

front of my friends because I need a place to take all this in.

I walk more and come to a narrow hallway with shoes, tons and tons of shoes, behind thick glass. Small shoes, big shoes, different colored shoes. I couldn’t imagine how many people were once wearing these thousands of shoes.

I stared until the sight consumed me and I walked out where I found a resting area with a few couches and pictures on the walls. I sit down and breathe in everything I have seen.

I sit with my friends, our arms around one another, not meeting each other’s gaze, even though we all wanted to make eye contact to know we felt the same way.

in. The people, there were so many people. It kind of makes you think this is how many of them there were, all squished together, but 10x worse. Was the front entrance made to look like the places they slept? The shoes, the hair.

That big hall of pictures. How Hitler came to power; just using words. I felt pretty overwhelmed seeing everything that we’ve talked about. All of the pain, loss, suffering they went to because of one man. It was horrible. But at the same time I’m really glad I went. I feel like it was a really important place to see, and I’m happy I got to see it.

I sat on that bench wondering: How could one man make all that destruction?

Lomie Blum The video I am watching scares me.

Why would children, the Hitler Youth, salute to this? Do they even know what they are saluting to? Death.

Look at the Nazi uniform. It looks so clean, the opposite of what the Nazi Party was.

I will remember the memorial room near the end, because I found it really beautiful that the museum made it.

The people there were crying, praying and just hanging out in the silence of the room.

Hilary Vidal Holocust Museum Reflection We walked in and as I looked around the setting/building looked like one of the places where the Nazis had to sleep

Through the Poet’s Eye Maybe Poems Ariell Haims Maybe (with inspiration from “Drift Away”

by Uncle Kracker) Maybe I fell in love with this song because it was catchy, maybe it was a total coincidence, but perhaps in some way, somewhere floating around in my small, 16

four-year-old brain, I could relate.

Maybe something about hearing Uncle Kracker singing, something about wanting to get lost in the music, and to drift away, maybe that was soothing to my thoughts, a cover up, wrapping them up in Saran Wrap and popping them in the fridge for another day Maybe somewhere in that head of mine, hearing someone relate to me was encouraging, maybe it was an escape, what they would call, “just talking,” maybe they knew I didn’t buy it, maybe they didn’t, but that is not the part that bothered me.

They would tell me to go into the other room, I would prop myself up on the couch, eat my cheese stick and watch my princess movie, they would continue, every few seconds, every break in the film, I would look over towards the kitchen, maybe I was waiting for one of them to come out and tell me it was okay; however, somewhere in me I knew it was all okay, or at least that it was going to be fine Even the day that my mom and I left the house, and drove up to a condo, even when she rolled down the window to tell me this was my new home, maybe I knew something was wrong,

maybe I knew that there was something that was missing from my information, maybe I knew that my life was about to change, all of a sudden the looking into the kitchen every few seconds stopped Maybe that is why every time I heard the song buzzing through the open car windows, into my brain, I drifted away, no more looking into the kitchen, time went by, maybe I knew somewhere in my heart that even though not everything was okay, that it was going to be, I used to think that one day, all of a sudden, Poor, Everything would be fine Now, I prop myself onto the couch and watch my show, still every break I look into the kitchen, but my mom is still not there, I’ve discovered her new territory, her office, I look to check if she’s in there, and I am told to go back, maybe I knew it wasn’t okay, maybe I just needed to drift away.

Queen Carrasco Cracked Maybe I am the cracks in the sidewalk, waiting to be filled with concrete.

Maybe I am supposed to feel a bit empty inside.

Maybe I am like glass, delicate, but easy to break.

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Maybe I am supposed to crack under pressure when others expect the most out of me.

Maybe I come from a place where people’s dreams don’t come true.

Maybe I look to the moon for help, while those around me struggle and roll their eyes at my desperate attempt to succeed.

Maybe I am like the sun, with blazing flames that might extinguish at any given moment.

Maybe I am like the moon, controlling the choppy tides of life.

Maybe those around me that I am great, when really I am just a child with a great imagination and quite a frail heart.

Maybe I am afraid of the dark because it is able to consume us in one gulp and infiltrate our every thought.

Maybe I’m trying to warn those around me that they shouldn’t expect much from me when I don’t expect much from myself.

Luke Golub Fedor Maybe Maybe I fell from the stork’s bundle, And landed with a boom.

Maybe I was meant For someone else.

Maybe I was God’s mistake, And I’m the only one who knows.

Maybe my mom and dad knew that, But didn’t want to scare me.

Maybe I never met my real parents, Because I was left in the dust.

Maybe that’s why darkness doesn’t scare me.

Maybe that’s why the only light I’ll ever see is at the end.

Maybe all of these maybes are just thoughts.

They’re not real.

They’re all figments of my imagination.

They’re all fake ideas.

Charles Gary Maybe Maybe I’m happy Maybe I’m sad Maybe I don’t know why my emotions are out of whack Maybe I should ask Maybe I should say, “I don’t know why I feel this way.”

Maybe I’m scared or don’t understand Maybe I should just be a man Maybe I’ll bottle it up and wait, for all the problems to quiver and quake Maybe I know what I should do Maybe I should end it all today Maybe I’m overreacting now

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Maybe I should learn to shackle down all my ideas, problems, and mistakes Maybe I can set it straight, but I must hurry because it’s almost too late.

Katya Deckelbaum Maybe Maybe I am just a thought, Or maybe I am an illusion, But maybe I am real, How can I tell?

Maybe the world is just a thought, Or maybe the world is an illusion, But maybe the world is real, How can I tell?

Maybe everything we know is not true, Or maybe everything we know is a lie, But maybe everything we know is real, How can I tell?

Maybe our world didn’t start with a big bang, Maybe the universe isn’t expanding, How can I tell?

Maybe dreams are reality and reality is a dream, How can I tell?

Maybe we are all different, Or maybe we are all the same, How can I tell?

Elijah Deutsch Maybe Maybe dogs are gods because dog spelled backwards is god.

Maybe tsunamis are sea monsters getting mad.

Maybe we are being controlled by a person playing a virtual reality game and when we sleep is when he stops playing.

Maybe a sprite is someone’s spirit because they sort of rhyme.

Maybe if you eat unhealthy it is better for you.

Maybe this all doesn’t exist.

Anonymous Elegy for My Grandfather You were the first time I really cried.

You meant so much, but I didn’t really notice how much until you were gone.

My hero had fallen, so how could I go on?

Your death was expected, but knowing something like that didn’t make it much easier.

How do you say goodbye?

With a smile?

Crying?

How could I save you?

Could I make you live longer?

Are you in pain?

I could see you fading.

Slipping through my fingers, could I adjust my grip?

No, a life is not like a rope – you can’t pull someone to safety.

Maybe if I begged liked I used to beg for a bright new toy still in the package.

Can I ask someone to help you?

Who would I ask?

Suddenly you were gone.

I lost you.

Could I find you somewhere?

Maybe you were under my bed like the other things I lose?

What did I say to you last?

Did I say enough?

Is my grandma okay?

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Does the sadness hurt her like it hurt me?

Like my mom?

Maybe I could kiss where it hurts, like my parents did when I fell of my bike and scraped my knee?

Wait, I didn’t get to tell him how much I love him.

Wait, wake him up – I need to tell him I love him.

Please, I need to!

My thoughts stop and my mind slows.

but it went away as the years went on.

Maybe one day in the next few years, I will have new friends.

Maybe I’ll stick with the old ones, too.

Even though I love my old friends with all my heart, some people say change is better.

Maybe one day, far away, I will stumble across this poem, and fix all these maybes, and turn them into forevers.

Gabe Shaub Maybe

Ava Mandel Maybe Maybe I was born to walk on the moon.

And maybe I was destined to be an amazing singer.

Maybe I really was brought into this world to be like my parents.

Maybe I was born to be their lookalike.

Maybe I was supposed to have a lisp,

Maybe one day the sun will descend upon the horizon and that day will be the best of my life Maybe that day already happened Maybe my thoughts aren’t worth sharing Maybe I try anyway Maybe I fail Maybe I’m not only failing at one thing Maybe that applies to everything Maybe that applies to nothing Maybe I’m just overthinking it Maybe overthinking is all I do Maybe I want to be impulsive for once Maybe that will end horribly Maybe it already has Maybe I’ll never try to be impulsive Maybe I can find other ways to let go Maybe I already know some Maybe I’m overthinking and overthinking Maybe this was bound to happen Maybe one day I’ll wake up with not an inch of anxiety or stress within me and I can relax Maybe that day isn’t so far away

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Natalie Servodidio Maybe Maybe I lived another life I could have been deaf or I could have been blind I could have had no idea what was going on It could have been short or it could have been long Maybe I was reincarnated one hundred times Maybe I knew, I just didn’t know why …

Maybe I have dreams where I can see myself in the future I could be kind, mean, sad or mature Maybe I changed the world and cleaned up the mess Maybe I watched it fade and became a sad and lonely pest Maybe I became a bird and flew to another land Maybe I spent my days on the beach and drowned in the sand Maybe there’s a flower inside me, desperate to come out Maybe it ran away and never began to sprout Maybe I have dreams that go as high as the moon Maybe I talk to the sky and ask if they’re coming back soon Maybe this world will never find love Maybe we need to rise up to the above

Oshen Robinson Henderson Maybe Maybe people know me as selfless and kind Maybe people know me as selfish and unkind Maybe I should stop worrying about how others see me Maybe I can’t see what others see me as Maybe there is someone stopping me from seeing what others see Maybe that person is doing it to block out all the kind descriptions because they have bad ones Maybe they are trying to protect me form all of the bad descriptions Maybe that person blocking everything out is me Maybe I’m doing it for those reasons above Maybe I’m doing it without even knowing I am Maybe people do see me as selfish Maybe people do see me as unkind Maybe I am all those terrible things Maybe I have always been those terrible things Maybe every person who ever knew me saw me as those things Maybe that is all I am, selfish and unkind Maybe I am – a monster

Maybe I understand the meaning of my existence Maybe it has hope, love and brilliance Maybe this world shouldn’t be put in chains Maybe we find love and eliminate the pain

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Nathan Smith Maybe Maybe life is just a dream Maybe a little boy is sleeping and thinking about us We are just in his imagination People with no purpose to please his subconscious

Maybe the thing I have been holding back this whole time is who I really am Lomie Blum Maybe

Maybe I don’t do poems that often because I am scared Maybe I don’t think I am good The only thing that makes me feel good with poetry is compliments

Maybe I am something else I am always peculiar beyond belief Maybe I am a regret I do regret a lot of things Maybe I am just a shade of dark who likes light Maybe I am not here This could be all an illusion of a dreamer Or maybe I could be dead Maybe I make choices just for myself Not others …

Maybe I will be nobody when I grow up Maybe …

Eli Largent

Destiny Wilson

Maybe

Maybe I Am

Maybe there is only the dark abyss Maybe I am putting all my work down not to drown in it And not let it be the first thing I breathe in the morning Maybe it’s just a figment of my imagination Something I created so that I have a reason for this darkness Maybe the only thing I see when I close my eyes is the dark abyss staring back at me Maybe it has consumed me and I am lying to myself And I have been putting on this “social mask” the whole time Maybe it’s time to embrace the darkness

Maybe I was born in May 27th in a hospital that is now a residential building.

Maybe I was a chubby and overweight baby, but little did the doctors know I was just breastfed.

Maybe I was a quiet and content baby who enjoyed taking in conversations I didn’t understand.

Maybe we are just pawns in a game of chess Using us until we die Milking all of our strengths and advantages

Maybe I went to a daycare where I got bitten by a boy on my back and the employees justified the incident by saying he was “special.”

Maybe I did vomit on my father’s head while I was sitting on his shoulders in Jamaica.

Maybe I did go to my parents’ wedding at the age of two.

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Maybe I did go to a school where I got pinched whenever I did something wrong and complaints didn’t change the frequency of the pinches.

Maybe I did move to Manhattan and change from that school to go to Calhoun.

Maybe my hair was down to my shoulders.

Maybe I did draw and do origami every day at any time I could.

Maybe I did cut my hair the same length as a crayon.

Maybe I am shy at home and keep to myself.

Maybe I am the same person I was when I was younger.

Maybe I am staying in the past.

Maybe I am learning from the present.

Maybe I am ignoring the future.

Maybe I am the future.

Maybe may be the exact reference to life Maybe may rise up from our deepest breaths And hitchhike up to our throats and Make us breathe it out in the most confused way Maybe it is a word made to be the ruler of confusion Maybe it has a desperate code that must be deciphered And has a way of life to itself Maybe all these questions are pointless Maybe I am just asking the wrong questions Fueling the mystery even more And just confusing myself further Or maybe it just has no meaning Maybe it is just a word But nothing is just a word Because maybe it is its own A simple piece of a puzzle that is not the same texture or shape Or maybe It’s just Maybe Sara Bavuso Maybe

Charles Adams The Maybe of Life Maybe What is maybe

She was in her crate and shaking See was skinny and small We had to fatten her up I remember feeling extremely nervous and excited at the same time The was the first dog I had from the age of a puppy I don’t remember my other dog as much She was so scared She was shaking and she was so scared She did not know us Abby is from Texas She was about four months old when we got her 23

I remember wanting to let her out of her carrier so badly I wanted to walk her and show her off But she was scared She did not know what life would be like She was confused She was abandoned as a puppy, so she didn’t know what we would do with her She never had a family before It took her a while to figure out we were her family And that we would never left her go.

Forwards/Backwards Poems (These poems can be read from top to bottom and then from bottom to top!)

Maude Weber Forwards/Backwards: The Pendulum Poem My name is magic I live in everything that is living and I switch on the machine that makes the sun go up into the sky but I don’t have anyone helping me with my job.

I push the plants to keep growing when they get lazy but I also help swirl the waters and create the flashing electricity in the clouds during a storm.

I create storms.

I create tornadoes and You can’t blame me for the destruction I cause.

I am here to tell you What is happiness without sadness?

What is teamwork without an issue?

What is a rainbow Without the rain Sophie Held Forwards/Backwards Poem Say things that you mean, mean things that you say.

We sometimes are not truthful with the words that come out of our mouths.

When people lie, we do not trust them.

Some people in this world we just cannot trust.

When we lies, those lies always come back to us.

It is karma: When we feel as if we cannot trust someone, in a different situation, other people may not trust us.

Words cannot be changed. Be careful with what you say.

Be careful with what you do, because just like words, actions cannot be taken back.

We can be scared of ourselves because of what we do to other people.

It is frightening.

Maya Cook Forwards/Backwards Poem Love is a crazy thing.

Makes me go insane, Just thinking about love.

Love is so wonderful.

It makes me so angry when people say

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Love is not real and it’s a figment of people’s imaginations.

There is no Prince Charming or happily ever after.

All relationships end in disaster.

Do you really want your heart crushed?

Love is a crazy thing.

Maria Gil Forwards/Backwards Poem School was made for only tests and homework And teachers drowning their students with work, and The teaching of a very strict curriculum.

But it’s not true that the only idea in school is Teaching students what they should be taught.

I believe they should be The teachers that help students out in the real world But it is sometimes hard to think of them as The people who help teens figure out their lives.

It is true that teachers are Very important in children’s lives.

Others don’t believe that they are, Especially students and even parents.

But it is true – people should really know that School is not all about test and homework, and teachers are important.

Every speech, Every interaction, What if it was all planned out, A step by step process, With no ending, Where the endings in the chapters of our lives are, The thing that shows us, Where our thoughts are extracted from reality, In the water that hydrates our anxiety, In the pool of feelings that flood our bodies, What if there was some person, Some voice, Who knows, Said, “Oh, this looks interesting.”

What if life just dragged us along, Did it just pull us in with the sweep, If so, Why are there so many versions?

Is a higher power real?

Daniela Sarantis Forwards/Backwards Poem Can time move backwards?

This leaves me to think: What would happen if time stood still And just turned around Didn’t make a sound Would you notice if time slowed down, or Would you slow down with time Maybe we don’t see much at all

Ariell Haims Filtration What if life was just a dream?

Every conversation,

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Ingrid Wernstrom

All of the students will be able to start over Metamorphoses will strike Over the break, students thinking about their new beginnings Rising to their new challenges Perhaps some will thrive and the others will buckle under pressure Happening in almost an instant Over the school year, new obstacles will arise Some will help you and some will bring you down It is what most people wish for, a new start Sometimes entering a new place will get you out of your old struggles

Metamorphosis

Ava Mandel

Making an effort to be kind to everyone Ending things that I can’t handle Trying to do new things Always being the best person I can be Moving on from the past Only asking for help once I’ve tried Rising above all the hate Promising myself to really try hard Honoring the fact that nobody is perfect Opening up to people Struggling to be confident Intending to do good in the world Standing up for what I believe in

Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis Poems

Jack Johnson Metamorphosis

Major changes.

Entirely new world.

Taking risks.

Allowing new people into our lives Making other people’s lives change Over my head happy.

Reading new books.

Physics, math, and English won’t ever be the same How could I ever forget my old friends, though?

Old memories I had with my old friends are priceless.

Sometime in the next few years, I will get older and make new friends, I know I’ll get new grades (or any grades for that matter).

Some things, though, never change.

Many things will change Everything will change The teachers, people will be rushed into a new place and a new start

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Nathan Smith Metamorphosis Maybe and hopefully I will get better at time management Even if it is hard I have to push myself TV is one of the things I have to watch less After I get good at time management my life will be more organized Maybe if I play fewer video games Or if I watch less television Really hard to time manage, but I am pretty good at organization Possibly I could create a schedule Homework is my only thing I have to manage Organizing it and doing it Somehow I am getting better Daniela Sarantis Metamorphosis Motivated to transform to a butterfly Expertise seems nowhere in sight The work might wear you thin And you might just want to give up Maybe you will succeed Or, more realistically, you’ll crash and burn Revolutions aren’t created overnight Please hold on, the end is nigh Hold on, hold on, your wings will soon fly Only one more step, then you can take off Set onto the sky I’ll understand if you never want to return So long, young butterfly, the future is yours

Color, Time, and Place Luke Golub Fedor In the Style of Robert Frost The frost along the hoof, The animal travels on Through the cold, Through the ice, Through the ferns, Through the rocks.

Past the forest covered in ice, The dead undergrowth.

No sound in the ice desert, Nothing but silence, Nothing but the wind.

No life on this journey, No warmth, No expectations, No comrades.

But the ferns Trapped in the ice and snow, In the undergrowth By the side of the path, The path untraveled, The path no one chose, The path only the animals know.

The snow and the frost attack The animal, getting at flesh.

The frost, The snow, 27

The silence, Heavy breathing.

The animal comes to a stop.

Without life, only death is possible.

No sun, No warmth, The world collapses on the animal Without sound, Silence, Frost and snow, Is all that’s left.

When it is angry it boils thick and hot, Like an inferno of dancing blood.

Red overtakes the sky and poisons the air, So when you inhale, your tongue blisters and your throat burn.

Martin Oka Black Black engulfs us into newspapers It calls us to the TV It mourns for another day of life And then, “Snap,” it’s gone.

Just like that, not there.

Elijah Deutsch Red

Victoria DiGiulio Red She hears people in danger and calls for help.

She feels when something is wrong; she senses it.

She understands people’s emotions, because she has been through it too.

Her eyes, deep, dark red, like the color of a fire truck going to help someone.

Red inhales rapidly like a person running out of air.

Axel Fonseca Red Red streams through the sky blazing brightly like thick cream.

Once in a while red paints itself over the moon for all to see.

Red inhales the ash as he exhales the amber.

He hears the crackling of the fire as he sees the wood burning.

He touches everything he burns.

He smells the smoke coming off him.

He tastes the marshmallows on sticks that other people put in front of him.

He eats the trees when he goes wild.

He thinks about getting put out.

He knows he can’t live forever.

He remembers when he was first lit.

He loves his wood.

Maya Cook Snow’s Magic If it’s going to be cold It might as well snow If it’s going to snow It has to stick to the ground

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If it sticks to the ground, it has to be deep snow where the snow gets in your boots You hate and love the chill that shakes up your spine.

If this does somehow magically happen, it can’t last any longer than three days.

‘Cause the next time it’s cold, I need to pray for this magic all over again.

Ariell Haims White White stolen from its family, constantly being questioned about its existence, she stares blankly, she’s told to be at every beginning, and end, yet is still pure, she watches over, waiting silently, to be changed, for her life to be tinted, once again, so she sits and waits, for the second guessing to stop, she’s waiting to find the confidence, to stand up for herself, when she is always being walked upon Ariell Haims The Moon I used to think that the moon followed me around, Because for once in my life, The moon and seeing it there, Out my window every night was the only, Only thing that I could count on in my life.

At the time,

I would look out and see glowing hope, Changing forms, Changing colors.

Even hope is unpredictable, It’s always there, That I knew, Where it was, What it looked like – Now that is the question I longed to be answered.

One night I had a project, A school project to take a picture of the blood moon; Ten pm we were out the door, We drove around for an hour, Just trying to find it.

We got to the library, Clouds painting the sky, The smear of blue singing to the purple, Serenading it in a beautiful duet between the pink And foggy gray.

But the moon, Nowhere to be seen.

We got into the car, Drove away, My body twisting to face the rear window, In search for my hope, The thing that got me through the week, From switching from house to house, The thing that distracted my mind, From remembering, From acknowledging that I left my dolly at home.

The thing that distracted me from having to face the Question That was too blurred for my damaged confidence To sort through.

Home, The word that was unclear to me.

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“You’re so lucky, you get two of everything.”

What those kids didn’t know was that when you’re ten, You’re not all that interested in having two of Everything.

Well, At least, Not me.

My parents always called me their “One and only,” But, How am I their “One and only,” If I have two of everything?

That was the thing that splatter-painted over My perfectly clear parallel worlds.

The whole ride home, I did not flinch from my spot, My spine curving into knots, My clarity as well.

The moon did not show.

I ran down the hall to my room for It was long past my bedtime.

Lights off, Memories, Concerns, Thoughts, No farther than a blink away.

Along with the moon.

Ariell Haims Today Every morning, walking to school from the subway, I give myself a little pep talk, a little like they do in the movies, very simple – It goes a little like this, “Don’t be stupid, Ariell,” “Don’t be annoying, Ariell,” “Don’t be weird, Ariell.”

And every day walking to the subway after school, my self talk goes a little like this, “You messed up again, Ariell.”

I don’t hate myself or anything, but every time I’m staring at myself in the mirror, it goes a little like this, “What’s that on your face?”

“It looks like a chipmunk is nesting in your hair.”

“Why do you look so stupid?”

It’s just every day, and at the end of every day, it goes something like this: Silence, just myself, covering up my insecurities, with the help of my friends.

Silence, 30

and darkness, they wash these thoughts away to make room for the nearly abandoned house at the very top of the hill in my imagination, the house where the few good thoughts I have about myself live, far away from the regular ones, where they sit and watch “Grey’s” on the couch, until the time, the very few mornings, when I knock on their door, and ask them to come out, which they do; In case you couldn’t guess, those are some of my better days.

Ava Mandel Red Red is like lava Burning hotter and stronger than the sun Red is pulling you and me Right into the eye of the storm.

The center of the volcano.

When red freezes, It just defrosts.

Red is like a person, But not a very normal one.

A mad one and hunger for anger.

Like in those cartoons, With the steam coming out of the ears and the face red.

That mad.

That red.

Liam Harvey Black It consumes anything that gets in its way It has no mercy It sweeps the land, demolishing and erasing everything it sees It comes over you like a large blanket It is a scary being Nothing dares get in the way of it Some have tried to stop it, but have been obliterated Evie Dolan Silver Silver crouches in the corner of the room without anyone noticing.

She never shows her face to anyone.

She hears a chime of metal and hides away.

She eats scraps and leftovers whenever she can find them.

Someone sees her and her throat swells and throbs.

Her soft skin gets buried away, never to be seen again.

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Kaya David

Mateo Sucre

Blue

Blue

Blue, calm from a distance, but life underneath Waves, crash when it reaches the shore All come, never stop, there are endless Creatures trying to live, no human can see When blue gets mad, everything around it does Blue floods, if messed with Can be trouble The darker and meaner it gets

Blue, the color of the deep ocean The ocean left with questions No one knows what’s down there An alien city?

Or maybe just more blue Motionless, lonely blue

Natalie Servodidio Yellow She shines on my face in the morning She rises in the east And sets in the south She endures tears and self-pity She tastes sweet and sour She is the color of my favorite album She thrives with heat She smells like a barbecue in my backyard during summer She sees through everyone and makes everyone darker She inhales skin and exhales heat She understands light in the world and in people She lives in a garden and is covered in petals She knows she’ll kill us all one day She is the color of a summer dress swaying in the wind She is yellow

Oshen Robinson Henderson Introducing Green Green Green slithers across the floor like a snake with its long serpent like body, leaving a trail of slime.

Green releases the smell of nature across the Earth, where she roams.

Green is the one that can hear everything.

She is the one that hides under your bed at night, the one who follows your every step.

Nathan Smith White The beginning and ending of everything So plain and simple, yet so complex The beginning of winter The end of heat So much potential He could be any color Instead he is white He is so kind, joyous and sweet Like a puppy Seeing the world evolve Humans can change colors can’t Understanding the feelings of the rest of the colors

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click of stilettos on marble the temperature of death. She is a sharp tongue spinning delicate tales you know to be lies, beautiful lies you wish to believe. She is the sound of glass shattering. She is a sleeveless dress two sizes too small underneath an oversized polar bear fur coat. She is an unsweetened lemonade on a chilly day.

Periwinkle is the tinge of sadness behind a porcelain smile.

Bella Ulfelder Crimson Maria Gil Gray Gray hears all the colors around her, boasting about the rainbow, She is forgotten, as she remembers all the things she’s done for them.

Gray inhales all of it in, all the colors that form her.

But black and white have never left her side, they too unremembered.

She mostly strides along clothes, never being the little one’s first choice.

And gray, so vast but vacant, feels the coldness As she lies down to the stars each night.

No, she thinks, no she isn’t forgotten, for it was her that created everything we feel.

She caused it all – happiness, sadness, and even fear, with every step.

Bella Ulfelder Periwinkle Periwinkle is a piercing stare, a passive aggressive whisper that sends shivers of delight down your spine. She is the

Crimson is a pair of white gloves and a ball gown clutching a pistol. He is raw bone and brimstone. He is not hesitating before delivering words more painful than the flow of his fist. He is cracked hands with misdeeds written all over them. He is fangs and snarls and the smell of blood on freshly washed linen sheets. He is an hourglass smashed out of frustration and anguish, and he is the grains of sand that then burrow into the carpet, impossible to retrieve. Crimson is a face so fraught with tears they have left permanent ravines on his cheeks. He is a house already burned to the ground.

Sophie Held Green Green grumbles with a grouchy voice like a full cloud about to burst with water. He storms around with his eyes squinted. As his long arms reach for things, he scratches against them with his long nails.

When green gets mad, steam comes out of his ears; he turns from light green to

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dark green, and all of a sudden it starts to pour. The whole world booms and cracks like an earthquake, and the wind picks up and spins the earth at an even faster speed.

When green is happy, the earth has a smile on its face and flowers are popping up from left, right, down, and up like popcorn in a pot. Green’s eyes go from squinted almonds to round suns.

Remembers that she should decipher the riddle that is known As life.

Speaking emphatically to the figure that follows her most of the day.

Tells the stories of her past As she thinks about a world where She can be invisible.

Lomie Blum Blue Blue Looks at the night sky in such delight He sniffs the stars And holds onto the grass so he won’t fall heavenward He cries watery tears He wipes them off with his shirt And apologizes I tell him not to He nods and looks back up And holds the grass tighter

Anijah Honeyghan

Ella Gullickson

Lavender

Daddy’s Home

Lavender hears classical music playing softly in the distance.

Sees auras glowing and dancing on human flesh.

Touches the delicate chrysanthemum.

Inhales smoke of the one thing that gives her joy.

Deeply exhales.

As the smoke lingers in the air, Tastes the sour zest of the lemon.

Smells the aroma of fried chicken.

When she closes her blue eyes, she feels a distinctive hand on her face.

Starts to remember.

Then opens her eyes.

And just forgets.

Knows that someone is watching her.

With joyful eyes, mouth, and face I run to you.

As I take my first step towards you, my heart fills up with joy and warmth.

Your car draws closer and my love grows nearer, because you are my joy, my warmth, my light.

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Ethan Rogosin Red Red can hear how angry someone is.

Red touches all of the negative emotions.

It brings us into the soup of all the others.

Red inhales bad and tries to exhale good.

That is not always the case, though.

Red tastes everything.

No matter how bitter or sweet.

Red smells the oldness of an object, Like an old shoe or an old piece of equipment.

Red feels warmth. Red overheats frequently.

Red knows all of the bad thoughts and secrets.

Red remembers what it knows, Always.

Red speaks with lots of bad language, Curse words and constantly with insults.

Ethan Julien Purple She has soft skin that glimmers in the light She hears the wind howling and the moon crying When she touches other colors, she changes She sees only purple She feels sadness She talks only with words rhyming with purple She knows she’s not normal She only eats things with purple in them She tells stories about her adventures with other colors

She thinks she’ll never meet another purple.

Anastasia Theofanous Black dark, quiet, empty alone the color of an unused chalk board black disappears back into the darkness a door ajar a slither of dark you can’t help but stare at black is like the universe Andrew Goodgold Blue Blue is sad; he always strives for friendship He goes outside a lot, yet no one likes him He plays a lot, but no one likes him He is blue when he sits by the ocean Staring at the sky, Yet no one likes him Blue is sad He smells the air that the sky gives off He drinks water out of the bluest lake, yet no one likes him Once blue finds his way in the open, colorful world He is finally happy

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Is this some kind of seductive prance?

Her elegance blinds me Or am I set free At a flick of the wrist, She engulfs us in a cyclone I come too lose, but yet we are miles apart Is it over Or is it a new start?

Olivia Lipman Queen Carrasco Grays Grays. They’re able to swallow up the sky with their anger.

And with their love.

They are capable of making us long for the sun, but wish for a few days of nothing.

Their eyes are deep pits, the color of charcoal.

Gray sees the vast land and tastes an oasis of opportunity.

They listen to the clouds rumbling, while watching over the shapes below.

Carter Paterson In Quest for Magenta My love affair with magenta ended with a bang She was mysterious and I was curious Daughter of a beautiful Red and a tough Blue Yet she is unique in her own primary way When she dances her flowers bloom She takes control in every room She’s dreamy to the eye But is that another spell, I cry?

I follow willingly, unable to break the trance

Blue Blue races the clouds and wins.

She feels the rough branches of the oak tree.

Blue speaks of the darkness before the light She wraps the earth in her vacant embrace.

She remembers us even though we don’t remember her.

Blue tastes the empty air tinged by salt from the sea.

She looks at the world.

The quietness, the deepness, the openness is all around her.

Gabe Shaub Effort I am at a sandbar at low tide and I am trying to get to the other side without getting wet.

You can see the lighthouse in the background and you can tell it’s coldish (from the sweatshirt) I am in Mattapoisett, a small town in Massachusetts I do not want to fall in the cold water, so I take a running start and fly

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I look below me and see my reflection in the water I know that a picture is being taken That’s the reason I jumped I wanted to try out my new camera So I gave it to my dad and flew That was one of the first pictures we took, yet it was the best I never got wet that day It took all my effort But that day I stayed dry

children one last time, and as the sun rises, he prays he sees them later.

Midday.

A broken smile. A break from the pressures of society. The wispy wind telling him that he could be better, and yet he’s doing ll right.

It follows him every day. Fire. Fuego.

6pm – Forever After As he blesses the sky, he hugs his children. He can feel their warmth radiating off them. Laughter echoes through the air, while Latin music plays throughout his mother’s home. Broken Spanish is being spoken in the other room and he realizes the answer to this.

Elegies Queen Carrasco Icarus Father His fingers are coated in dust and his palms are cracked. He has performed the ultimate act of kindness, working for and hoping to leave a legacy for his children.

It follows him every day. A murky shadow of his former self. His past.

5am.

His wake-up call and the feeling of missing home. He wishes to hug his

The key to what he was looking for.

His children. He knows he would do anything for them. Even give up his broken wings so that they can fly.

Ingrid Wernstrom Elegy I still remember the last time I saw you I didn’t think it would be the last I remember all the good times we had together You were the best dog ever I know you’re watching over me right now But I still can’t believe you’re not here Yet I know I have nothing to fear Because you are happy now And that’s all that I want I know you are always with me And you always will be Until I see you again You will always be the best dog

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Victoria DiGiulio Elegy The separation of two people. Not just hurting them, but people around them.

Breaking a bond of love. Special memories fading. Friendships disappearing rapidly. Standing there with faces of confusion. Standing there with someone you’ve known and been loved by for sixteen years and suddenly it feels like you don’t know who they are anymore. Most of all, you never know what it’s like until it happens.

Hugo Wernstrom Elegy I once had a dog named Oscar – he was such a guy!

I became so sad when he died.

He would run in the park fast as light, Even when it was dark at night.

Oscar would bark when I walked in the door.

It kind of sounded like a tiger’s roar.

I had so much fun with him, Sometimes for fun, I would call him Jim. I wish Oscar were still here His dying was one of my biggest fears.

I loved him so much and he loved me too.

Together we were the coolest crew.

Liam Harvey Elegy We were so close We felt like it would never end We relied on each other for almost everything We spent every second together

That was our mistake The friendship was so great and heavy The weight of it kept building and building Until the bridge of our friendship broke in half It shattered and splintered The shards were lost forever The bond was lost forever The friendship would never be the same Eli Largent Elegy I am sad Remembering the feeling Of the tears streaming down my face Waking up, reading the headlines on my phone Thinking it was all just a dream Walking to school Seeing my classmates feeling the same pain Watching them cry, knowing that they were crushed Thinking of the future of this country I am disappointed The fact that someone like him could even be considered for President is crazy I feel scared how someone who has no idea what he is doing has the codes to every nuclear missile in this country Sophie Held Elegy It was a dream. That is what I kept telling myself. It was a dream and I would wake up any moment, that everything would be okay. Everything seemed to be falling apart, nothing seemed to be worth anything like it did

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before. The world had been torn out of the line of planets, thrown down to the bottom of the universe and, of course, there was no end to this falling.

We are all a piece of this world and if someone goes missing, a piece of this world is missing. Nothing could ever be the same.

Since the world was falling, I wanted to fall with it. Falling through the universe wouldn’t be any different from where I am now, because there is no end to this kind of falling.

I didn’t want to believe it. I wouldn’t, couldn’t. I wanted the ground to turn into quicksand, so I could sink down into it, beneath the soil and never come out. The memory of this sight was stuck in my mind like glue. I wanted to tear it out, rip it up, crumple it like a piece of paper and throw it in the garbage.

I couldn’t accept the reality of the circle of life.

It wiggles and shakes Like his spirit is holding on Still fighting the mistreatment of his people The plump hand gets lifeless and still Like being denied opportunity for his community His bulging veins Still trying to pump his life into his loved ones and all around him His dry, animated skin Making racism fear him His fingernails long and sharp Like the weapons inside him His reaction?

Like him holding on Lomie Blum A Memory I remember when I was little My father would pick me up and carry me home My smile would never be bigger ‘Cause I thought I could fly And touch the clouds But I can’t touch the clouds anymore For I am too big But I can still remember what it felt like To touch the sky And it always makes me happy Ethan Rogosin Elegy

Carter Paterson Grand Elegy His hand is crinkly and cold

I miss you.

Whenever I walk past your house, I have to stop and look at it.

I have so many questions that are unanswered.

When will you come back?

How is it up there?

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Without you I feel empty inside.

Without you, I don’t feel like a person.

I hope you have joined the other people who have passed.

I hope you are having a good time instead of suffering like you did on Earth.

One day I will join you up there.

We will have endless fun.

Personal/Societal Considerations and Identity

Zoe Wohlman Have We Been Here Before?

Martin Oka For It Was the Water The water turned and twisted, but I stood my ground.

The water slipped and slid until I could hold on no more, so I let go.

I let go and allowed it to carry me on its path.

Its path of darkness and its path of pleasantness.

The water was like a father.

The water corralled me in its humble arms.

It took me from my sadness and made me who I am today.

Until it started to crash and turn.

The reason, I know why.

For it was trying to drown me in its lies.

The water made us and we made the water.

Have we been here before?

The unspoken fear amongst us as we click the on button on our remote.

Have we walked these streets before?

The different expressions people make a different people, and even though we don’t have a badge, we have an added invitation for discrimination.

Have we seen these eyes before?

The eyes not of who is leading, but the place we thought we knew, the great turns to hate where everything is unknown.

Have we felt this before?

The unpredictable swing of the pendulum of where we were and where we are and who is what, how is now.

Have we heard this before?

Lies covered by an alternative name 40

to only address what’s best not for where and who you lead, but who and where you are or are from.

Have we landed here before?

Not a time travel machine leading us back, but maybe this is forward.

Have we tasted this before?

The tears of our future being taught they are nothing than below the face around the waist.

Have we held these signs before?

Protesting is protecting.

Am I next, you ask your parents before bedtime, while you sneak a peek at the headline.

Have we sat here before?

Swaying between hope and defeat, should we really have to compete with the highest seat?

Have we fought like this before?

Realized our voices are weapons, not like the ones they are in control of, but the ones they want to be in control of.

Have we united like this before?

Realizing persistence is resistance is distance or the instance we are existence.

We are not repeating history.

Close the doors to bigotry; it is our responsibility.

Nevertheless, she persisted.

Sophie Held I Am I am beautiful and unique.

I wonder what there is beyond the universe.

I hear the stars shining as if they are telling me never to give up.

I see the moon and the sun fighting over who gets to come up over the horizon.

I want everyone to see that all cultures and colors and beautiful.

I am beautiful and unique.

I pretend that I am flying and that it is so amazing in the air that if I fall, I will never hit the ground.

I feel as if someone has carved a hole out of my heart, and that hole will never be filled; my heart is like a puzzle and that piece has gone missing, but we know it is still around somewhere.

I touch the air so that I can become the wind and I can blow far away to see everything everywhere.

I worry what might happen in the future because of what has happened in the past.

I cry when I see someone or something go; but I know when that happens, something good will always come back to me.

I am beautiful and unique.

I understand that even though death is a word, it cannot be seen as something real.

I say that every soul on this planet is deserving of love; some people don’t show love just because they haven’t found it yet.

I dream, sometimes, that all the countries in the world come together and make one big country.

I try to be the best me I can be!

I am beautiful and unique.

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Luke Golub Fedor

I Am

I Am

I am caring and funny I wonder why there isn’t world peace I hear people singing I see birds flying I want to meet Taylor Swift

I am clumsy and I’m happily clumsy I wonder if I’m ever not going to be clumsy.

I hear a “crack” when I fall.

I see the snow covering the mountain.

I want success.

I am clumsy and I’m happily clumsy.

I pretend I’m not there when something goes wrong.

I feel “pain” when I fall.

I touch death when I hold a cigarette.

I worry that I’m not always going to be right.

I cry when my parents get into fights.

I am clumsy and I’m happily clumsy.

I understand that I can’t change my parents.

I say that you have to try your best in life to achieve your goals.

I dream about having a happy life.

I try to do my best.

I hope my family can get along.

I am clumsy and I’m happily clumsy.

I am caring and funny I pretend that my feelings don’t matter I feel happy I touch my dog I worry about what I’ll do when my parents are gone I cry when I think about my dog not being with me I am caring and funny I understand that nobody is perfect I say that everyone is equal I dream about meeting Taylor Swift I try to be nice to everyone I meet I hope that one day everyone will get along I am caring and funny

Clark Greene I Am I am Relentless and Imaginative.

I wonder how long Trump will last I hear honking and cursing I want to become a tutor for mentally disabled kids or kids in need I am Relentless and Imaginative.

I pretend fantasy worlds where everyone has special talents I feel like myself I touch air, don’t we all I worry about America Ingrid Wernstrom

Charles Gary I Am I am funny and smart.

I wonder why people can’t get along.

I hear the blank noise of silence.

I see world peace in the future, soon enough.

I want to travel the world, at least to five countries.

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I am funny and smart.

I pretend to not care about a lot of things, but I do.

I feel like people should understand each other better.

I touch the hands of people around the world.

I worry that I won’t live up to the expectations of family and friends.

I cry when I lose someone close to me.

I am funny and smart.

I understand how I am thought of by people in my society.

I say equality for all – it hasn’t come – but it will.

I dream that I will be prosperous.

I try to be what people want me to be.

I hope I can exceed expectations.

I am funny and smart.

Victoria DiGiulio I Am I am curious and grateful.

I wonder what it would be like if I was born a minute earlier.

I hear sounds.

I see things other people don’t.

I want, for a day, to live in someone else’s life.

I am curious and grateful.

I pretend I live somewhere else.

I feel worried.

I touch worries.

I worry about violence.

I cry when I’m hurt I am curious and grateful.

I understand life doesn’t always work out the way you want it to.

I say, “Why are people being hurt for no reason?”

I dream of life underwater.

I try to be accepting of everyone.

I hope that there will be no violence, just peace.

I am curious and grateful.

Axel Fonseca I Am I am funny and happy.

I wonder if humans will ever truly go extinct.

I see a green field with grass as far as the eye can see.

I want to have more authority.

I am funny and happy.

I pretend I am king of a big castle.

I feel hot (while writing this poem).

I touch a furry dog.

I worry that Trump will make the world unsafe.

I cry about when I will die.

I am funny and happy.

I understand that I will grow up.

I say that we have a destiny.

I dream that I am driving a boat.

I try to do my best year round

Eliot Brown I Am I am kind and curious I wonder if there are other worlds out there, maybe happier.

I see a better place.

I want everyone to be a feminist.

I am kind and curious I pretend that your words don’t hurt

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I feel a warm summer I touch a fluffy cloud I worry that everyone’s rights will be taken away.

I cry that the love is gone I am kind an curious I understand I am loved I say everyone should be equal I hope we will all come together and fight for what’s right I am kind and curious.

I say that everyone should get equal rights.

I dream that everyone will get equal rights.

I try to help my parents at home.

I hope that I will grow up and be a great man.

I am happy and kind.

Trevor Black I Am I am curious and smart.

I wonder about how big the universe is.

I hear the radio on every morning.

I see the computer screen and snow outside.

I want to go snorkeling and scuba diving.

Hugo Wernstrom I Am I am happy and kind I wonder what the world will be like with Trump as President.

I hear the sound of puppies barking.

I see the sunset, pink and orange.

I am happy and kind.

I pretend I am a Miami Hurricanes basketball player.

I feel happy that I have an amazing family.

I touch the sand on a beach.

I worry about war.

I cry about everyone who dies from diseases.

I am curious and smart.

I pretend to be a good poet.

I feel the cool chill of my room.

I touch my keyboard as I type.

I worry about what Trump will do to this world.

I cry when something dies in a movie that I really liked.

I am curious and smart.

I understand coding.

I say Trump needs a muzzle.

Then he shall be known as a muzzleum.

I dream that I am better at more things.

I try to make the best decisions I can.

I hope I ace every test I ever get.

I am curious and smart.

I am happy and kind.

I understand than life is unfair.

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Trevor Black Respect (thank you, Langston Hughes) When I come into town, The people look away, When I say hello They can’t even say hey.

Soon there will be a time, When they say how are you.

Soon there will be respect Among neighbors and friends.

I cry about the devastation that our world is bringing us.

I am creative and loving.

I understand that not everything goes my way.

I say there is still hope.

I dream of magic.

I try to make life the best it can be.

I hope that my world will still be a world.

I am creative and loving.

Katya Deckelbaum Love Katya Deckelbaum I Am I am creative and loving.

I wonder what the truth really is and if this world is just one big lie.

I hear a voice in my head that tells me what to do.

I see less hope.

I want more determination in everyone’s eyes.

I am creative and loving.

I pretend that everything is okay.

I feel the glow of hope’s light.

I touch the soft fur of hope.

I worry that my world is in trouble.

Compassion is when someone holds you after you were hurt.

Embrace is the hug you give someone after a hard time It is what brings you together.

Smiles are what let you know.

Kisses are what make you like yin and yang.

It is what brings you together.

Nervousness is the feeling you get when you are around each other.

Fighting is the way you help each other learn.

It is what brings you together.

Not knowing is the thought of how you don’t know what will happen next.

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Independence is when you know how to give each other space.

It is what brings you together.

Magic is what you don’t understand.

Enchantment is the feeling you get when you kiss them.

It is what brings you together.

It is what a wonderful young girl told me when she was madly in love, “Be yourself or your love is not true.”

Elijah Deutsch I Am I am funny and happy I am curious about what happens when we pass away I hear my thoughts I see lights I want a new computer I am funny and happy I pretend to dunk I feel joyful I touch my computer keys I worry about the end of my life I cry when I get hurt badly I am funny and happy I understand that I can’t live forever I say that I believe in god I dream I am in the NBA I try to do my best.

I am funny and happy.

Jack Johnson I Am I am powerful and smart I wonder how hot lava is I hear souls screeching

I see objects I want to taste through my nose I am powerful and smart I pretend to be happy I feel the dead I touch air I worry for my family I cry about what makes me sad I am powerful and smart I understand problems I say words I dream about a better world I try to be helpful I hope for a better world I am powerful and smart

Maya Cook Personal Poem I feel like my name should be Isabella.

I like to think about names, like clothes.

You get put in this outfit the day you’re born. You wear this outfit that you don’t get to choose. When people ask who you are, you tell them. Sometimes you are proud of the outfit you wear.

You’re so proud you want people all around the world to know the brand you are wearing. I see the brand – Isabella. I see how it’s a glossy red dress. It hangs down at the ankles. It has a black belt with rubies on it. The shoes are white heels. I look at the name and all I can say is it’s style.

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I have a wolf inside me. It just wants to run free. I stay in a pack. With my friends beside me, nothing can stop me – from a bomb to a tack. My pack and I never leave each other’s side. From the day to the night. We howl at the moon. And at the sun at noon. We’re stronger together than we are alone and when I need one of them, they will come.

There is a snow globe inside my heart.

When I move at a certain angle I can swear I feel villagers shivering in the 2x2 inch globe. The cold of the snow globe burns into my soul. Sometimes the snow falls hard. When the snow is falling hard, I can barely see five feet in front of me. Everything gets foggy and I just want to hide under the covers and wait for the storm to pass over.

Sometimes it’s a light snow day. I’m happy and the snow feels like it’s dancing on my face. I always thought snow was an ugly, beautiful thing.

The word on my head is “unstoppable.”

With me, I can make anything possible.

I want to, I long to, I need to prove that no matter what my race, gender, or age, I can do anything at any second, minute, or moment. No matter the who, when, or where the length of my hair, anything’s possible because I’m unstoppable.

I stand on grass covered in snow. In this memory, it seems like the snow glows. I stack snow on top of snow. I was being lazy, so I told Michael to “Go, go, go!” After it was stacked, I ate a snack. Then came the hard part.

He gave me a huge metal shovel. After two hours of digging, it felt like my fingers magically got frozen by the devil. But I kept hollowing out the pile.

We finished even though it took so long. It was beautiful and perfect. The five hours of work were worth it. We lay down in a huge igloo for ten minutes. I was kind of sad that we finished, but all I could think about was why did Michael doe this? He was so nice and clever. He was the best cousin ever. I wish I knew that was the last time I’d see him forever.

Have you ever been sitting somewhere high? A rock, hill, mountain? And see the beautiful, fading sky? I look at my watch and the time is pink skies and the clean white clouds look bright enough to replace the sun and the moon. It’s five minutes until the pink fades into a dark purple. You soak in every last glimpse of light that is left and feel the bright cloud fade into bright stars that overshadow the earth. The five minutes are up. And you wish that any cotton candy tasted as good as that sky.

I work all day. I read, I write, I clean, I play, I text, but no, it’s not over yet because I have to reach far above the dresser I love. Then I go feed the doves while I tan in the sun. But I’m so underappreciated. Sometimes I love work, sometimes I hate it. After all the things I’ve named, some people still doubt. How much I’m needed. I’m needed to succeed. Without me you could not even climb. You probably did not notice I was the one who typed these rhymes.

When I was a kid, I could not twist off a lid. I called for my older brother – his name is Marcus. He came in the room and said, “What’s up?” I said, “The peanut butter in the jar. I want to have it. I must.” He took the jar and it came off with ease. All I could say is how I wished that were me. Being strong.

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Things would not take long. I know it’s all just a jar that now I can open too.

But Marcus gave me motivation and that is the truth.

My mom always says not to let people walk over me. Do what you got to do.

She says standing up for yourself does not make you stubborn; it makes you stronger. And disagreeing does not make you argumentative; it makes you independent. Most of all, being yourself is so important and no matter who looks through you, you’re not transparent.

Eliot Brown Society The same people that don't accept my family The same people who don't like Jews The same people who don't like a race The same people who are capable of killing The same people who would kill The same people who only think about themselves The same people who don't think climate change is a thing The same people who don't care about my rights and every other women's rights

The same people who think some types of love are wrong The same people who judge behind their screens and don't think about the person who you are attacking will feel.

The same people who give me such high unreachable goals of what beauty is supposed to look like and when I can't reach them I am suddenly imperfect.

The same people who want to kick out the people who started America The same people who want to tear families apart because they're afraid that their neighbor or their doctor or their kid’s teacher is a terrorist.

The same people who want to deny people’s children to escape the world they’re trapped in where they don't know if they're going to live to see the next day or they don't know the next time they're going to be happy.

The same people who would bomb millions of innocent people So I would say that my biggest fear is the people all around me.

Eliot Brown Dress Codes When you tell me what to wear you are taking away my rights I use my clothes to express myself When you tell me that that's too short you are making me feel self-conscious My clothes make me feel confident When you tell me that the length of my clothing is a distraction, I think about all the times I’ve see boys walk into school wearing their pants so low that I can see all of their underwear I think why didn't you tell them to change Why didn't you tell them that they're making me feel uncomfortable

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What happens if I want to wear shorts that don't go past my fingertips What is going to happen?

When you act like it's the end of the world because I feel confident in my own skin I start to lose that confidence And you chip away at what I have left until I have no confidence left and I come in wearing something that doesn't make me feel comfortable but I have to wear it because it pleases you.

What about how I feel?

What happens when you rip away my confidence?

I’ll tell you.

I lose confidence in other areas in my life.

And what happens when I feel so upset and I have no confidence left; it starts affecting me academically Then will you let me wear what I want?

and when I need you, you walk away and ignore me with the people who want to hurt me most When they constantly try to knock me down with their hurtful words you merely glance in my direction or sit there and chuckle softly and what is a joke to everyone else but me When someone tells me they want to kill me and all you do is defend them saying that it's only a joke as if I'm just overreacting like usual When I can't take anymore loneliness you watch me suffer and then pretend you didn't see me because it would be too hard for you to come over and ask if I'm okay When she posts on social media telling everyone she hates me, all you do is chuckle and look back at your phone When she asks people if they hate me you let it happen But I will forever be stuck caught in your web of hate.

Eliot Brown What in My Life is Inevitable

Eliot Brown Bystander/Upstander When she says something mean to me and you sit by and watch and I ask you to help me but your response is I don't feel like getting in the middle of it When you can tell that I feel like I’m not a part of the group and you look me in the eye and do nothing When I am always by your side and I am always willing to stand up for you

I don't know when you’re going to strike.

On a morning like every other?

When I just had the best day I think I’ve ever had?

In the darkest hour of the night?

Is that where you lurk?

Is that where you grab people out of their homes?

Or do you wait until you're invited in and take your shoes off at the door and wave hello with a soft smile?

You smile with your sparkling teeth that I can almost see my reflection in.

Maybe it's now just the reflection I see every day in the mirror; maybe it's the person I want to see?

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Maybe when my neighbor looks in he sees what he wants to see?

Or maybe I see a life.

A precious life But maybe this life doesn't want to live?

Maybe that life is scared of you?

Maybe this life says it's too early for you to take it?

But when is the right time?

Is the right time when you've spent your life with the one you love most in the world?

Is the right time when you've had a life filled with thrilling adventures?

Or maybe even after a life of devoting yourself to helping and teaching that there is nothing else left to teach?

Do you hide under my bed at night or do you loom in the softest cloud in the sky?

You're the only thing I'm sure about.

Are you ever sure about anything?

Will anything ever come and take you?

Maybe you know my grandpa or even my best friends mom.

Why did you take them?

Maybe you look like my mom?

Maybe you look like a stranger I've passed on the street or glanced at on the bus?

All I know is that my life is filled with maybes except for you.

Death.

Eliot Brown Epitome of Cool or Kind?

What if I hate the popular group?

What if the popular group all do something that I don't feel comfortable with but I have to do it because if I don't I will no longer be cool.

What happens when I'm alone?

Who am I cool to then?

Who am I gonna prove to that I’m cool?

So when I'm alone I'm no longer cool I'm just myself and without my coolness I’m no longer valuable right?

If I'm cool does that mean that I have to have one thousand or more followers and I can't follow them all back because that would be uncool and I'm not uncool right?

Wait do cool people like to hang out with their families?

Do cool people ever get sad?

Obviously not right because everyone loves me just because I'm cool.

What if I wasn't cool?

Then I would just be me.

And all those people who were only friends with me because I had a certain number of Instagram followers or I wore the newest clothes would just vanish because there was no where they could live of my cool.

So at the end of the day I’m left with the people who love me for who I am and I can be happy with myself when I go home and there is nothing left but me and me.

So I guess you could say that I would chose the epitome of being kind over cool any day.

Cool.

Who am I cool to?

I might be cool to you but what about myself?

If I don't like myself then how could I ever be satisfied with being cool.

If I'm cool then I have to be apart of the popular group right.

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Ariell Haims

getting what she calls her “daily workout,” which is not really true because her fit dancer body says otherwise, the home phone pressed up against her mocha brown colored skin, the phone dials as she calls her mom at her studio across the street, as my phone battery gets lower and lower, the laughter gets more and more intense, my face in the upper left hand corner, my teeth bulging out of my mouth that is opening and closing, and gasping for air between every few laughs, my smile so enthusiastic, our bond so great, so perfect, so, well, goals, it could cure cancer – our list of inside jokes are continuing to pile up, they are piling up upon all of our camp memories, oh Lyla, you crazy monkey, my sista’ from anotha’ mista’ all I can say is that my cheeks hurt

The Mask

Ava Mandel

The mask, the mask of the Parisian woman, the eyes cut out, Lyla’s smile, taking their place, my laughter growing as the moment continues, Lyla’s smile is as contagious as ever, as she lies down in a plank in her bedroom,

Personal Poem

Ariell Haims I Am I am funny and smart I wonder if others think the same about me I hear myself thinking I see time passing by I want it to stop I am funny and smart I pretend to talk with my older self just to get her opinion I feel her presence near me, in me I touch her mature, evolved thoughts I worry my thoughts will take too long to reach me I cry because I worry that it will be too late, that I will be behind I am funny and smart I understand there are people who see me this way I say, “What you fear, you bring near.”

I dream of a perfect life I try my best at everything I do to make sure I don’t disappoint my future self I hope I don’t I am funny and smart

People say my name is Ava, but later, maybe something else I like will come down the road, like Rebecca.

Only time will tell.

I have a tiger trapped inside of me 51

Fighting to get out.

The tiger gives me its persistent fighting, And I give it strength to keep going.

I have love stuck inside of my heart.

Somebody put it there.

They go by the names of Family and friends.

They give me confidence.

That way I always know somebody is there for me.

There’s a word on my forehead, It spells out, “c-a-u-t-i-o-n.”

Every time I see it It makes me think About what could happen if I don’t focus.

I see a beautiful painting, But it’s really a sunset.

Almost too beautiful to be real.

It gives me courage To be what I really want to be.

Not to hide, But to show it to all.

I then look over to see a stormy cloud Looming overhead.

It looks fearful, just looking at it, Not wanting to be seen by outsiders.

I feel wonderful, Looking outside in the bright sun Shining in my eyes And washing my body with sunlight.

If my hands could speak, they would say I’m helpful.

Doing chores for my body every day.

Never slowing with the burdens of its tasks.

I remember my parents always saying to me,

Even when I was a little kid, Don’t give up.

I thought, That’s right, I can’t quit.

Not in a game or anything.

It’s important to keep trying.

Liam Harvey I Am I am hopeful and humorous I wonder what it is like to be dead I hear the sound of a giant marshmallow hitting the Earth I see me as an adult I was to succeed in sports I am hopeful and humorous I pretend to be a soldier at war I feel people hurting everywhere I touch the sky I worry that I will die sooner than I think I cry if I feel like everyone hates me I am hopeful and humorous I understand that people sometimes just need space I saw that everyone should have the right to live I dream that I am amazing at basketball I try to succeed in almost everything I am hopeful and humorous Evie Dolan I Am I am independent and optimistic I wonder how languages were made I hear a drum beating I see the world coming together as one I want equality for everybody

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I am independent and optimistic I pretend to be a YouTube star I feel warmth from the hot sun I touch my furry cats I worry death is all death is I cry every time an animal is mistreated I am independent and optimistic I understand the pain the world is feeling right now I say LGBTQ rights are important I dream of a world where all people have equal opportunities I try to always have an open mind I hope to see less suffering in my lifetime I am independent and optimistic Gabe Shaub I AM I am trying, but I’m exhausted I wonder if I will become someone great I hear the sound of rap music – I can’t overthink to rap music I see problems bigger than they actually are I want to have a day where the only feeling I have is happy I am trying, but I’m exhausted I pretend to be a bad kid Hence I feel cool I touch my carpet, time to work out I worry about everything I cry when I feel helpless I am trying, but I’m exhausted I understand that I have a great life I say, “That doesn’t mean it’s easy.”

I dream about having a peaceful home in Hawaii by the beach I try to make things right

I am trying, but I’m exhausted

Natalie Servodidio I Am I am tears and laughs I wonder what life would be like without police I see a wave coming over my head I want there to be gender equality I am tears and laughs I pretend that bad things don’t exist I feel nerves crawling up my spine I touch the ocean I worry about Syrian refugees I cry on Mother’s Day I am tears and laughs I understand that the world can be cruel I saw what feels right I dream about things I want to happen I try to be as hopeful as possible I hope that everyone finds happiness I am tears and laughs Mateo Sucre I Am I am funny and kind I wonder what’s under the sea What I hear are people talking to me 53

I see people walking here and there I want life to be fair

I hope that I will live my life to the fullest

I am funny and kind I pretend that all bad things have been refined I feel everyone should be equal I reach for the goals I set I worry that someone will be treated unequally I cry about taking animals to the vet

I am creative and brave

I am funny and kind I understand people’s different beliefs I say that I am strong, but sometimes weak I dream of a life of success I try to reach the top and do my best I hope for a world of equality I am funny and kind Oshen Robinson Henderson I Am (Creative and Brave) I am creative and brave I wonder what will become of me I hear peaceful silence I see a sanctuary where I can be I want to stay young I am creative and brave I pretend to understand others I feel protected from the truth I touch the fingertips of my family and friends I worry about messes I cry over moving speeches I am creative and brave I understand that everyone is blind to their future I say after death you repeat I dream about my future situation I try to be myself

Nathan Smith I Am I am generous and kind I wonder about different cultures around the world I hear memories I see my family all around me being together and having fun I want to not be allergic to nuts I am generous and kind I pretend that it was a long time ago I feel that my life is great I touch the stars I worry that something bad will happen to my family I cry because the world isn’t equal I am generous and kind I understand that I am privileged I say that I have strengths and weaknesses I dream of a day where everyone can be equal I try to be productive and organized I hope for money to be distributed properly I am generous and kind Nathan Smith Emotion Poem Fist clenching Anger like a caged animal, unable to escape No possible way to get it out Try to keep it in for as long as possible

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At some time you just have to let it go Knowing that I am right and superior Trapped inside my body like blood When my brother says mean things to me, it frustrates me Things frustrate me when I can’t fix them And once the feeling is overcome A rush of joy is spread throughout my body Maria Gil I Am I am cautious, I am fearless.

I wonder why the light bulb flickers right before it turns on I hear a gunshot before the battle.

I see a spark before the fire.

I am the start to my beginning.

I am cautious, I am fearless I pretend the end is coming before it begins.

I feel a breeze before the hurricane.

I touch a seed before the plant.

I worry the fire will die before the spark.

I cry the battle will end right after the shot.

I am cautious, I am fearless.

I understand that there is a start.

I say it won’t be good enough for the beginning.

I dream it will never end.

I try to stay in the now.

I hope I have a good start to my ending.

I am cautious, I am fearless.

Bella Ulfelder Inside My Head My name is Isabela Aristy Ulfelder, but you can call me Bella. I don’t like my present name, and though my friends have given me various nicknames, none have stuck. I don’t know what I’d like to be called. Maybe I’m too good for another name. Maybe any other name is too good for me.

There is a dragonfly inside of me. We share wide eyes that see the world as it is; our vision, however, might be fractaled. Our view, though honest, is incomplete. We are multicolored, creative creatures that feel the urge to flit from place to place, never satisfied.

The object inside of my heart is a pen.

So I may draw. So I may write.

Sometimes, I forget to put the cap back on and ink spurts out, leaving blots on once white pages and scrawling words that cannot be erased, only blacked out chaotically, nib tearing paper, message still legible underneath.

“Word,” would be the designation on my forehead. I’m a Smart-Alec, and no one word could begin to do justice to a single human’s complexity.

I love to see people standing up in the face of injustice. I hate to see people with their backs turned to it.

My favorite time of day is 9 am on a Saturday. The day, still young, is full of possibilities. I can trick myself into thinking,” I will be productive today.”

If my hands could speak, they would probably urge me to stop cracking their

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thumb and biting their nails. But I get bored. And I get anxious. And that if I ever want that callous on my middle finger to go away, my hands would say I should stop drawing. But I need to create. I get bored and anxious. My hands aren’t completely innocent themselves. They pick at pimples and scratch scabs and doodle on themselves. They have no right to be chiding me. But even my hands get bored and anxious.

I remember an aching knee. I remember hospital gowns and syringes.

I remember cold hallways and the diagnosis. Lyme Disease.

My father has always been a very encouraging figure. His saying of choice is: “Life isn’t fair.”

I touch few emotionally, as my words are sloppy and imperfect, but they get the job done.

Few, at least, is better than none.

I worry no one will remember my name. I worry I will live an unfulfilled life. I worry about the sheer emptiness of death that lies in wait for me.

I cry because I’m not as good as everyone wants or expects me to be.

I am creative and intelligent.

I understand the line above, as it has been said to me many times. I don’t feel it.

I say nothing about the way I feel, others would draw away, thinking me an attention seeker.

I dream I will be able to do what makes me happy and in the process, make others happy.

I try not to be so critical of myself and others.

I hope I can achieve my want and my dream.

I am creative and intelligent.

Maude Weber

Bella Ulfelder I Am I am creative and intelligent.

I wonder whether I am creative and intelligent enough.

I see that I have some level of base talent, but doesn’t everyone?

I want to inspire. I want to motivate. I want to support.

I am creative and intelligent.

I pretend to be more creative and intelligent than I am.

I feel that others think too highly of me.

Personal Poem Maude Of Calliope Magnolia I am a Snow Tiger There is a lake in my heart It can turn into ice sometimes Sometimes it merges into fluffy, moist, airy clouds Sometimes it fossilizes and becomes a hard stone But sometimes it crystallizes and becomes gems The word written on my forehead is applesauce And powerful 56

I hate the sight of extremely unhappy people Of war Of hunger I really hate the sight of hungry and sick children What I hate most is not helping them I love the sight of untouched nature Which I can only enjoy when I am alone Sunset to when the stars come out.

I love it I am always slightly tired during that time, So I like to imagine a wispy silk lavender cloud pulled me into dreamland.

The vivid colors of the sunset Soon the stars and the sky becomes black.

After a while I can almost hear and see the stars smiling and laughing.

I feel like I am part of something very special.

I go back into the house and I feel like I am walking on air And won’t come back to the ground for a while I was sitting on a lawn chair just staring up at the stars But to me I was on a brilliant blue throne I could actually see the stars.

I couldn’t see the stars in the city I don’t know if it is because of all the busy ignorant thoughts blocking me from the sky and nature, Or if that is nature.

Keeping some things hidden And some things in plain sight I even saw shooting stars.

The shooting stars are the ones that decided

to leave their posts in the sky and have an adventure.

I like the nightmare the most because it is when I can Imagine the most of any other time.

I feel like I am closer to the solar system Space Heaven perfect peace but only the most at that time.

If my hands could speak they wouldn’t.

They would get a piece of paper and write.

They would write that they probably wanted me to use them to write songs or writing something, and change the world through it.

They might tell me to follow their lead.

I think I know why you did this.

What we are actually responding to is this question of what we want to say or do.

I was four or five and I shared a room with my sister.

It was before I was on the top bunk, and Violet’s bed was against the wall on one side of the room, and my bed pressed against the pink wall on the other side.

I could see underneath my sister’s bed easily.

She had a couple of boxes underneath it, maybe something else.

At night I would try not to look at the shadows underneath but my eyes wouldn’t stop looking; they were like magnets.

I could have sworn there was something moving around down there.

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It took a while for me to build up the courage, but eventually I would grab my stuffed lion Simba and bolt for my mother’s room.

She would always know I was there on my hands and knees crawling on the other side of the bed wincing at every creak of the floorboards where I could curl up into her huge fluffy blankets.

There was no place that I felt safer.

My mom always knew that I was there, but never said anything until I woke up in the morning and she was in the kitchen with breakfast ready.

And then she would only say, “How did you sleep?”

I am fun and charismatic I pretend not to be affected I felt the touch of a butterfly straight from the cocoon I touch the soul I worry that something might happen to someone I love that would crush me in a second I cry knowing that everyone I love will always meet the cold touch of death I am fun and charismatic I understand that life is not fair I say that whatever you do will always come back to you I dream that we can recover from the harrowing four years we are about to endure I try to do the best at whatever I am facing I hope that one day we will understand what this all means I am fun and charismatic Zoe Wohlman I Am

Eli Largent I Am I am fun and charismatic I wonder if everyone has a dark abyss inside them trying to consume them at every moment I hear the laughter of all my friends and family I see all the times that my family and I are in the same place together having fun I want the yeezy black pirates

I am ambitious, I am determined.

I wonder how many times a day people smile.

I hear love for miles and miles.

I see hope sparkling in people’s eyes.

I want hope to turn to reality in my time.

I am ambitious, I am determined.

I pretend we’re all together I feel like we’re all apart.

I touch glory on good days.

I worry things will never change.

I am ambitious, I am determined.

I understand love is the greatest thing we can have.

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I say I love you to people who come through.

I dream of rainbows without rain.

I try to stop the world and its pain.

I hope you hope.

I want us to stay close and forget how we slipped apart.

I am me.

Anijah Honeyghan

But I wave, smile politely, and walk away.

I Am I am creative and frank I wonder what will happen in the future.

I hear silence.

I see a magical creature.

I want money.

Zoe Wohlman Untitled When we see each other …

I want to tell you about the funny thing I knew we could laugh at together.

I want to rant to you about that thing that happened while you tell me it will be okay, because when you say it, I believe you.

I want to watch weird videos together and giggle about nothing.

I want to tell you secrets I know you’ll keep.

I want to borrow your hat when I’m cold and never give it back.

I want to get our friendship back.

I want all of our memories back and I want to create more.

I want us to go back to being the dynamic duo we always were.

I want the nicknames we had for each other to be the only way we greet one another.

I want to tell you I need you.

I am creative and frank.

I pretend to be blind I feel curious and suspicious I touch a fiery fist I worry when they will notice I cry for some who have suffered I am creative and frank I understand why I live where I do I say apprehended father I dream nightmares I try to have peace and quiet I hope for the better I am creative and frank Lomie Blum I Am I am melancholic and creative I wonder why I dream I hear pounding on a house I see the Felt Brothers I want to be a famous cartoonist I am melancholic and creative I pretend to win an award I feel a book I wrote in my hands

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I touch the best guitar in the world I worry about politics I cry at the death of a friend I am melancholic and creative I understand history I say that I will wake up tomorrow I dream about dreams I try to make everything peaceful I am melancholic and creative

Daniela Sarantis

Daniela Sarantis

Excuse Me, Sir (inspired by Maya Angelou)

I Am I am hidden and gracious I wonder what happens in other people’s minds I hear voices, in harmony I see a field of flowers I want world peace I am hidden and gracious I pretend to be strong I feel safe I touch the future I worry about things that won’t turn out the way I dream I cry my losses I am hidden and gracious I understand only a small part of my existence I say my beliefs are in equality I dream of serenity I try and change I hope I can achieve what I set out to do I am hidden and gracious

Excuse me, sir Am I in your way?

I’m sorry if I’m Taking over your payday Does my confidence overwhelm you?

Does our pay disparity make you feel powerful?

Even though you’re sky high, You still need to put me down to rise up?

‘Cause you’ve already hit your ceiling, Help me break mine Let me work for what I want I’ll let you do the same Just don’t get in my way.

I’m sorry, Does it bother you that I know who I am?

That I know what I’m worth?

Do you seriously think you deserve six figures to my five?

Explain to me your logic, I’m probably too dim to understand…

I apologize that I’m so good at what I do What can I say I work five times harder than you I apologize for my big-headedness I must be crazy 60

Trying to beat the bulls Excuse me as I rise up Even though I’m held down I’m sorry for my greatness I apologize for my hard work Because when the sun comes up tomorrow, I must begin again.

Sokhnamai Kane Parts of Me (I Am) I am charismatic and honest I wonder … everything … will my dreams ever come true in the future, and how could love and beauty be described to someone who can’t hear or see I hear angels commenting about what I do – I can’t make out if it’s good or not.

Sounds like they speak in humming and whistle.

I see dinosaurs trying to stomp on me and eat me, so the can slow my “intelligence”down. They can’t catch me; I’m too fast.

I want my parents’ comfort I want to be a big success, I want to stay driven.

I am charismatic, honest, and thoughtful.

I pretend to always be happy with friends when a problem is nagging me.

So I daydream, about how my life is and how great it will be I feel a sense of calm, kind of like what happens before a dangerous storm comes I touch the clouds, so delicate and fragile, like people’s feelings. They cry.

They disappear. Reappear and start again.

I worry that my hard work isn’t good enough, or that I might settle.

I cry, thinking about a place where I could be without my family, or the way they might be taken away, but I have a feeling they’ll be taken care of, by this actually cynical thing called … death.

I am charismatic, honest, thoughtful, and kind I understand why there’s racism everywhere, I understand why we live and die, I understand the stories behind my skin color. I understand – me I say my dreams can never be deferred.

They won’t dry up like a raisin in the sun or fester like a sore, and then run.

They won’t sag like a heavy load. I actually think they might explode into bigger and greater things Most nights, I dream about a room, full of dark. With one light hanging in the middle of the room, burning bright.

Knowing that the light stays on soothes me.

I try to be everyone’s friend, but I can’t seem to connect with them. I do work hard to find something in common with them.

I hope to get to bed as light as a cloud smiling, without a worry in the world.

I am charismatic, honest, thoughtful, kind, and unique.

Ella Gullickson I Am I am calm and fierce, I wonder who I’m going to be, I hear fate’s call beckoning me forward.

I see my life out in the distance.

I am calm and fierce.

I pretend to have everything figured out, I feel like I am part of a history book,

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I touch the face of our past leaders; they seem to frown, I worry that we will be looked at like misogynists, even if we are rebelling.

I cry for loss.

I am calm and fierce.

I understand that things will get better.

I say that things always do with the right attitude.

I dream about our future, I try to change people’s minds, I hope for love and light.

I am calm and fierce.

Destiny Wilson Her Thoughts (I Am) I am outspoken and confident I wonder what happens during death I hear the sound of a newborn’s first cry I see the faces of the people who are affected by Donald’s decisions I want more headbands I am outspoken and confident I pretend to be perfect I feel passionate about my ideas I touch the sun to experiment with its heat I worry about being unsuccessful in life I cry when I lose someone who’s important to me I am outspoken and confident I understand that my words can be hurtful I say that God is real I dream about a pirate stealing my family while I’m at my babysitter I try to do my best even when I’m not feeling my best

I hope that global warming will slow down I am outspoken and confident Charles Adams I Am I am just Charles and a soul But I wonder of farther planets But I see the present in the future I live for But I want more than just to live a normal life and die unknown But I am still just Charles and a soul, right?

Wrong Because I pretend I can see stars in the city of lights Because I feel my soul reaching for the big stage Because I touch all of our lives in my dreams Because I worry about the dark, like the child inside me always does Because I cry for my grandfather, who I may see soon But I am still Charles and a soul, correct?

Incorrect I understand limited life and perfection I talk for my own jokes I always dream of what life would be if there was no war I try to create a better me, but can’t seem to For I hope kids will understand me and like me for myself Because I am still Just a soul

And Charles

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Ethan Rogosin Personal Poem Ethan Rogosin My other name is Rogo.

This name was developed

By Patrick Ellsworth in the lower school.

The animal inside me is a wolf.

Not the strongest animal.

But not the weakest either.

The object in my heart Is a second brain It tells me who I like and don’t like.

It tells me where to go.

It tells my why to go.

The word on my forehead is “why.”

I’m constantly asking why.

I believe there is a reason for everything.

My favorite site is the Calhoun gym.

So many things that you can do And accomplish there.

My favorite time of day is dawn.

After a long night, The sun rises And you see beautiful colors in the sky.

If my hands could speak They would be a narrator Of what they are thinking and saying.

I’m touching this, I’m thinking about that.

Although this would be very annoying at times, It would be really interesting.

I remember When I fell down my country house steps.

I started sliding Down the wooden stairs And then hit my head Very hard On the wooden floor.

The most common phrase My mom and dad said to me Was, “Things happen.”

As I got older, It changed To the more common saying “**** happens.”

This really made me look at the bright side And think about next time.

Ethan Julien I Am I am short I am affable I wonder if I was tall, what my life would be like I see the whole world when I jump I want to have perfect serves and spikes in volleyball I am affable I am short I pretend that I’m not hurt when I’m laughing I feel I can fly when I jump I touch the sky when I jump I worry that I won’t jump again I am short and affable I understand my work I say I’ll achieve great things I dream that I’m on top of the world I try to be efficient in class I am short I am affable Ethan Julien Laughter Laughter is happiness Laughter is an instinct Laughter is a shield that protects and covers your sadness Laughter looks warm

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The million-dollar smile makes everyone happy Laughter is a chain attack It smells like a warm feeling of happiness It’s like I feel at home When I touch it, I giggle When I see it, my mouth widens When I hear it, I laugh When I taste it, I smile.

Laughter is what makes me happy.

Anastasia Theofanous I Am I am quiet and kind I wonder what Heaven will be like I hear the water of the ocean brushing over the sand I see the oil spills eroding sea life I want the whole world to live in peace I am quiet and kind I pretend I swam in the final Olympic race I feel a brush of wind on my arm I touch my dog, Fozzy Bear I worry what it will be like when I go to college I cry about the sea life that suffered and died I am quiet and kind I understand that one day, the beach will be the landscape of sea water I say I believe in the sea turtles that speak I dream about what I will do when I am older as a swimmer I try to swim my hardest at practice I hope that I can live forever I am quiet and kind

Andrew Goodgold Who Am I? Who am I? I am a person Who chooses love, not hate I am a person Whose hands say to forgive, not hurt I am a person Whose forehead says kindness, not evil I am a person Whose hear has a flashlight, always looking for opportunity My time to imagine, create and explore is now If I were an animal I would be a lion, fighting for my beliefs My ideas matter My name is Andrew Paloma Chapman This is Me My name is Paloma but I am Sol My form is human but I am a dog I am loyal to the ones I love and still kind to the ones I don’t I am gentle and playful but I can be hurt because, after all, I am human I have a little person in my heart and that little person is on a bicycle and when something sad happens, that little person starts to get sad, and she rides the bicycle slower, which makes everything feel like a daze

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and you feel like your life is slowing down, until something good happens.

Then the little person gets happy and starts up again.

Energetic and happy follow me around.

I can’t escape them, but I don’t want them there.

They are stuck to me like glue.

It is impossible to wash them off.

I try, but you can’t wash off your identity.

Everybody sees it and everybody thinks I’m lying, but I have also learned that you can’t truthfully lie about your identity.

I feel comfort when I think about my family coming home after traveling.

When they leave me, I get upset.

I feel like they might just not come back.

I feel comfort when they do, when they open the door to let themselves in and they let happiness and relief flow in with them.

When I see them go, however, they are opening the door and leaving as sadness and nerves are flowing in, clouding my eyes with tears.

but they do speak.

They speak a language called A.S.L. American sign language is something not most know, but wherever you go, you make a friend.

It is a community I want to know well.

As I learn more, I care more for the things I don’t know.

I remember warm feeling whenever I was with my family and friends.

I remember being so small, I had to look up to the ones I look up to.

I remember the feeling of wonder, not knowing anything and getting to wonder and feel so happy and enlightened when my wonders are answered.

There is a phrase I am not told often, but I have always found it very wise.

My grandpa used to tell my mom, “Intelligence is like a pocket watch.

You keeping it in your pocket until somebody asks you for the time.

You don’t go showing it around to people, because that makes you look cocky.”

3:10, if only I didn’t need to go do things after school.

Unlike most, I have no free time and I don’t get to go home after school.

3:10 would be my favorite time, but without time to spend, I don’t have a favorite time.

My hands can speak, not a language that you would guess,

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Paloma Chapman I Am I am caring and compassionate I wonder what adulthood will be like and if I can make it on my own I hear the sound of my future children laughing I see myself watching the premiere of my movie I want to be happy and successful, with a wonderful family I am caring and passionate I pretend to be the best at everything I do I feel wondrous when I think about the castles on the clouds I touch the scales of a dragon on my hands as I soar through the air I worry about what life will be like once my sister goes to college I cry about the thought that once she leaves, She is leaving her childhood and with that childhood, She is leaving me.

She is leaving, the person who plays with me, The crazy silly wild one I love so much.

The fear of not knows how much she will change or if she won’t change at all consumes me sometimes I am caring and passionate I understand why my parents deserve the world for working so hard I say that it is not okay to be mean to people just because you are in a bad mood If you are sad or mad, you should talk to somebody, not bully them I dream about being a billionaire, so my parents don’t have to work and they can spend more time with me

I try to be the best person I can be so that I can impress my parents and feel good about who I am I hope I can make a change in the world and I also hope that I become a famous actress I am caring and passionate Queen Carrasco The Makings of a Crown 1. Queen Carrasco 2. Tiana. Tianita. Crocodile. Mon Cherie 3. White-necked Jacobin. They’re usually seen sitting on a high perch or just on a canopy. I prefer rising above those trying to drag me down. Jacobins are unique in appearance and, like me, they like to show off.

4. A pencil. I can express my creativity with one object.

5. Existence. Our existence is something that’s special and should be celebrated. We’re thriving.

6. I love watching joy prosper. It’s in our hearts and minds.

I dislike watching rights being taken away from those around me.

7. Sunset is the best time of day because it signifies the end of struggle. A dazzling display of colors come together and form a painted sky.

8. If my hands could talk, they’d say I need to care for them.

They’d complain that I nick my hands too often.

9. I remember my grandmother coming to one of my performances when I was in preschool. She made an effort just to get there and it made me feel proud.

She smiled down at me and said that she was happy to see me.

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Queen Carrasco Perplexed I am confused and wondrous.

I wonder if we are alone in this world.

I hear paradise calling.

I see a bright pop of colors.

I want to be here.

I am confused and wondrous.

I pretend to know it all.

I feel the emotions of those around me.

I touch the painted sails of life I worry that the sun will explode.

I cry about emotions lost I am confused and wondrous.

I understand that not everyone is truthful.

I say that people get what they deserve I dream that one day, I’ll fly.

I try to be the best person I can be.

I hope to survive.

I am confused and wondrous.

Carter Paterson Secret Melody

I feel the desire to touch the sky’s limit I touch soft corners and rough slants I worry about the unfilled spaces of our consciousness I cry about lost time and talent I am a secret melody I understand that tomorrow is a host of new opportunities I say wisdom is wealth I dream of the mysteries of elevating our horizons I try to grasp unique possibilities I hope we can preserve enough so we can leave a better world for our children I am a secret melody Sara Bavuso Personal Poem My name may be Sara, but Sarie Bearie is my nickname Funky monkey is my animal Abby is my scruffy puppy.

“I’m weird,” Wonderful, Exciting, Interesting, Real, Different.

I am a secret melody I wonder of peace and tranquility I hear a brisk, motivating breeze pushing me always to try my best I see a majestic purple leaf clover swaying in the everlasting daylight I want a stress free mom with news of happiness and warmth

I love the countryside.

It’s just the hills, the crops, the way the mountains are.

I hate looking at factories that pollute Mother Earth.

I am a secret melody I pretend to lift nightfall and drown out fear

If my hands could speak They would be kind and mean, as you can see: Right – Girl, start writing, not typing

My favorite time of day Is when the sun goes down Watching it set brings good memories back to town.

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Left – Be quiet, you old man, you’re the one who does all the work.

Going up the rollercoaster Not knowing there’s a drop.

We’re up so high, I’m in the sky Down I go, oh my!

When a situation comes up My dad always says “Be a leader, don’t give up,” And I never have.

A dog with crescendo written on it's forehead Crescendo means slowly getting louder And I slowly grow more comfortable When I meet new people Just like dogs become comfortable A dog that loves that sight of home after a long day A dog that hates the sight of sad friend Because that makes me sad I love that time of day, after dinner When all you do is relax after a long day, with your family A dog with hands that would speak of all the baseballs I've thrown And all the paragraphs I have written, and the pages I've turned I remember the times at home When I would stay out late with my cousin And talk about each other's lives, which we weren't a part of My family never had a phrase We just told the same thing in many different ways Jamie Bobigan

Zach Hawkins My name is Zach People that know why call me Sirius And like Sirius, I feel like if I weren’t a human I would be a dog Because dogs are always protective of their friends And that's a good trait to have A dog with a guitar for a heart Because guitars can do anything And make the most beautiful sounds

A baseball A simple yet beautiful object I live for it everyday I hope to pave a path with it and make my career with it I have made friends through it and a family I have played with many teams to know what good and bad coaching is One thing I learned from playing this sport is Work hard and good things will happen but only with patience

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