Month: January 2017

Sol

Sol, eres una esfera luminosa
parece que estás cubierto de oro
brillante. Eres tan gigante,
que yo quisiera abrazarte. Quiero
que ilumines siempre el planeta
y compartas un poco tu tesoro.
Tus rayos de luz, todos los días
son mi fuente de energía.
Sol, eres tan radiante,
que no puedo siquiera
mirarte. Y tan caliente que
iluminas toda mi mente.
Sol resplandeciente, que
le das luz a toda la gente.
Eres tan importante,
que cuanto quisiera yo
pagarte,
con monedas de oro
y muchos diamantes.

Barbara Jordan ECP

First Grade Bilingual

If Racism Was a Natural Disaster

It’d be a drought
the cracked ground we walk on,
the beating sun pushing us down.
“But it rained a couple of times,”
they tell us, while the heat
is scorching our skin
and dust is in our eyes.
“Get over it,” they tell us
from their green watered lawns.

We sit in the sun baking for generations
waiting for the forever rain,
no trees to protect us.
The trees were never there to protect us.

Fulmore Middle School

8

Home

Kenya
A busy, bustling place
My beautiful country
Oh, how I’ve missed you
Oh, how you’ve changed in these six years
Yet I remember the scent of heavy spices and roasted corn
The soft, crumbling ground after the rain
Everywhere you go people talking
To each other in community before my eyes
The complex beauty of languages twisted
Within each other resounding through the town
The rush of everyone with places to be
So many nights I have spent longing to be
With all of my true family
Nyumbani
Yenye nguo na rangi za kupendeza
Ninakupenda sana
Nakushikilia kwenye nafsi ya moyo wangu
Kwa Kunikaribisha mimi kama binti yako
Wewe ni chanzo cha uzazi wangu

Home
So vibrant and colorful
I love you so much
You have a place in my heart
welcoming me as your daughter
for you are my motherland

Fulmore Middle School

8

The Heart Hears Music

Fallen light slipping through the grasp of leaves, littering the ground
Violet flowers dance across the speechless grass
The soothing smell of honeysuckle floats through the air like a pixie
A lake, standing still, peacefully smiles
Oar dips, sending ripples of life
From an old rusting boat
In the forest the ears may hear silence,
But the heart hears music

Lamar Middle School

6

The Note

I thank the silence
That keeps us apart.
And the darkness
That lets me sleep at night
Without pondering the question that looms above
What are we?

They said love was warm and soft
Like the baguettes found at a french bakery.
Yet it feels heavy and cold
Almost like guilt.

They said love was beautiful and gentle
But as I pass him,
I feel like I’m being stabbed
As false joy disguises dread.

They said love was a blessing
But they’re wrong
It’s a curse
Coated in desire.

It all started with a note
from him.
So obvious and blunt:
I love you.
So simple and evil:
I love you.

I cried.
Maybe from pure joy
or pure anger
I loved him too.
Just not what we’ve become.

Lamar Middle School

6

Why

Those special memories
When we climb Mr. Bijan’s favorite
tree and steal the fruits

Those special days
When we cheat on the tests but
we never got caught

Those special times
When we tie the running contest
and we had to share the trophy.

Why we stopped it
Why can’t we stay together like
we used to do

Is it because we are far away from each other.

Lamar Middle School

6

A Satisfying Morning.

The sun rises up in the sky
Making pink, yellow, and orange
Colors that dance onclouds
In perfect harmony
The birds tweet a song
A song that makes the world clearer
A song people wake up for
A song I wake up for
Dew drops sit on the roses outside my window
They look so delicate
So smooth
So real
And yet when I touch them
They disappear
Like a spirit in the real world

I can only imagine where they go
Does it snow there?
Do the stars shine?
Does the sky turn gray when melancholy?
I’ll never know

Morning doesn’t last forever
But it always comes back
When the sun and the moon switch places

Lamar Middle School

6

Dog Fight

Running from a pack of wild dogs
Only to be cornered
Grasped by the collar, pulled up by the alpha
Socked in the face

A million bees sting me
A hundred alligators bite me
A thousand people laugh at me
Nothing compares to the pain I feel right now

Thrown into a dumpster, the pack howling and saying,
“You couldn’t hit a bunny!”
I drah myself home, like a pitiful puppy
I return to my pack, blood and dirty while they lick my wounds with love

The next day I come back like coyote looking for its prey
With bandages on my side and pain my heart
I show up to the pack of wild dogs
And leave a token to say “thank you for making me tougher.”

Lamar Middle School

6