your vision, your voice
As the words left his mouth he shudders at the sound of them clinging to the air like fog.
More words tripping and tumbling like rocks out of this mouth.
His legs shaking and sweat dripping, falling like rain on the tile floor.
His first poem was a failure.
So he tries again and again ’till his mind is sore of thoughts but his piece is finished.
There is only so much left to give his mouth to say.
O Henry Middle School
7
Wind tends to rustle and tussle tin cans across the swarming streets of New York. The cans are kicked, picked and tricked towards the trash.
A gust dusts the rust off the busts in the cans.
Finally the rush of the feet in the street eat at them until they are no more.
O Henry Middle School
7
When you look out into the air
and then you look back into the world,
you don’t know what is going on.
When you look up, you can see
so many unknown stars,
but then they are known,
and you aren’t alone.
You don’t know how to talk
but you say hello.
Can we talk? you say,
but you are already talking.
When the wind is blowing,
you stay and wait.
When you were young
you were old.
Magnolia Montessori For All
3
Nuts fall from trees.
So do leaves.
Pollen sometimes makes you sneeze.
But most of all, do not fall,
While you’re climbing in the trees.
Magnolia Montessori for All
3
Purple, thin, and light
I put them over my eyes.
The second pair of glasses I’ve had.
The first was quite heavy.
I open my eyes.
Open, shut. Open, shut.
Everything comes into focus
I explore my no-longer-blurry world.
The lenses are so pure, so unblemished.
My grandfather says, “Now you can see the ants on the ground.”
I feel like I could see the craters on the Moon.
Pearson Ranch Middle School
6
I fling my hand up to the sky
At first, nothing happens.
Then, a drop of water leaps up
Into the sky,
Pirouettes in the air,
Falls,
Glides,
and gracefully lands,
On someone’s head.
Pearson Ranch Middle School
6
My mom said please be careful,
And I said, “I will try.”
I balance it on my palm,
Hold it up…
Whoops.
Pearson Ranch Middle School
6
If everything were nothing
Nothing would be here
If everything were nothing
We’d have nothing to fear
But everything can’t be nothing
For if there was nothing here,
What’s the point of nothing to fear
If there never was a fear?
Pearson Ranch Middle School
6
When the wind was howling and the birds were chirping,
I saw you from across the crowded room.
I was waiting for a great big hug or someone to lean on and you were always there.
When you open your arms great, big, and wide I know that you were by my side.
Through the storms and hurricanes through the bright summer days.
I know that you will always be there for me.
Boom, the news broke,
Everything went silent.
All you could hear was that little girls weeping tears.
She felt so lost and afraid.
You had just disappeared and there was nothing to be heard.
The little girl tried to remember his voice,
But it only slowly started to fade away.
When she went through old photos and seeing all the bright faces.
That little girl started to weep.
Knowing that she will never feel the same way.
She tried and tried to remember all the good times,
But some happy thoughts never last.
He was always there for her with a hug or a funny joke.
Maybe it was to brighten her day or just make her laugh.
He was always there.
That memory started to fade as that little girl thought and said,
“Why can’t he come back?”
Be careful about what you say,
And how you treat others because
“You can’t always get what you want,”
And they might be gone in a split second.
When things get tough you will need someone there for you,
So honor and love the people you have in your life.
Just like that little girl wished she could just give her dad a great big hug
Or hear a joke from him one more time.
St. Mark Lutheran
8
Once there was a storm outside
It sounded like it was along my bedside
I woke up from my sleep
To find out it was a dream
St. Mark Lutheran School
8