Category: 07th

Why?
Why are we looked at this way?
Why are we broken by what people say?

The horrible ache
each time we long to please them.
Each comment taking a toll
on all of our once
confident souls.

Each tear,
finally spilling the deep emotions
we’ve hidden away
for to long.

Each tear,
as it falls,
washing a piece of us
away.

The mirror reflects a broken
hurt girl,
every minute wishing to be
someone else;
every second wanting to be something else.

The mirror reflects a girls
ruined confidence,
her crushed self esteem,
and her broken heart;
all torn apart by all of the
harsh critics,
her real life super villains,
the stereotypes,
the world.

But really it is all
fake.
The image.
The reflection.
The thought of her has been
distorted.

She isn’t fat.
She isn’t ugly.
She isn’t weak.
She isn’t stupid.

She is unique.
She is strong.
She is smart.
She is beautiful.
She is perfectly
imperfect.

The mirror reflects a girl.
Just a girl.
A girl who may not be
what the world “wants” to see,
but a girl who is who
she wants to
be.

---

The Ann Richards School for young Women Leaders

7

The things that we do
Don’t necessarily
Define us.
It’s who we are that matters
Our memories
Our family
Our passions
Our life.
Not what we look like
Or how we act.
Who we are
is like
our backyard
Free to explore
Free like a bird
Soaring
On wings
Flitting above
Doing what you want
Escaping from
The world
and our
Worries.

---

Pearson Ranch Middle School

7

Magic and mysteries
For joy and our far too short childhoods

Why don’t we look at the sky?
We stopped climbing hills in the fading light
Just to watch the day change to night
When the clouds are painted
Why don’t we look at the sky?
We stopped searching the clouds
For shapes and stories, brilliant hues
And the sky echoed beautiful colors
We’ve forgotten to cherish

Why don’t we look at the sky?
We stopped noticing the ways that it changed
From midnight black to dewdrop blue
And the clouds shifting and drifting with the winds,
Their layers becoming more evident
Through their varying motions

Why don’t we look at the sky?
We stopped pulling out telescopes
Late at night
To marvel at the shimmering stars
Far above our heads
Orion becoming a stranger
Despite our desire for friendship and love

Maybe we’ve forgotten
Maybe we haven’t looked up in so long
That the sky has become something distant
Once again.

---

Ann Richards

7

When did murder become a question
Without a clear answer
When did the line between right and wrong grow hazy
In the thick fog of corruption
When did it become okay
To kill and hurt
The innocent
When did we decide
That the rules don’t apply to everybody

How can we rise
When we are forced to our knees
How can we fight
When we are broken and bound
How can we change the world
With our voices and our words
If the world
Will not listen
How can we stand

Who decided that some people are never wrong
And some will never be right
Who made us think
It was okay to be submissive
To grovel in the dirt because we are weak
And they are strong
Who changed the world
Twisted it and bent it
Into a path of lies and hate

What can we do
To change the minds of people who won’t listen
What started this mess,
The gun or the person who held it
What closed the eyes
Of the people
Who promised that they would never be blinded
What made it okay
To stray from our promised freedoms

Where do we begin
When we try to change the world
Where is the place where the sun rises and sets
Over peace but not fear
Where is that one person who will rise
And stand to save us
Where is the light
Still just a little bit brighter
At the end of the tunnel

Why are we still kneeling
When people need us to stand
Why are you still staying silent
When people need your voice
Why are your eyes closed
When they could be wide open
Seeing the world for what it is
And for what it should become
Why are we still waiting

Is the leap still too far?
Do more people need to die
To open up the eyes
Of people everywhere?
Are we going to forget them,
The faces that should be remembered
The faces of those who are gone
Because of a bullet
A gun
A shot
A silence
And a hole that can never be filled
Not within me
Or you
Their family
Their friends
Their chest,
where the bullet hit
Will you forget?

---

Ann Richards

7

Craving every single answer
Under a united banner
Reaching for the stars high above
Imagination soaring like a dove
Once retained, always remembered
Searching and seeking
Ideas peaking
Til another query arises
You must ask questions of all sizes

---

Ann Richards

7

A waxy sheet
Spread out on the counter
Flour sprinkled over it
Cold and yellow
Vanilla cookie dough
Placed on the mat
A yellow and tattered recipe
Beside it
The words
“Pinwheel cookies” in dark ink

The wooden rolling pin
Squeaks
As it kneads the chilled dough
Chunks of the delicious treat
Swiftly disappear
As I snatch them off the edges
With nimble fingers
Familiar with the quick snatch
After a few sweet and treasured minutes
There is a smooth rectangle
Of yellow dough
It is moved off the mat
The chocolate dough going next
This time
You let me
Roll the dough
It takes a little longer
And it isn’t rolled as well
Uneven and bumpy
But you wait patiently
Guide me gently
Then
The chocolate
Gets flipped on top of the vanilla dough
Now
We are both stealing sugary pinches

Kneading and rolling
Pushing and folding
Twisting and twirling
Our striped and swirled
Pinwheel cookie dough

---

ann richards

7

A seed placed firmly in the ground
Lurking and waiting without a sound
The barest beginning of new life
Pushes through the surface with much strife
The first new leaf, a lime green shade
The stem shoots up, unafraid
A blush pink bud with petals curled
In the dawn’s morning sun they unfurl
Growing taller every day
With strong winds the flower sways
The flower chokes on smoky haze
A once dark forest now ablaze
The flower now a pile of ash
A memory, gone in a flash

---

Ann Richards

7

Dragons perched in lofty caves
With glimmering scales and a sharpened fang
A deadly creature to encounter
Across the valley, his roar rang

Riches, gold, and gems collected
Guarding treasure from enemies
Piled up to be defended
As tall and old as ancient trees

The dragon is ready to take flight
Leathery wings folded on his back
Lifting off up to the sky
His strong wings a darkened black

Blackened wings meet scarlet scales
Tail slashing through thinning air
Hiding behind thinning clouds
Seeing the dragon is quite rare

Smoke seeping between his teeth
Breathing flames and bright red fire
Burning trees and coal alike
Fueled by the passion of his ire

From golden flames to charcoal wings
With gleaming horns and a slender tail
Any beast that he encounters
The fearsome dragon will prevail

Colorado
Filled with D a n c i n g snow
Skiing
Falling
Headfirst
As if rehearsed
Frostbites on your toes
Wintery wind blows
Freezing your rosy pink nose
Wishing you were home
With your bath filled with foam
Looking out the window
Drinking your hot coco
Colorado
Filled with dancing snow

---

Gorzycki

7

Splash!! My Tio goes into the
stream, brown like dirt
Slimy and icky
Trying to catch things
That live in the water
Goggles on trying to see better in
the dirty water. Finally catching
something now to catch more.
While time goes by time to play
Splash, kick, STOP!!
Time to go inside for our mistake
waiting for time to pass by,
finally the come back
looking for my Tio, to see what else
he had caught
Excited to see what it was
But also scared
Asking what it was
fascinated at what he has to say

---

Keeling Middle School

7th