Category: 09th

Birds’ wings flutter in my chest
Their high trills
And songs fill my lungs

They tell me I’m sick
They tell me I have trouble breathing

So I am not allowed to run,
Go up stairs quickly,
Jump rope.

But I know the truth,
I am alive.

And birds sing
In my lung’s trees.
The beautiful trees
Filled with red syrup,
Pulsing with light.

I am told my lungs
Just don’t work.
I’ll need to replace them.

But I’ll miss these birds

They sing
Even though I can’t.
They fly
Even though I can’t.
They can live
Even though I can’t.

---

L.C. Anderson High School

9th

The loud, impatient scratching at the door.
A blur of fur from window to window.
Jumping, barking, spinning, smiling and more.
Oh, the excitement when you show.
Kind, gentle eyes that beg for attention,
Floppy ears listening to every word.
A wet nose, sniffing what you didn’t mention,
They speak in a way that isn’t heard.
Happily wagging their furry tails,
Slightly tilting their head as you speak,
Internally laughing at your fails,
Walking in, for it is you that they seek.
An everlasting bond that never ends,
Is a friendship formed with mans best friend.

---

Anderson High School

9th

It’s raining cats and dogs.
The sky is sad and gray.
The windows have a touch of fog
And no one’s out to play.
But soon the sun will shine
The smell of wet, sweet pine
And no one will have a clue
I had the Raining Blues.
And when the sun does shine
The smell of warm, sweet pine
Outdoors will be just fine
And be filled with great delight.
And when the sky is a blue
River of sparkling jewels
Then there will be no use
On having
The Raining Blues.

---

Ann Richards School

9th

Just like a flower
my heart unfolds
to find a place
so cruel and cold.
They feed me with
a bitter kind
but it can change
a child’s mind
And as I grow
the world it darkens
Threatening scenes
my petal shockens
And as I wither
I’m often mindless
A scarring thriller
for the wound widens.
My roots will dry
un-crumble down
You’ll spot a seed
upon the ground.
You’ll pick it up
and truly see
what it can do
to you and me.
Just like a flower
my heart unfolds
to find a place
so cruel and cold.
Don’t be a flower
stuck on the ground
Just find the power
and be the crowned.
A simple flower
Is all it takes
to show the world
Its great disgrace.

I am the light that wakes you each morning
I am the darkness that haunts your dreams

When you think of me, all you see is happiness
When you think of me, tears stream down your face in fear

You trust me to shield you from harm
You try to stay away from me in fear of being harmed

I give you hope for a better day
I give you worry of a day wasted

The only fear you fear from me is not making the most of the light
The only trust you give to me is my consistency

You know me as good
You know me as bad

Yet I know only lies
And I know only truths

Keep me close in times of need
Keep me far for life and peace

I know who you try to be
I know who you want to be

So trust me to know and protect you
So trust me to know and protect you

your eyes shine like the stars above you
they sparkle like a thousand diamonds gleam
colors shift between shades as the winds blew
shining lights echo from every dream

blind to the changing world around us all
as i gaze upon your heavens gemstones
can you catch me when we finally fall
falling in your gems endless ocean tones

but the dark clouds start to conceal the light
hiding the precious stones from my gaze
you become hidden from my searching sight
stolen from me into a hidden blaze

as the winds change my sight will never shift
but the winds will never cause us to drift

---

Bowie High School

9

My Universe, you’re big, confusing, and old
And how I love the way you expand and fight,
Too violent and massive to be controlled,
Invading my mind day and through the night,

Let me confess you are a beautiful hunt
You are more revered, lovely and grand.
Sometimes you are too grandly affront,
And sometimes too cruel and out of hand.

How I love you? There are too many ways.
I love your aesthetic stars, and Milky Way arms.
Thinking of your large arms fills my days.
My love is expansive because of your charm.

Now I watch your sky’s open stars,
With wide eyes and an open mouth ajar.

Looking back she now knows how she had felt.
Seeing them in public made her head light.
She could not handle cards that she’d been dealt.
He did not know she adored him in spite.
His love belonging to another soul.
Her thoughts are gambled, and emotions tossed.
Without knowing, her heart was what he stole.
Seeing now, that what he passed up is lost.
She didn’t think she’d get over the thought
of surrendering risky bets at hand,
of not being liked by the one she sought.
Can one truly notice flaws not so grand?
She had thought that her flaws should be concealed,
‘cause who picks a daisy in a rose field?

Will you be there?

When I was five and you thought I had cooties
I wondered if you would still want to be friends.

When we started middle school and you started having feeling for girls
I wondered if you would still stand by my side or leave for the first girl that walked by.

Will you be there when we go to high school and I grow into my body?

Will you notice me?

Those little hints I threw at you,
Will you follow the trail,
Or go towards someone else’s gingerbread house?

Even when you have fallen for me I wonder if you will stay.

Will you be there once we get married
Or do I not give you enough?

Will you still be there even when you have seen me at my worst?

Will you pity me?

Will you be scared of me?

What will you do when I am at my lowest point?

Will I be too much to handle?

Will you comfort me?

What about when we have spent years married together?

Will you wake up one day and decide you don’t want me anymore?

Instead of reassuring me of my insecurities,
Will you find the constant need for approval annoying?

Will you see the stretch marks trailing down my arms and legs,
And see them as the ugly scars reminding you of how fat I was?

Will you look at me and just see a stranger lying in your bed?

Will you walk to the bathroom,
Stare back at me through the mirror,
And decide…

You don’t love me anymore.

And you never knew if you did.

Will you?

Grey stones line the dirty, beaten walkway.
Flowers burst forth from spattered drops of blood.
The sun rises; they’ll be here any day,
dragging her behind them, dress caked in mud.
Go west, the prophecy said, just go west.
The people smiled, told her she’d be fine.
She swore she tried, she really tried her best.
He hadn’t cared, just said now you’ll be mine.
But now the sky was falling from its height.
All the roses wilt and the trees crumble.
The kingdom cries in his evil, horrid might,
even as the castle rises humble.
And even as she screams, he gloats and preens:
“Come look, my brothers, at my brand new queen!”