Category: 2022-23 Submissions

Outdoors,the breezy outdoors
The breeze makes me feel free
Like I’m drinking iced tea
Sitting by a tree
I may not agree with the hot heat
But that beats me
When I’m in the sun
I remember when I won
My game and
Came in first
Ready to burst out with excitement
After coming down
From my high
I ride into the bold cold
All bundled up
I try to snuggle up with sheets
in my b.e.d

You make me feel like every love letter written
Every song sang with that warmth in their voice as they sing of that special someone
Every passionate kiss shared
Every shy peck laid onto someone’s unexpecting lips
You make me feel like two opposite hands sharing a warm pocket on a cold winter day
And every bee landing on a flower
You make me feel like every beach wave crashing against the sand or rocks and that oh so beautiful sound they make
Like every perfectly aligned book
Yet every messily stacked pieces of paper
Every stomach lurching laugh
Every bright smile
Every synced heartbeat
You make me feel like every butterfly in one’s stomach
Every fake scenario thought of before falling asleep
Fresh clothes straight out the dryer
You make me feel like every beautiful thing this world has to offer
And many more

Last night he kept me up, he refused to sleep.
He kept on demanding treats and to be let out for hours, meow after meow.
But if anything happened to him, I would be stricken with grief and do nothing but weep.
At night he always asks for things I disallow.

He can be gross and a bit of a brute.
He’s gotten into so many fights that he’s lost most of his teeth.
But his fluffy orange fur still makes him cute.
Just like me with my allergies, he sometimes struggles to breathe.

I’ve had him since I was almost eleven.
When I do my homework, he drools in my lap.
He’s been alongside me everyday, he’s seven.
He goes insane when I have a snack to unwrap.

A cat like him is one in a million, he has comforted me and made sure I was never alone.
I’m glad I had him when I moved and moved, went through the unknown.

Fantasize about your perfect future
Found it almost impossible to come true
Realized it was a mere fantasy
Bound to my imagination wishing they were true
Blurred my vision with lies
Lost in my thoughts
Words cannot describe i feel
Exhausted from trying so hard
Praying you got the job

When the topic comes up
Words
Flow,
Excitement
Takes over,
My smile is
Genuine.

When school is
Rough
It’s my
Motivation
Classes are difficult,
My passion is
ablaze,
My light at the end of the
Tunnel.

Every waking moment
I see my
Future.
Science,
A love for helping,
Animals

The possibilities of
Affecting
Lives
For the better
The wish
To influence
The community
Reaching even further,
The wellness of all my
Future
Clients
Always being there for those who need someone to
Lean on
Becoming Sherlock
Explaining the issue.

At the end of the day, I can come
Home
And think to myself

“I saved lives today.”

A twin or a friend,
A family of four,
A class full of students,
Or a sibling of yours,
You are you,
And no one can change
That you are special,
Even if some people think that you’re strange,
You are you and that you can’t change.

I am from the space wall that is above my bed.
From Brentwood Elementary & my Nintendo switch

I am from a sweet, sometimes mad family
And from my architect and graphic design mom and dad

I am from the climbable trees at Brentwood park
Whose branches stretch out wide

I am from the fun game baseball
And the awesome rock music on my iPod

I am from my mean sister and my not-so-funny mom
And from my dad’s famous ribs and guacamole

I am from those moments when I get hurt and my sister checks on me

I believe, I believe,
I believe the world is nice,
And the people are too
I believe that I can be me and you can be you,
And our home can be anywhere,
I believe, I believe,
That I’m just right and you are too

I trail my pencil onto this lined parchment,
I press down slightly and draw symbols we
Have symbolized for our communication’s sake.
And I draw these symbols
For they, can sing more beautiful songs than I, they shall tell stories that never leave my lips
They tell secrets darker than the night sky
Words begin worlds,
Words delineate our futures.
Words do harm without ever leaving their place.

Words last. Words feel. Words connect.