Category: 2016-17 Submissions

La isla tiene arena y el sol es caliente.
Hay agua refrescante.
En el mar, el agua es azul.
Y hay Palmas,
Pero quiero ir con calma
El agua brilla.
El sol igual.
La luna llena es linda.
Sin tardar,
Tengo que regresar.
Las estrellas se reflejan en el mar.
Sin más tardar,
Hace frio y el viento suena.
Es tiempo de dormir.

Time slips away, precious water
stirring just out of reach.
The sun melts, light draining
from the windows.
You feel time, you don’t see it.
But you know it’s there, a force
that dominates all worlds,
tearing through the walls of life
made of thin paper.

---

Casis Elementary

4

Pitter Patter
Splitter Splatter
Running through the rain
Thunder booming,
Cars are ooming,
Umbrellas out again?
Lightning flash!
Children dash
Running back inside
Pitter Patter,
Splitter Splatter,
Oh how the weatherman lied.

---

Lamar

6

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

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

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

Watching the sun disappear
The rainbow horizon fading
The sand tickling the inside of my toes.
The wind blowing my hair to my face
A small wave rolling over my feet
Now to say goodbye to a good day.
And holding hope for tomorrow to be an even better day.

---

Lamar Middle School

6

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

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