Category: 2017-18 Submissions

My family are all connected like a tall strong, firm, standing house
We all help around the house
My dad is the strong, supporting foundation and he supports the family
My mom is the protective roof and she protects us from the objects flying outside
My sister is the looking window and she helps us look outside at the small world
My brother are the tall walls supporting the roof and he helps support my mom with smiles and laughs

As happy as a student
All the work that is late
The tests that are due
What a wonderful day!

Where I’m From
I am from putting away laundry and cleaning my room
From Nike and Adidas
I’m from the rocky road and the red brick two story house
From soaring trees as tall as the eye can see
From the road seeming like a never ending trail,that no one knows when it will end

I am from the fresh smelling flowers and trees blowing in the breeze in my front yard
From the old wood underneath my bed that used to be my crib
I am from waking up on Christmas morning, and opening up mounds and mounds of gifts

And from long, shiny, straight brown hair that covers my shoulders or is held high in a pony tail
From Jennifer Cantu’ and Gregorio Cantu’ saying “Your smile is as bright as a ray of sunshine”

I’m from friends who are a treasure
From the nice dinners and the cracking of a joke
I am from “work hard” and “calm down”
From “Actions speak louder than words’’ and “Blessing in disguise”
I’m from crosses around my family members necks and the prayers for God to watch over us

I’m from Austin,Tejas
From chicken enchiladas as my favorite dish
From sweet, crunchy, chocolate chip covered, creamy cannolis
From the crack of dawn soccer games to mid afternoon basketball games

From the aunts and uncles who fought for our country
From the hearts of wisdom
I’m from the refrigerator magnets, walls and shelves hanging with photographs that frame our loved ones and special memories

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.

At night I lay down in my bed, with my fairy lights behind me.

Looking in front of me is picture of a tree,

Thinking about what is going to happen to me in the future,

Trying not to call myself a loser

Hiding under my covers scared what is outside of my blanket

Trying to think of something else, like me playing basketball, making a basket

Taking a breath when I get out of my covers and looking at the time

Counting how many hours of sleep I will get and saying I am fine

Remembering that it is a school day tomorrow and close my eyes

I hear this voice that is saying my name so I get up and see my mom saying get up and eat some fries.

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!”

we were like angels
our toes carried us
quick against cold concrete to chipped red monkey bars
our fingers led us home
pointing to the swirling circles of light dance in the dark blue
our noses taught us how
the pale and bright hydrangea sang under it’s satisfied sun, the soil against my skin feeling like the safest home i knew
our lips brought us memories
crying the anthems of our little life
knowing how to build the words but never what lay behind them
our eyes granted wishes
blossoming fantasy into our own palms, shimmers of excitement sprouting from behind the glass and into the dark curls of my hair that shook with each over energetic blink
our hearts stayed
stayed as we drove away
as we felt the creak of that wood one last time
as we ran with a clueless smile out of that life forever
we were like angels
angels in new england

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Austin High School

10

I am bound in this never-ending game of loss and misery. I’ve been taken never to see my family again. I know that I will never see the true light again.
I start at daybreak and end at nightfall. I harvest the goodie that people enjoy simply that I grappled to make. As people savor the chocolate I struggled to create I feel as though they eat my flesh.
The companies that earn big don’t look back at those they’ve throbbed. For there remain, children who’ve been kidnapped or sold, their youths departed in just one tick.
Some of these children have opened their eyes to the world only to see the pain and agony it endures.
My pain is expressed through the way a chocolate bar melts, for that is the trail I feel the direction of my life goes in; down. It leaves a path of chocolate and blood. For everything you enjoy, someone struggles on the other side simply to create it.
Children struggle out there for kids in other places to enjoy. Our lives are not to be used by someone else. Children should not be used for labor. They have a life to live and someone to be.