Category: 2017-18 Submissions

2017-18 submissions

The Last Drawer On The Right

In the bureau in my room
A stack of drawers sit atop one another
Neat stacks of

Clothes
Clothes
Clothes
Clothes

Each drawer is likewise to the first
Except the last

The last drawer on the right is an overflown rush of

Laughs
Funny times
Memories pictures
Love
Lessons dreams
Hopes

All the adolescent mess that make me
Me
All the funny times
All the lessons learned
All packed into
The last drawer on the right

Gorzycki

7

Suspended

*Authors Statement: This poem may raise concerns, but I wrote it for my friend who was going through a difficult time. Things are better now. I’d like to share this poem to raise awareness and let people know that they’ll never be alone.

Laying in bed wishing I was dead
unable to decipher the thoughts in my head
like running water under the ice
boredom consumes me it’s grip like a vice
the tug of impulse at the roll of a dice
a minute decision freedom is nice
‘Just come to terms with it is their advice’
So when will I get the rest of my rights
‘Don’t act like you’re locked in a cage’
They hiss at me with their pent up rage
Meekly looking up and away-What if it is all untrue
and looking at me is looking at you
what do I see, please tell me
everyone says it’s the ugly truth
But that’s not what I see when I look at you
They won’t explain so neither will I
back to the feeling of wanting to die
sweet release, comforting fleece
Would there be a funeral? Who would come?
Remembering them with their lively dreams
guilt at the thought of tears making streams
she would miss me, and so would the others
bowing their heads and closing the shutters

To Iason

Ann Richards

9

Deep Blue

Oh what we can imagine…
Oh the Deep Blue
Waves,
Tide,
Sand,
Sun,
Water,
SPLASH!
Paradise,
Fish,
Sharks,
“AHHH!”
Shells
“Aaaaouuuu Pretty!!!”

Oh what the Deep Blue contains

What does the Big Ocean Blue really contain?
Monsters?
Dreams?
Fear?
Treasure?
We don’t know,
anything could be hiding and lurking in the water.

We can only know so much,
about the Deep Blue

I believe the Waves, the Ocean, and the Deep Blue,
all withhold…

Secrets!
Imagination!

The ocean can withhold anything you want it to,
Deep Blue

Gorzycki

7

Fight

Violence.
Everywhere.
TV, social media, homes, newspapers, books, you name it, it’s there.
I know about the violence, the bombings, the massacres, the missiles
coming towards America, things that a twelve year old girl should not know.
I run.
Run in fear that my Country will one day not be here anymore.
They Run, we all do,
We all know what’s coming next,
They kill,
Kill themselves and others because they believe that if they kill themselves,
they will not have to see the broken pieces of their country,
Kill others because they believe that these innocent people should go down
with them.
Violence.
Causing so many people to die when they should not have,
Their Families wishing that they could have done something,
Wishing they could have fought back.
Causing innocent babies and kids to die,
They didn’t get to live the life they deserved.
While our country sits here with money, education and wealth,
They have to flee from one country to the next, running from others and
even their own government.
While we are afraid of how people judge us because of our looks, skin color
and weight, they have to deal with masacres every single day.
We wish we were taller, prettier, skinnier.
They wish they had food, water, sleep.
We no longer need to run.
But we need to fight.
Fight with all of our might against anything and everything that comes our
way.
Fight for the people who can’t.
Fight for our rights.
Fight for the life we were born to live.
Fight as children of God.
Fight for our friends,
Fight for our family,
Fight for our country.
I no longer need to run.
I no longer have to fear.
But I’m going to fight.
Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight.

Gorzycki Middle School

7

Pain

Mentally, emotional, and physically
Sometimes I wonder why does it hurt so much
Why am I in this position? Why does it suck
Should I give up, or not?
Mentally, pain can mess with one’s mind
But it’s up to the person to let pain take all of your time
Emotionally, pain can really mess us up
It could play with our emotions and leave us stuck
Physical pain, we all know it well
But it’s not something you would bring to show n’ tell
But as people say, no pain – no gain
So, Pain shapes people into who they are
Even if you have a goal that seems very far
There will be pain somewhere on your “road to glory”
Because pain is always present in any good story

Leadership Academy

12

Whining Chickens and the Scared Eyes of an Old Man

My family are stereotypical Americans.
Big, fat, loud Americans,
like overfed chickens in a slaughter house.

With their gluttonous bodies,
full of ignorance and
distasteful opinions.
Their squawking echos through
the first class train cabin.

The cabin full of
patriotic sods and a lonely,
fear ridden little, old,
innocent Czech man.

Their loud cries of pain
leaving the beaks
of my meaty family,
pierce through metal.

First class was meant to have A/C.
Americans love A/C.
I didn’t know I signed up for a sauna.

Chickens now hate saunas.

James Bowie High School

11

Alligator

Hey, I am learning what it means to ride condemned.
The music is blasting the windows like we are in a cage.
Maybe I am? A cage plummeting 20 miles per hour over
To nowhere.
The tune is good, but not catchy enough to
distract me from our destination.
The dog will be hungry by the time
You get this. Feed her before you leave again.
I think He just wants to drive. So I’ll let Him.
We all need something, but
We usually don’t know how to ask.
He and I don’t know how to ask, so
We keep driving until the wind drowns out the music.
I’ll see you when I see you.

James Bowie High School

12

My family

Extended metaphor:
My family is a circus
I am the lion
Because I am a beast
My mom is a tightrope walker
Because she always stays out of trouble
My brother is a fire breather
Because he always gets in trouble
My dad is a juggler
Because he juggles his responsibilities
My family is a circus
Everyone contributes in their own way

Gorzycki

7

unclear solutions

The hot air balloon gets blurrier
with each slide until It becomes
clear again; with a brilliant resolve
that leads to brown circular frames,
No matter how much you
wipe away the anxious
fog that creeps like a vine
with the edge of a cotton shirt,
The bright green
hills are still visible
but the truth is not.
Because the answer
to the universe
is not merely 42,
and betrayal cannot be foreseen
even through clear lenses
Or from the vantage of a hot air balloon.