Category: 2017-18 Submissions

I am like a small crack on a frozen lake,
Surrounded by other bigger and smaller.
I wonder if people can see the HIDDEN CRACKS In OUR WORLD.
I hear the whispers of the wind around me.
I see the light of childish wonder in those smaller than me.
I want to be seen for who I am
I am like a small crack on a frozen lake.

I pretend that I can handle anything that happens.
I feel the cold touch of those who have passed.
I touch the sands of time that fly by me,
Never able to fully grab them.
I worry about the past I should let go.
I cry only when I think I’m alone
I am like a small crack on a frozen lake.

I understand that I can’t be perfect.
I say we break the chains that hold us back.
I dream that I will be happy forever.
I try to keep everything together,
Even when I know I can’t.
I hope that no one notices the cracks of imperfection I hide.
I am like a small crack on a frozen lake,
Not as alone as I thought.

---

Bowie High School

9

With trumpets call and loud parade,
they praise the hell that they have made.
They do not dare to be aware
of awful things they’ve done this day
Long tongued liars live here now.
To long tongued liars wronged men bow.
Long tongued liars walk the streets.
Long tongued liars in gods seat.

Lying spiders spin their lies
when they say walls don’t have eyes.
Wronged men do just hide their fear
when they say walls don’t have ears.

A nation
caught in devastation
with covered eyes ate the lies
that led to hell’s creation.

---

Bailey Middle School, AISD

8

Some people treat my book with disrespect
They burn the book till
there is nothing left
Or sometimes they do the worst thing
Ignore the book
The book feels hollow and
worthless
Till one day I pick up
my book
I read the book a billion times
front to back
Squeezing all the despair and
sadness
The book now feels
Priceless

---

Gorzycki

7

The lonely island waded in the ocean
Drowned in knobbly sand
Dressed only in broken bottles and rusted treasures
The sun looked wrong on his weary body
No glow
No shine
Just there

A traveler at heart
But with no weight to carry him
He was immovable
A lazy blob on a lazy planet
No feet to walk him
No wings to fly him
Nobody to help him

Everyday though
Pure white birds would fly above him
Almost like angels they looked
He begged for them to stay
To dance in his no longer shiny jewels
And tell him about the world he could never see
They left

Then one stormy day
When not even the island could hear his own pleas of sadness
A ragged bird soared by with feathers the color of dirt
Almost matching the wreckage on the island’s shore
Startled by the noises of the clouds
It dropped something and the island called for it to come back but again nobody heard
It left

The “something” only grew from then on
It became so tall that the island thought it was attached to the sky
A palm tree
Birds came from everywhere to marvel at it
The island became a popular pitstop for them
They would rest in its leaves and chat about foreign lands
They stayed

---

Bailey Middle School

8th Grade

“Clean clean clean!”
I keep hearing
but that’s not my wish
Everything’s in its place
Right where it fits

“It’s not that bad!”
I say
I know where everything’s at
from that yo-yo from 3rd grade
to my darling indigo hat

Sure it’s not that organized
and a bit mismatched
but it fits me and my mind
It’s pretty simple actually
Some things are not meant for others to find

---

Bailey Middle School

8th Grade

BOOM

I’m big I’m rough
I could be slim or buff
Or maybe even be nothing.

I can do big damage or
Make small cuts and burns and much more.

So be warned I can leave scars
And you better run because if I’m near you
Won’t see the star’s.

No more will be left.

---

Gorzycki Middle School

7th

I am like a fire
Burning bright
I illuminate wild eyes
Like an animal
Ready to strike
A glint of madness
In my flames
I am like the calm before the storm
Quite until I strike
I am the insanity of the flame
Consuming all I touch
Every thought
Every action
I am like the smoke of a fire
Dark and pungent
Killing those who stay
Slowly chocking the life away
As I burn the wood
All other thoughts leave me
All I know is fleeing my fire grasp
I am the embers of the fire
What’s leftover
I am all that’s left
After the insanity strikes
I am like the smell of a burnt out fire
The only thing that tells you
I was here
I’ve destroyed all else
I am a fire
I burn and destroy all in my path
Nothing can reach me
For none can touch me
I am eternal
eternal and alone

---

Bowie High School

9

Light defends against shadow

But it creates shadows as well

Light keeps the shadows at bay

But it also conceals them

Light gives you hope

But shadows inspire you

Light warms you

But shadows ensure

That you are never alone

Light wards away monsters

But shadows make them disappear

---

Ann Richards School for Young Woman Leaders

6

Up
High above
There is a place which many dream
And few know
It is graceful and elegant
Like the stars
From there you can touch
The gentle mist that surrounds
But doesn’t cloud
It frees and flows
Like a river
Down
A mountaintop

---

Bailey Middle School

7th