Lost

By Donya Sheikhrezai

She is losing something, but she can’t see

The person that is lost screams
They scream for help to be found among the dishonesty
She is blinded by lies and thoughts put into her mind

These thoughts created an unreal version of her
The eyes have lost the real sight because its been pushed away into the shadows

The truth yells to be found
The misleading of her so-called friends has swallowed it
They surround her with

troubles and danger
With things she never really knew
This girl is lost and cannot find the truth

The Big Black Hall

By Meera Kumar

Trapped
In a sea of grass.
Fourteen kids.
All apart.
The sounds of lawnmowers, birds,
And ants feet crushing the russet dirt.
My feet demolish the bark,
As I sit in this cold ledge.
Students whining,
People scraping their legs,
A glance or two to the left,
Continuing to write,
The big,
Black hall
Stands before me.
If that one day I was held inside of it.
I wouldn’t last.
Freezing behind the charcoal poles.
Grasping this day,
And feeling lucky that I wasn’t on the other side of those bars.
A moment in the sun.
The wind whips my neck,
As my paper folds over my pen.
Seven minutes more
Until this gazing ends.
That big black hall,
Looking bitter and prestigious.
A few children groan,
While other’s minds are diligently functioning.
I realize that poems are difficult
And free verse is tough.
But once I got it,
It is all up to my pen.
Racing around to find my thoughts.
I came up with this.
Of how the big black hall,
Confined me of my own personal space.

A Class With A Sub

By Meera Kumar

As the lady enters the room,
We stop and stare.
She is the sub,
Who puts a smile across all of our faces.
Finishing our work
There is still thirty-five more minutes left.
To us that means P-L-A-Y.
In teams of three,
The competition begins.
A few people become our net.
One person keeps score.
It is boys v. girls
According to us.
A girl talks like the commentator,
Two are out of bounds,
And a couple
Just hide for their lives.
This tie-dye volleyball
Brings so much fun
To a little old class
That came with a sub.

A bump, a set, a spike
Are all done in a room,
A classroom precisely and
Chaos breaks out.
A picture falls down
And everyone freezes.
The sub doesn’t move.
Continuing on someone
Hits the shutters and
She doesn’t even move.
Wondering how
Us students stop for a sec,
Then move on
Acting as if nobody hit anything.

Just a class full of kids,
Eager to learn.
A boy said,
“If our teacher asks,
A squirrel did this. He tore
Down the room. It was
Too fast for us so we
Stayed on the couch.”
Cracking up

We walked down the stairs
Off to lunch
Just like nothing ever happened.

We were just a class.
A class full of children.
Wanting to learn.
We were just an innocent class.

A class with a sub.

Summer

By Lindsey Fajardo

Summer
I gallop
The burning sand below me makes me jump
My feet sink and I suddenly
Create clouds of sand as I struggle to escape the my scorching guardian
Just a little more
Swoosh
The sparkly deep blue water snickers at me
I gaze…
I can’t reach it
Summer
The dazzling sun shines on my face making me squint
It hurts
My figure develops a cherry red
I glance around desperately
The hot air drowns me in misery as it hovers around me like
A group of bees awaiting their queen
I scuttle
Towards my saver
Plunging into the icy refreshing water
Opening my eyes as breathtaking fish zip past me
Swimming…I shift my feet slowly trying not to get weary
I come out to the surface for air with a grin on my face
My dark brown hair is dripping water and it streams down my back as
I dry myself with the smooth surface of a towel
My blue bike?
Summer
I ride rapidly not knowing what this afternoon will hold
The wonderful windy air smacks my face
Blowing my strands of hair out of the way
Summer
I’m wearing sandals
Shorts, a t-shirt
Sunglasses protect my brown eyes from the vivid sun
Summer
The best time of year
It fly’s past me like an excited butterfly with new wings
I watch it disappear into the night
Summer
It’s gone!

Seasons

By Lindsey Fajardo

Winter
You don’t exist
The trees are bare
People hurry by huddling close to each other
As the cold air stings their faces
They shiver
Spring
Water pours down as you’re born
You open you’re eyes and you don’t see anything but umbrellas
Rubber boots splash into dirty puddles of water
You grow by the minute
Beautiful flowers bloom in right below you
Fall
You suddenly come loose from a branch and you fall slowly as the air carries you around landing you softly on the ground
You moan from the pain of kids tramping on you
Soon you see children in…
Halloween masks with bags full of colorful hard candy
Then in a long while…
Summer
You’ve matured
You’re ecstatic, but also agitated from all the heat
You develop a stunning green on you’re fragile skin
And give shade to the visitors of the park
Summer
Home…
Enjoying the giggles of toddlers
Running and biking down the street with friends
They love to play ball
As you glance up, you’re sister is slowly being abducted by the wind
She’s taken away…
She might end up at a gorgeous beach where
Offspring spray water here and there
Enjoying the cool, refreshing water
They’re happy
And so are you
Summer

The Rips

By Jackie Kerns

Ten thousand piercing explosions
Seem to blow open my head
While bells echo through
my ears
And ricochet off every bend in my head
The clamor rises
Countless “thuds” are heard
Across the plain
That lies open like a tomb under pounding feet

I cringe
My hands fly to my ears
While I try
To escape this nightmare before me

And All goes quiet

Not a single twig complains to its crusher
Nor does a squeak emerge from a man’s mouth
Nothing moves
Nothing speaks
I press harder against the sand fortress around me

The only sound that can be heard
Is the sand that shifts
And hisses at me as I
Burrow deeper into the mound

Then Once more the terrible noise assaults my ears
A “thud” follows swiftly
As the man next to me falls and becomes a shadow
While warm, crimson liquid spills onto his uniform

I look up from
Where I crouch and
The last memory of my
Past life echoes through my head

A single line
My favorite line
From a single song
My favorite song
Came true
“…as bullets rip the sky…”
Quote from the song Vertigo by U2

Her and the Shadows

By Janice Garcia

The moons radiant white light flows on to the earth.
Her shy whisper telling us night is coming.
Then darkness blankets us allowing her beloved shadows to dance.
She then smiles and tells us a tale of long ago.
Her charming myth brightens up the lonely darkness.
The moon finishes her story and says goodbye.
Then we see her fade away as the sun wakes up,
chasing the darkness away in his golden chariot of light.

Heroes

By Alexis Mack

Heroes live everywhere,
In this complicated world.
Fighting for justice,
Their own lives always at stake,
And their prize always straight ahead
In plain sight.
Though in our minds,
We often lose sight of what a hero really is,
Or should be.

Though Superman and Spiderman defend alike,
Our soldiers are the true heroes,
Whom should always be addressed with pride.
A veteran shouldn’t come back,
With no stake in the very country they fought so hard and risked their life
To protect.

Though Gotham remains secure,
Under attentive watch,
The real heroes are the police.
Perpetually protecting us from the people we are too afraid to face ourselves.
The people with nothing to lose.
Giving their lives to protect ours,
They should always be addressed with pride.
For giving a life to save another,
Is a precious gift.

Though Tony Stark can continuously create
Some of the greatest inventions known to man,
The rightful heroes are the scientists,
Fighting for cures to life’s biggest diseases,
And creating solutions to life’s greatest problems.
Trying to stop the world’s greatest threats.
They should always be addressed with pride.

Though Thor’s mighty hammer,
Reaps its power from the heavens and skies,
The actual heroes are the air force pilots,
Defending our nation
Protecting our skies.
They should always be addressed with pride.

Though the ocean’s always safe,
With Aquaman nearby,
Our Navy Seals deserve our praise,
For all they do for our lives.
They should always be addressed with pride.

So it hurts to know,
That although these people do all they can
For our personal safety,
Many of us reject them,
Turning them down,
Calling them unneeded,
Denying them the pride they deserve.
And although I could not name them all,
Our heroes should always be addressed with pride.

Loneliness Claims a Victim

By Janice Garcia

I watch them pass me in a single line,
looking at what lies ahead
Why don’t they see me?
Am I invisible too them,
as I live in this world and that.
Do they really think I won’t get them?
I float to one of them,
she will soon know my agony and loneliness.
I wrap my dark tentacles around her thoughts.
She is now lonely.

The Girl with Dark Spots Beneath Her Eyes

By Jackie Kerns

No one loves a melancholy face
No one likes the sound of blood trickling down white skin
But I fell when I met the girl with dark spots beneath her eyes

Bruises made beautiful
Red blood turned Gold
Black to White
And pallid skin made tan
In her tender face

She stands alone on the platform
With a sad look in her eyes
While she smiles to those who walk near

She peddles small boxes of matches
As the cold eats away at our hearts
She shivers in her tattered coat
And my arms burn to wrap around her frail body

As night falls like a dark blanket
Around her minute silhouette
Tears gather in her eyes
As she calls for her father

As God bestows his mercy on his purest daughter
Her eyes become wide
They glaze over
And she falls into the subway

My hands grasp her wrist
I bring Her to my chest
I close Her eyes gently
And wonder how someone can be so radiant
Even in death

My lips press against Her forehead
And I let Her continue
Her descent to the bottom of the subway
Then Follow her
To where my happiness lies
With the girl who once carried my heart
The girl with the dark spots beneath her eyes

Nature

By Jaye Boissiere

Calming bird songs spiral into the air
The tickle of grass
Against my dry legs
Small bugs hover above the weeds
More tunes pound on every solid object
Rebounding to ensure
That no one misses a single beat
Bright white clouds slide closer together
And begin to dance
Moving right
Moving left
Swinging past each other
They take a bow to end the dance
Chirps affirm the bird’s approval
The clouds slowly glide away

Imminent Release

By Alexis Mack

Time slips through the
Loose grip of the clock’s
Hands.
I patiently await my imminent release.
Glancing back around me,
Chatter has clearly broken out,
And the people around me too
Focus on the patient clock,
Waiting for it to lose its grip.
The light reflects off the clear plastic surface,
Gleaming, and almost taunting us.
I direct my gaze
At the loudest of the bunch,
Still desperately trying to keep his now lost
Audience.
He barks angrily
But the distracted children remain unfazed.
Time is oozing into nothingness,
And the seconds wasted will never come back.
Tick, tick, tick, tick
Ding Dong!

The Skull

By Colin Martin

The air whispers,SSSSSSSSS.
It flows through a cavournis gap,
that once was a nose, weaving into
any crack it can find,SSSSSSSS.

Up, around, sideways it flys, cleaning
the mind out of the empty skull,SSSSSSS.
Whatever, whoever, whenever something
was there. But now all there is left is
the look. No feeling or personality, no meaning.
Nothing that makes something human,
is left. Just a look.

SSS-… the wind is gone,
And still it’s just a look.

End of Time

By Riley Burgess

End of Time by Riley Burgess
Wind whistles through the park
While the sun falls behind the mountain
The dark has come. A tornado howls through
The deserted earth, an eerie groaning comes
From the rusted swings. Earth cries its last
Despair, as its species has become distinct
And it too will soon reach its time to die.
A little wave of fire cascades down, burning
Fields and scorching the open plains and collapsed
Structures. A tsunami comes, its great gaping jaws
Open to drown this place. Its arms tug down on earth
The waters great claws scraping downward on the great
Planet. A spinning mass of wind resembles a hurricane
The win screams and yells, tearing trees from the ground, and
Destroying everything in its path. Fire surges, air emits a
High pitched wining, and waves bubble over the great mass of dirt.
The planet bows its head to the very elements that first created
The soil on which it died. Ice freezes masses of land as the hurricane
Tears it up. The flesh and bones of the golden land backstabbed it
Killed it, and gained their revenge. Nature struck back.
It’s clawing arms, and gaping mouth attacking. The planet shook
Its underground slate movie. Great cracks split from the ground
Spewing orange lava, oozing over burnt and frozen shrubs
From a distance, aliens chuckle and giggle at the ocean, and dirt’s’
Ignorance. With a thrashing, and hurling mass of dirt, a giant
Ball of ice, fire, wind, and cracks explode with a colossal
Bang, It’s over. The very increments that first built it, destroyed it

Black Hammer

By Riley Burgess

BOOM, the crushing fist of the hammer smashed down
Like the nearby panther crouching, its silky, smooth fur making it
A shadow in the cold abandoned night. Another stroke smashed a
Circle into place. Another blow from the hammer clashed red metal,
A king hitting the victory drum, his long beard soaked with sweat, he returned from
Hell; the war. Another beat of the mans tool, pounding on a weapon
A sword, bashed into form. Many shapes had been made under this man’s work,
Irons made and even bronze. The ringing of metal on metal broke the peaceful
Moonlight night with screeches and piercing noises. Outside, coals of red light up the
Eutruscan kings face. His beard drenched, face drawing beads of sweat,
Riticuled with heat and scars from battle. The weapon he used struck again.
Ring

Jalapeno Bandits

By Colin Martin

Into the dusky sky,
Dirt clouds dancing across the ground,
They ride.
Town after town,
Mercilessly they raid.
Take what they need,
Jalapenos.

Delicious, dripping, and fresh.
Each one down
In one bite, as hot as
a desert in the sun. The
fruit of fire.

Their mouths burn, and
a tear drops off their cheeks,
They are unable to breath, and
Yet…. They still ride,
Nothing can stop them,
They seem invincible. But they are not,
They are still human.
And where the jalapenos are, they’ll
Be there, and ride off once again,
Into the dusk.

An Inextinguishable Fire

By Matt Linton

It plagues everyone you know
Slowly, It sucks the down a path
Filled with hatred, lust, and backstabbing
Most deny their infection
A blatant lie that masks the truth
Just that little white lie will start
A whole new wild fire that will spread quickly,
Engulfing any vulnerable tree in its path
Gossip feeds on us
It thrives on our craving for attention and power
Pouncing on any chance to hurt another
It is very similar to fire
They both cause fear,
They can both be greatly benefited from,
But most of all, they both cause
Massive Devastation and Destruction
No Matter what,
Gossip will never be destroyed
It is a battle that cannot be won
A victory just out of reach
It is an inextinguishable fire that can
Only be held at bay.
You can try to put it out
But the fire just spreads
The most effective defense is just to avoid it
Don’t fuel the fire.

The Cold

By Will Kittler

Ever-present
A constant in the world
Taking control
Leaving us writhing in
The darkness
My body squirms
As the cold surrounds me
Defeating warmth
In the battle for eternal dominance

Now, Heat must leave
A good friend, but no longer
Cold has been stuck here
Like a kite in a tree
But he has come
The cold has committed genocide
Go

A Better World

By Jasmin Gutierrez

Black colors the sky
Raindrops conquer the city
Quintessence
They all stay in

An empty soul takes a step
Towards the hollow darkness
Some perceive it and follow
They saunter
In search of light

Tick Tock
Tick Tock
Time flies by

At last
Light burns
The heat is inevitable
They rise
Towards nothingness
Yet a magical place
Where you can feel no pain

A burst of bliss
As a better world
Awaits them

Caught Between Both Worlds

By Johnny Wilson

He is safe,
there were no monsters to eat him,
there were no zombies,
still caught between both worlds,
he dared not,
set his bare foot onto the cold,
wooden floor.
Not knowing what dare look there,
there could be monsters,
with three eyes or five arms,
anything that a young kid like him could imagine,
just waiting to come from under the bed,
to drag him under into the abyss,
the darkness,
to be never seen again.
Instead,
for his own protection,
he stayed under the covers,
knowing he could be safe.
He didn’t know,
whether he was in the dream world or not,
all he knew was that he would be safe,
under the covers.
He would be shielded like city walls,
or a gate,
guarding the entrance of a house or city.
So he stayed under the covers,
where he knew he could find,
warmth and protection.

Evil

By Ben Garfinkel

Evil,
What is it?
A sick-minded murderer
Cackling over his next victim
Or a force
Almost tangible
Which whispers
Tempting
Greedy thoughts
Into the ears
Of weak and unsure individuals
Evil’s tentacles
Wrap around these people’s thoughts
Distorting their judgment
Is evil just comprised of greed and temptation,
Or a thing of it’s own?
What truly is evil?

Ignorance

By Jasmin Gutierrez

The breeze
She whispers to me
The night is coming back
Oranges and pinks
He fades them to purples
The darkness appears
Wearing its shiny diamonds

Tree’s become ghosts
They scream the truth
But we only hear the silence

The breeze
She spreads the word
The home goes dark
But the mind begins to glow
I see the images
The fantasy’s we won’t accept
The illusion
We want it
But fear won’t allow it
And when we take a step
Closer and closer
Reality takes her place

The breeze
She whispers to them
But no one listens

Winter Time

By Matt Linton

I remember the snow against my back
A soft cushion
Relaxing my muscles
The icy winter air enveloping my
Eyes, nose and cheeks
The snow gently drifting down
Settling on top of its billions of relatives
More of which were still arriving
A cold chill was sent up my spine
Not a bad chill
But one that reminded me I was alive
Although I felt odd sitting there
I new that everyone
Looked, thought and felt differently
All of my body was relaxed
My mind calmed by the soft hum of the wind
Whistling through my ears
Entering my head
Filling every space and cavity within my brain
All my stress and anxiety melted away
Only the overwhelming feeling of
Peace and Happiness remained
I kept watching the drifting snow
The sheets never-ending
The sky above me was covered
With moonlit clouds
No stars penetrated that snowy barrier
But I didn’t need stars
All I needed was the snowflakes
Each one was different in its own was
And had its own special qualities 


Wash Away

By Donya Sheikhrezai

The clouds above are gray
Rain slowly begins to fall
I stand in the street and feel the droplets
The rain hits my face
So soft, but cold

My clothes are dirty
But my thoughts are clean
I lay down on the ground

The water gathered there sinks into my skin
Sending chills through my body
My eyes, they close
The rain still falling

Surrounding sounds flow into my thoughts
The slapping of the rain on the ground
The tapping of the drops on the windows
As I open my eyes the clouds are still gray
and the wind, it still blows
But inside I feel relief
The rain has washed away the dirt surrounding me

Nothing

By Will Kittler

Nothing to write about
How do I continue?
Everybody talks
About what they wrote
But I have wrote nothing.

Nothing to say
What should I talk about?
My friends, they speak so much
But I say nothing

Nothing is changing
What is wrong?
Everybody is showing off
Their new talents
But I have stayed the same

Dreamer

By Jaye Boissiere

Don’t cry
Of force open your eyes
Don’t sweat
Or scream your throat dry
Let yourself dream
Fly high
Of fall fast
Just let go and
Allow your imagination to run wild
Unlock the metal handcuffs
That were put so tightly on you imagination
When you were once so young
And fearful of the dream ahead
Don’t slam the door in a dreams face
Forcing it to leave you
Instead welcome it
See what it has come to say
So don’t tear up or be frightened
Just be a dreamer

Vegas

By Ben Garfinkel

I gaze out the window
The ominous night sky looms overhead
Illuminated by the city skyline below
A sea of lights flicker and shine
Resembling small color filled explosions
Cars and taxis are everywhere
Swarming the streets like bees
Always buzzing around
Everyone has a place to go
Giant casinos watch over the strip
They rise above all other buildings
Great gods are symbols of power
These great buildings are symbols of money
Money being thrown away
A giant empire
Entirely man made
Existing in the desert
A surreal wonderland
Called Las Vegas

The Fine Line

By Johnny Wilson

He had a big smile across his face
the sun was shining
the waves were crashing.
He could feel the warmth
of the sun’s rays
gleaming down onto his face.
The heat convinces him
to swim.
Ripples to waves
breeze to gusts
where the sun had once been
now lies a thick layer
of dark clouds.
The ocean had once been a cheerful blue
now to white foams of fury.
Now having trouble
staying above the surface
he yells
and in return
receives a mouthful of salty water.
He is pushed down
under the anger of the waves.
Now he could see the light
closing in around him
blending,
changing,
mixing,
all into one color
the blinding white light.
Life was slipping
fading away
when every last breath was nearly lost
an arm reaches out
grabs him by the leg
and he is saved.