Poem

 

 

Birds chirping make me feel comforted,

flowers at day stars at night.

Homemade sweets warm and precious,

snow cold and icy, pictures warm

and make me melt.

The lady next door shares her apple every year.

My mom is funny, she makes me

laugh even though she might

not be talking to me.

The kitchen table filled with

bowls of cherries.

Thinking of dreams I can do

in my bedroom.

Love for my heart cream for my mouth.

 

            -Vivian Truong

 

 

Home

 

 

Home to me is where I live

and where I’m from and where I

was born. Home to me is also

where three special people are:

my brother, my mom and my dad.

Home should feel like I am

loved or have peace and

quietness. Home is my life.

 

            -Vivian Truong

 

My Name

 

My name is Mey.

People get my name mixed up

with me.

My name means the first girl that is born

and harmony.

Lots of people have my name.

 

That’s my name.

 

            -Mey Chao

 

Freedom Bird

 

Freedom bird

discovery is happiness

you have purpose

we have hope

 

Discovery is happiness

she has peace

we have hope

resting is freedom

 

she has purpose

she has power

resting is freedom

she is resting

 

she has power

you have purpose

she is resting

freedom bird

 

            -Natalie Bissiri

 

Courage

 

Courage is a leader. He helps many of his friends

into battle to help stop the enemy from

destroying everyone and everything.

He is strong and kind. His wife is Hope

and his kids are Liberty and Justice.

 

            -Henry Nickerson

 

Loss

 

I have lost many things but the worst is my grandpa.

My mom was 8 when he left to the hospital.

My mom had to leave to America. 23 years later

we didn’t hear from him until my mom asked someone

did you know my dad? He responded Yes I did.

He called back to Africa and the person who

picked up the phone shocked my mom.

It was her dad. This whole time we thought he was dead,

but he was alive. We asked him to come to America.

He couldn’t he was fighting in the war.

 

Based on a true story.

 

            -Gosay Mohammed

 

 

Love is…

 

A slender woman who appears to be wearing make-up

but in reality does not know what it is. Her cupboards

are filled with white swirling robes. She’s the one

who breaks hearts but she heals them twice as well.

And by the way, she’s the one who runs

eHarmony.com.

 

            -Karl Tolgu

 

Peace

 

 

Slice the orange of meanness.

Grind the coffee beans of envy

Season the filet mignon of peace

Cool the cake of love

When life gives you lemons package them and make money

Add a little love with the dough boy

Crack the egg of life

Puree the yolk of greed

Fry away the egg whites of war

Toss the salad of life

Pour the cream of music

Preheat the oven of love.

 

            -Zachary St. James

 

Courage

 

 

Courage is one that does not run from her fears.

She confronts them no matter what. She is filled

with anxiety but she does not run or give up.

She faces her fears with courage. She is a teenager

who is 16. Her room is covered with courage

even when she doesn’t know it. She dresses without

insecurity about how others might think of her.

She is fearless and strong when she confronts her fears

and frights. She acts tough spreading courage to others.

She fights those demons in her room. They wake her up

every night trying to scare her but she is not afraid.

To me those demons frighten me but to her they look

like clowns and make her laugh. To me she is a hero

who uses courage as powers.

 

            -Baltazar Mendoza

Poem

 

 

Like you I believe everybody has a goal in

life to work for.

 

Like you I love the smell of cookies that

rises off the stove like the fog off the water.

 

I believe that everybody can be whatever they

want to be if they work hard.

 

Like you I love the coldness you feel in your

mouth when you taste the coldness of ice cream.

 

I believe that everybody can go where our

heart tells us to go.

 

            -Nancy Escorcia

 

I Believe

 

 

Like you I believe Barney the stupid dinosaur should die. I believe if it happens our children will be at peace. Never let muppets or Barney be your children’s babysitter. Like you I believe if the muppets and Barney die our children will be at peace.

 

They teach kids how to count and spell, but they teach kids

How to judge and label people so parents do not let your young children watch too much of it.

 

Like you I believe that the deadliest muppet is Kermit the Frog, and he fuses with the one winged Angel of Death, and is one with the shadows of evil, and must die for the safety of our children.

 

TV can end up making kids not care about others and care too much about themselves.

 

Like you I believe our children are precious to us, and we think muppets and Barney can clog up the minds of our eager young children. They deserve death for our children’s welfare and life.

When they control somebody whatever they say the victims say as well, so we must stop them for the safety of our children.

 

Like you, I also believe we should stop global warming. We should stop using too much fossil fuel. It will melt the polar ice caps and polar bears will die without ice to be on. We should use technology to stop global warming.

 

            -Alex Christoforou

 

Ingredients for Peace

 

 

You mix the love and sharing to bake the

cake of trust.

Combine freedom and justice to bake

the cake of harmony.

Sprinkle care and sharing on top of the cake.

Stir the friendship with sharing to make

the flour of communication.

Blend the wonder and hope to create

a new recipe of imagination.

Break the war to liberty to become

a good egg.

Serve the cake you made and share

the stuff you have.

 

            -Jenny Luong

 

Like You

 

 

Like you I love the warmth of my

house.

 

Like you I believe that every mind

is connected.

 

I believe that you can change your life.

 

Like you I love the calmness of the wind

flowing by.

 

Like you I believe that everyone is near

one another.

 

Like you I enjoy gazing into the sky.

 

            -Lonny Dara

 

 

Percussion Section

 

 

Like a throbbing heart

beating with the flow

of blood through my

veins the bass drum

slowly thumping

through the veins of

a song, making it

full and complete.

He is the center of the

whole set, the label.

the tom filtering

the song making it pure,

cleansing the blood

as a kidney would,

filtering out a little

dirt and stuff we

don’t want, preventing

a bland and watered down

version of the sound

a drum can make,

unsweetened and raw

as fresh squeezed

grapefruit juice

the snare spices up a

song, clashing with the

other instruments in a

beautiful melodious harmony

filling your ears with a

spicy hot tingly feeling

that irks you in a strange

satisfying way like a thin

string of weak milk pattering onto

a glass tabletop in the

shadowy center of a room

at twilight on the eve of

your execution

as tingly as the snare

the cymbal crashes amongst

itself outdoing even

the bass with its loud and

obnoxious noise of copper

on copper echoing around

the circular inside seconds

before being released

into the air. When tapped

it provides a ring full of

vengeance and a sharp twinge

of lemon scented freshness.

 

            -Sophia Halford

 

 

Recipe for Peace

 

Sprinkle obedience and combine love

and trust into a pan of care.

 

Crack 4 eggs of hope and throw

away the shells of greed and poverty.

 

Mix imagination with pride.

 

Whisk beauty and difference together.

 

Grind peer pressure until it

turns into liberty then add to

the pan.

 

Beat hatred till it turns to

friendship

 

Garnish justice and freedom

on the side

 

Peel the orange of love

 

Squeeze the lemon juice of

happiness on the tray

 

Put the pan in the oven

of harmony

 

Put up the temperature high enough so

the trust can take time to simmer

and mix.

 

Take it out and serve it

to the hatred in the world.

 

            -Santiago Mendoza

What is Poetry?

 

Poetry is like a flowing river. It silently

goes without a sound in the night. Poems are

like doors to opportunities to life. They

are the air we breathe. They can be

hard like rocks or soft like silk. Poetry is

life to me.

 

            -Santiago Mendoza

 

 

 

 

 

The Unidentified World

 

 

I splash into the unidentified world

ahead of me. The lush, cool, green water brushes

my fears and worries away. A blue school

of fish wisps by me. The green kelp floats

to the surface. I try to speak but my

words turn into bubbles that float up

like little butterflies. I know that

I don’t have enough time

to see everything. I speed toward

land and take a big gulp of air.

I know I’ll come back again.

 

            -Santiago Mendoza

 

My Name

 

 

My name has pizzazz to it.

My name is different than everyone

that is why it is nice.

My name means life.

My friend’s middle name is Emonie and

it means knowledgeable and I would

like to have her name and mine

because together it will be

knowledgeable life.

My brother’s name is Linell and his

is different too.

 

            -Myeisha Berry

 

Hardy

 

 

Hardy always does what

he needs to do. He always

does his homework, studies hard,

likes to do a lot of things

after school, likes to make

new friends, holds his ground

and faces up to bullies.

What he wears doesn’t really

matter to him. He is small

but has inner strength and is

smart. He dreams and helps even

if scared to do so.

 

            -Mason Shigenaka

 

Happiness

 

 

Happiness has a big smile. He wears

big long tees and jean shorts. When you’re

sad he will make you smile.

He lives by an ocean next to a light of

heaven. He is like a sundae with a cherry

on top that always cheers you up.

Happiness is like no other but a

one of a kind person who has magic

to make your place, your world, your life

full of joy and peace.

 

            -Tiffany Phan

 

What Have You Lost?

 

 

I have lost my grandfather on my mother’s

side who died in the war. I have lost my grandma

on my mother’s side also, but this time my grandma

died in church. I have lost my grandfather on

my father’s side when he was sleeping.

 

Loss is a big thing. It can last throughout

your life, or last a short time. It is sad

when you lose something, but they don’t want

you to be sad all your life. If you lost a thing

you can replace it, but you can’t replace love, or family.

 

            -Bruck Belay

 

Pantoum

 

 

Bird of freedom

Bird of rest

Bird of hope

Bird of imagination

 

Bird of rest

Bird of purpose

Bird of imagination

Bird of harmony

 

Bird of purpose

Bird of happiness

Bird of harmony

Bird of discovery

 

Bird of happiness

Bird of hope

Bird of discovery

Bird of freedom.

 

            -Phi Pham

 

Joy

 

 

Joy is the happiest 10 year

old boy in the world. He has

a smile on his face 24/7.

Joy ignores all the anger around

him. He wears no dark colors,

he only wears light colors.

 

            -Cian Chew

 

My Name

 

 

Why do people mistake

my name? Why do they say my

name wrong and they mis-

spell my name?

It makes me feel wrong.

But it is all right because

it is not their fault. It matters if

it is their fault because

what is so hard saying

Darnell? I don’t mistake

my name, why should

they? My name is

Darnell, not Darrell. Why

should they mistake

my name?

 

            -Darnell Berry

 

Recipe for Peace

 

 

1.                  Mix your love into the bowl

2.                  stir the happiness in the bowl

3.                  beat the sadness and loneliness out of the dough

4.                  bake the cookie with friendship

5.                  dip with laughter

6.                  cook with wonder

7.                  pour with trust and care

8.                  throw away the anger

 

-Juana Deng

 

 

Recipe for Peace

 

 

Cut war and melt

it into freedom

combine love and

trust to make hope

crack the egg

of imagination

and find the surprise

inside that will help you

water your anger

and keep your family

close to friendship in the

plate of harmony

communicate the recipe

so it can travel

and serve it to the

world.

 

      -Ahmed Moalim

 

My Groove

 

 

Rich people have a groove

but all they know is something new

that I do not know but when

I get my turn I will kiss

the world goodbye.

 

Kiss the world goodbye now just

kiss my world goodbye. I’m not

just going to kick everything to the

side but I’m going to find my

groove and my groove going to

find me around and I found my groove.

I called my groove

on the phone last night and I

said I was looking for you and he

said me too and we made a

groove to you.

 

Groove became me and ever

since then I owned a store

called Groovy to you not a solitary

boohoo.

 

      -Austin Pickett

 

Home

 

 

Home is a place I go to, to forget about the outside world. It’s a place to relax and hang out. I see my parents, my sisters, and all the others. Sometimes I watch T.V. or go on my computer, and sometimes I lie on the couch and sleep. When I am home, I feel happy and peaceful. Sometimes there are fights, but they go away fast.

 

      -Josie Ramstad

 

 

I Feel

 

I feel comfort from watching the sunset.

Watching the sun setting I never noticed

the stillness of the room.

After the moon comes out the stars slowly start appearing.

The moon reminds me of love from my childhood.

After awhile I realized the cherry blossoms falling.

From looking at the dark sky I feel warmth inside me.

It reminds me of my mother’s gentleness.

The shining lights inside the house hurt my eyes.

Outside the flowers cast long shadows.

 

      -Josie Ramstad

Lost

 

 

Lost, it isn’t the hardest word to say.

 

Having to go on in life is the biggest challenge

of them all.

 

Lost, it’s a familiar word for everyone to use.

 

Seeing through the past and memories

of someone full of happiness and joy

 

Lost, is a word you could put with your

keys, your phone, but even people,

and homes.

 

Losing things you admired in your past,

feeling like you’re the only one who

understands.

 

Lost, in your feelings like falling and

falling, until you can see you are not

the only one.

 

      -Riley Miller