by JAYLEN

I have a dream,
and out of a dream
I pull out inspiration,
and out of inspiration
I pull out achievement.
I have courage,
and out of courage
I pull out bravery,
out of bravery
I pull out friends,
and out of friends
I pull out disappointment,
I pull out hate,
and out of hate
I pull out having no life.

by JOSEPH

I had a broken phone charger,
and out of the broken phone charger
I pulled out an electric shock,
something sorta taser like,
but it didn’t phase me cause like
Ben Franklin had been electrocuted before
and then it hit me, literally,
I’m shook, I’m shocked,
and out of me being shocked
I pulled out an E.R.
Sounds of sirens filled the room
as I fainted from the shock of me being shocked.
I became a conductor in my own world of thought,
fantasies came to life.

I…I see a light.
I don’t know it but a doctor enters the room.
He goes into a cabinet and
out of the cabinet he pulls out a defibrillator,
out of the defibrillator he pulls out a Clear,
out of a Clear he pulls out a pulse
which yanks me from heaven’s gates back into my body,
out of all that I pull out a sigh of relief,
and all because I have a broken phone charger.

by LYNAE

She was sitting in her room, enjoying a Kit Kat, when she heard them, footsteps, loud and heavy, and…they seemed to be getting closer. She takes another bite of her Kit Kat, praying that he— it, whatever it was— couldn’t hear the signature “crunch.” The footsteps stopped, she held her breath and the Kit Kat tightly in her hand as the bedroom door opened, but she didn’t see anyone or anything.

“I’m probably just anxious,” she said dismissively. However, as she held the Kit Kat in her hand parts of it began to disappear, leaving behind teethmarks. To try and beat this phantom, she began to rushing to it eat as well. Then, she hopped and the Kit Kat got stuck in her throat. There was nothing there to save her, not even the footsteps.

(There was never a phantom. Never any footsteps. Never anyone eating her Kit Kat, just temptation and fear of someone stealing her Kit Kat.)

by MESGANA

There is a winding walkway that leads to me, it’s made from my hair. There is a closet door and the first thing you see inside is all my hair. To the right is another closet filled with imaginatively styled clothes. Above this closet is a guest room, which I filled with my intelligence. It is stacked with pictures of my heroes and role models, and my favorite books. Next to this room is an office with a messy pile of my silliness. Continuing down the hallway is a closet over-filled with my talents. Going downwards, making a right, there is my kitchen with my favorite music, look that’s Stevie Wonder singing to me. Above my kitchen is my laundry room where I washed all of my bad memories away. Upstairs right above this room is my bedroom. Under the bed is a dark pile of fears. To the left of this room is my bathroom. In the sink, down the drain are my secrets. oing down the hall and out the door is the balcony where my ambitions live. These are my, sure to be successful dreams and wants. My dream to be an attorney, chemical engineer, and a political scientist.

by LYNAE

Oh, how I love my dear bookshelf
The way he holds and encases me
His frame is nice and sturdy
And somehow his surface is never along

New baggage gets added on to him everyday
Sometimes I worry if I’m a part of it
He’s so wise and bold— all the information he stores
and yet he still ignores

me.

I remember our first encounter
when I was new and fresh—
the best and hottest edition in the living room
All eyes were on me. I mean why
wouldn’t they be? I had that

new book smell and all
of the most recents words in existence. I mean,
I was hotter than chicken grease
(and that’s pretty hot!). Everyone was
focused on me, but me?

I was focused on him. I’d never
seen a bookshelf so strong before.

by TYLYN

It’s really just school.
Enlightenment? I say not!
Pieces of paper?
Perhaps. A strange pressuring,
with tests and essays,
even with problem sets, indeed…
Expectations too.
Ah yeas, wanting students
to learn calculus,
or even physics, and yet,
not about real life,
with its taxes and politics…
Where’s the quadratic equation?
Sure, the three “R’s” are basic,
but that’s expected
in this complex world of ours.
It’s simplicities
in the complexities, and
regardless, good schools teach us
not only theories,
but also skills, common sense…
and that’s not enough!…
I’ll end here, for now, at least.
¡Salud! and keep hope…
alive!

by BRION

I wake up in confusion
The son beat me, now I’m losing
Throw on clothes
I can’t be choosing
Brush me teeth,
then I eat
Run out the door
Heart skips a beat
I missed the bus
I can’t believe
that I’ll be late
I will not see
the light of day
as I plead
for mom to re-heat
last nights Chinese just for me.

Then she stops and realizes
that I should be going to school
“Mom, I missed the bus”
“Boy, what the heck is wrong with you,
I guess I’ll have to save the day”
I get in the car, we’re 10 minutes away
Outfit on flick, Dang it I slay
Now I’m at school
it’s time to say,
“Hello new teacher,
how was your day?”

by TYLYN

Ain’t it somethin’?
Because you can read and write,
cards should be more meaningful, when really they
don’t mean. It’s all the same though.
Either way reading and writing help me too.
For they help me dream.
“Great,” you say sarcastically.
Hoping you would understand,
I wait patiently, without speaking.
Just so you really do get it, and
killing the kangaroo hoppin’ in my chest,
let me tell you a story.
Maybe it was in a land far away, and
never really possible, probably, improbable,
once upon a time, and I do mean that.
Pennies were treasures for kids,
queens ruled alongside kings,
reindeers didn’t have red noses,
silly me! I’m rattling on aren’t I?
Truth be told, I don’t even know what I was saying.
Uhh…math? Philosophy? No, literacy?
Venerate my genius deduction skills, would you?
Well, not to sound cocky, but I think that’s
X-marks the spot!
You know, I’m scatter-brained, and not really a brainiac, and
Zebras totally aren’t striped. (wink!)

by LYZ

I may have some bad days but donut worry, I’m fine. Unless you go bacon my heart, ya know? But if that ever happens I’ll have to dill with it. I’m a pretty chill-ie person. And have a great personali-tea. Cheez-us Christ, I’m such an egg. But I crack you up, right? You have guac to be kidding me. Don’t snicker at me, I’ll crunch tour face with my hands. Just artijoking, you know I’m bananas about y’all. Well, would you look at the thyme, pasta la vista baby.

by YUE

This city is full of history. The houses are Euro-style, some have steeples, some have domes. Built hundreds of years ago, they have the mark of time on their thick stone walls.

This city has tree-lined sidewalks. Some of the trees are really big, they spread their huge branches, some covering nearby coffeeshops. During summer, they give people green shadows to rest in.

If you go into one of its alleys, you will find another kind of beauty. Between two large buildings, this alley is a little dark, and very tight, there are sculpture here but they are hard to recognize because they are from long ago. And then, when you get to the end of this alley you see the brilliant city again.

There are flowers on every balcony: pink, yellow, blue, red…They have such a good smell that you just want to stand there, breathe them in.

We can’t build skyscrapers in downtown— downtown is just for history and art. There are palaces, museums, and churches there. There are great collections of paintings and sculptures. There are also many world-famous art colleges there.

This city is near the sea. On any sidewalk you can enjoy the breeze from the sea, or you can sit in your building’s balcony, watch the sunset or  the fireworks from the harbor.