Oh a sound seems to peek into these Cursed grounds such a thing forbidden Oh it slurs It dances in its beauty Oh the power It paralyzes me But makes fountains of symphony The hummingbirds mingle In blush And the wild night groves shine through I bitter myself But that sound calls And puts a blanket of candles round me There awoke me in the sweet nectar Breeze. Pei-Ying Olsen, 9 Chattanooga, TN
Poem
Cactus
Cactus weird cactus Dry standing next to a cactus It’s pointy and hot Cactus weird Cactus dry You’re standing next to a cactus Cactuses are nothing Cactuses are nothing Peter Shuster-Raizberg, 7 New York, NY
Volcano
Volcano, volcano with the world around it. In the circle of life. A mountain that shunts lava. Escape! Escape! Ran from it. Get a boat! And sail away. Volcano, volcano with the world around it. With the boat, find a new land. Peter Shuster-Raizberg, 7 New York, NY
There the Ocean Goes
There the ocean goes There the ocean goes A place with Fish A place with Fish Place that has sharks and islands loved Place with treasure never found With the world around it With the world around it Population is disappearing Population is almost gone Peter Shuster-Raizberg, 7 New York, NY
Love Water
Love water is a charm and a heart Teamwork is what I call fantastic part of a world, part of a world with never ending fun with never ending fun and the love of a heart Peter Shuster-Raizberg, 7 New York, NY
The Word
I look through boxes for things I want to keep, taking out those I need, leaving in those I don’t Need or want. Then suddenly I see, At the bottom of the box, A word. It’s a scary word, a horrible word, A terrifying word. I don’t want that word. I don’t see why I’d ever want that word. I close the box, but on the floor in front Of me, there I see The word. It creeps closer. I start to run. Imagine! This disgusting word chasing me Away from the box, out of the room, Into the hallway. I look behind, and there, Still chasing me is The word. I trip on a memory. The word catches up and Before I can stop it, it jumps in my ear. I feel it Slide into my nerves, settle in my brain. I crouch on the ground as the word sends Vivid images and pains. That dreadful word. Eventually the word quiets. If nobody Says anything it just sits in my brain, Sending me occasional sparks of electricity. But one day, as I simply exist, Someone dares to say That awful word. The word fires a jolt to my brain. I jump up and run away. Running and Running and running from my own thoughts. But there’s no escape. I wonder why I ever Went and found That stupid word. But the most distressing thing Is the way other people Can say it. Without flinching or hesitating, Without lying down and dying, They simply say—somehow they can say— The word. Ava Espinoza, 12 Palo Alto, CA
Hammock
The kids they play around you The dads just back from work They laze and gaze into you, at the lovely sway of the trees of the trees, of the lovely sway of the trees Amity Doyle, 11 Katonah, NY
Endless Months
January January-cold winter air swoops through the chimney but can’t blow out the fire February Bundled up in your house you lay surrounded by your needs of warmth No one can cold you March March makes birds get ready to sing It makes snow into grass It makes a hundred nests built for birds It makes winter to spring to summer to fall April Sing this poem in the showers and dance around with the flowers which you’re delivering to Grandma May May the flowers start off May the luck bloom from thou May the warmth start on In May June The swimming pool is filled with sunlight warming the warm air The breeze feels good, especially when you’re reading a book in the shade under a hickory tree July July is the sweet sticky sound calling the birds and the humidity healing the trees with green August Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot August’s hot September The beginning of fall and the end of summer. Who could ask for more. October Put on your hat, your cloak, your robe, we plead; fall is in session November The harvest on the field looks up to the cold moon December The December rain pains down on the windowsills frozen as ice cackle cackle cackle! It seems to laugh No snow today, just frozen rain Pitter patter The rain spatters across the ground Frost evolves and multiplies itself by the minute As the atoms in the air turn to ice Amity Doyle, 11 Katonah, NY
One Day a Blizzard Came
I live in a snow globe. A little lamp shines in on me. I talk to the lamp, maybe it’s lonely. A door opens. My brain is full of water, but I am not alone. Johnni, Adrian and Oliver are here. Johnni says, Look out, everyone! It’s a blizzard. Oliver counts five pieces of snow on his nose and Adrian jumps like glitter. Everyone stares for a second. Then, their lungs remember to breathe Rainer Pasca, 14 Bay Shore, NY
I Fall Into Snow
and hit ground. I stare at tree. It stares back green. (Come) LOOK! Kite is peeking at the sky. I open the package. (It is the present.) I feel the now again. My legs are hot— doesn’t matter. Can you find tree? Sky crystal kisses me. Snow is moving under my feet like a whisper. I soar like lights pushing out from you. I can’t tell; world is moving so slowly, I think I am flying. I move my head from side to side and go back in. Rainer Pasca, 14 Bay Shore, NY
Snow
Snow Is pretty Like a lilac Blooming. It’s falling Like a skydiver, Except from clouds. It’s melting Like ice cream. It’s gone Like a sad, Sad song. But someday, It will be falling from the sky. Soon. In winter. It does evaporate, After all. Avery DiBella, 10 Salem, NH
The Moon
The moon Shines as bright As the stars In the glimmering So glimmering Night sky. The moon Soothes Me In my sleep. The moon Is soaking With new Dreams That can Be discovered. The moon Is too Bright That in the Gorgeous Night I dream about The moon. The moon Howls And howls Like my dog Because The moon Is the best Pet You could ever Have. The moon Feels like My pillow When I myself Am Sound asleep. Avery DiBella, 10 Salem, NH
