I didn’t know That going to my new school Would mean four long nights Away from you. I didn’t know I would miss your scratchy face When you kiss me, Wrestling on the bed, Climbing on your back Or into the “rabbit hole” To watch TV together. I didn’t know Just how much I’d miss your funny faces And my favorite Hungarian love song About meeting the girl at seven-thirty Under the stars. I didn’t know How much I loved Your gentle “slamming” me into bed, Your never giving me a straight answer And the footballs we throw to each other. I know now how much you love me Because you drive the long miles To San Francisco Working extra, Returning only after everyone is asleep Just for me. You leave before dawn, but You call every morning and night Just to say you love me millions. The only thing ever scary about you Is losing you. It breaks my heart And unfolds it That you work so long and hard Just for me. Mark Roberts, 10Windsor, California
Poetry-Reflections
The Search for Literature
I run my fingers across the shelves Waiting for one to catch my eye Row after row my fingers run Failure takes a step closer But there in the dusty corner Hidden by the screen of forget Lies the love of my life that will only last a couple of hours Bright red with gold lettering A hard skin protecting its insides No telling what it’s like But I have a good feeling Gently I pick my discovery up To me, it’s a block of gold My breath stirs the grime on top I back up slowly and sit on the carpeted floor Ready for an adventure, I lift the hard cover My eyes move from left to right As the personality of the book in my hands is revealed Connor Park, 12Mukilteo, Washington
A View to Kill
When my dad came home he was not my father, but a king an emperor he had not a gun but a scepter in his hand. It had the power to start or stop my adulthood. He said, “I’m home.” We were in the woods out back. I had spent my whole life looking forward to this, I would spend the rest dreading it. Then suddenly out of the early morning mist came the deer in its entirety. I saw it The deer I leveled the gun Like dense lead in my hands. As soon as I fired the gun I collapsed into an endless space. I remember my last view as if it were a movie frame (cut to black) I saw the deer fall. We both went at the same time. I still recall that fateful day, when I traded a deer’s life for my own pride. Bradley Culley, 11Portland, Maine
