Wordplay 2014

JUST BUFFALO’S ANNUAL ANTHOLOGY OF STUDENT WRITING

Welcome to Wordplay Welcome to Wordplay 2014, Just Buffalo Literary Center’s annual publication of outstanding student writing produced over the past year in our Writers in Education program.

This anthology is filled with descriptions of life and the world that could only come from the hearts and eyes of young poets. Inside there are dream poems filled with enough lyric and song that you may end up dancing. There are observational pieces about family, and wise poems about growing up.

Building on our Writers in Education program, we recently opened the Just Buffalo Writing Center to nurture young writers by creating an environment where they can explore their creative potential with the guidance of professional writers. With more than 30-years of experience providing inschool education programs, the Just Buffalo Writing Center now gives Buffalo youth the opportunity to attend free after-school writing workshops. Our goal is to provide a safe place outside of school where young people can experiment with language, develop their writing skills and confidence, and discover literature that would never find its way into a school curriculum.

Literature helps to illuminate the world. It shows us ways to change or adapt to the changes taking place in our world every day. The work in this anthology shines a light on those moments we want to remember forever, those moments that somehow changed us. I was honored to have the opportunity to read these poems. I will continue to enjoy them in the years to come, and I hope you do the same.

Noah Falck Education Director Just Buffalo Literary Center

JUST BUFFALO Wordplay VOLUME XV 2014 Editor Noah Falck Cover Art/Page Design Julian Montague Picturing Poetry & Reclaiming Buffalo Manuscript Preparation Lauren Tent

Just Buffalo Administration Executive Director Laurie Dean Torrell Artistic Director Barbara Cole Education Director Noah Falck Finance & Development Director Kris Pope

Just Buffalo gratefully acknowledges the funding support essential to making our Writers in Education programs and this publication possible:

New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature

City of Buffalo Cameron & Jane Baird Foundation Conable Family Foundation Erie County Cultural Funding Garman Family Foundation

Writers in Education programs are provided in partnership with the following:

Just Buffalo Writing Center Coordinator Robin Jordan Executive Assistant Lynda Kaszubski Program Coordinator Hallie Winter Accounting Assistant Julienne Ricchiazzi Just Buffalo Literary Center 617 Main St., Suit 202A Buffalo NY 14203 Just Buffalo Writing Center 468 Washington Street 2nd Floor Buffalo NY 14203

www.justbuffalo.org

Erie 1 BOCES

Meet the Writers Susan Hodge Anner is a poet, playwright, and essayist whose work has been performed both locally and in New York, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, and Washington, D.C. She is a Theatre Instructor at the University at Buffalo, an Artist-in-Residence with Arts in Healthcare, a member of The Brainstormers Theatre Collective, and author of the blog “What I know Right Now.” She is also a certified special education teacher and has taught workshops in improving written and verbal communication skills with students with physical, intellectual, and emotional disabilities.

Robin Lee Jordan’s creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry has been published in various journals, including alice blue review, H_NGM_N, Puerto del Sol, and Paper Darts. She received her MFA in Poetry from Oregon State University and is currently working on a mixed-genre collection. She is the Writing Center Coordinator at Just Buffalo Writing Center, a youth mentor at Gay and Lesbian Youth Services of Western New York, and instructor at the University of Buffalo.

She is a founding member of the grassroots community arts project (B)uffalo (A) rt (D)ispensary.

Rachael Katz’s work has appeared in Paper Darts, NOÖ Journal, iO, Bat City Review, and elsewhere. She has facilitated writing workshops in prisons and rehabilitation facilities with Voices from Inside. She has taught at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Summer Institute for the Gifted, and the Juniper Institute for Young Writers.

Brian Mihok’s work has appeared in Hobart, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, American Short Fiction, and elsewhere. His novel The Quantum Manual of Style was published by Aqueous Books in March 2013. He is an associate editor for sunnyoutside press and also edits matchbook a journal of indeterminate prose Amanda Montei is the editor of the literary journal P-QUEUE, and co-edits Bon Aire Projects with Jon Rutzmoser. Her poetry and fiction has appeared in The Atlas Review, Everyday Genius, Gigantic, Pinwheel, Joyland, Explosion Proof Magazine, Delirious Hem, and others. Her critical writing has appeared in American Book Review, HTMLGIANT, Performing Ethos, Harriet: The Blog, PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, and Ms. Magazine. She is the author of the poetry chapbook The Failure Age (Bloof Books, 2014) and co-author of DINNER POEMS (Bon Aire Projects, 2013). She is currently a PhD student in the English department at the University at Buffalo. Her full-length book Two Memoirs is forthcoming from Jaded Ibis this year.

Cheryl Quimba received an MFA in poetry from Purdue University. Her poems have appeared in Dusie, Phoebe, Tinfish, Everyday Genius, 1913, and Horseless Review. Her chapbook, Scattered Trees Grow in Some Tundra, is forthcoming from Sunnyoutside Press. She is the poetry editor of Free Inquiry magazine, and works for Starcherone Books and Prometheus Books in Buffalo, NY.

Sherry Robbins has conducted creative writing workshops throughout New York State and abroad for more than 30 year and works with hundreds of students each year. She has a Masters in the poetics of ecstasy and two books of poetry, Snapshots of Paradise and Or, the Whale. Sherry ran her own letterpress for years, is a certified yoga teacher, and a multi-year panelist for the NEA’s Art Works program.

Gary Earl Ross is a retired UB/EOC language arts professor. His works include the short story collections The Wheel of Desire (2000) and Shimmerville (2002); the children’s tale, Dots (2002); the historical novel Blackbird Rising (2009); and the stage plays Sleepwalker (2002), Picture Perfect (2007), The Best Woman (2007), Murder Squared (2010), The Scavenger’s Daughter (2012), The Mark of Cain (2014), The Guns of Christmas (2014), and Matter of Intent, winner of the 2006 Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America.

Jon Rutzmoser is an artist, writer, and educator living in Buffalo, NY, where he also co-edits Bon Aire Projects with Amanda Montei. His recent poetry has appeared in P-QUEUE, Concord Press #1, Drunken Boat, and Joyland. His critical writing has appeared in X-TRA, Prism of Reality, artforum.com and others. He has performed at venues such as Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and Nexus Gallery. He is the author of shhhh! it’s poetry (Insert Blanc Press, 2013). He teaches Freshman Composition at SUNY-Buffalo.

Divya Victor received her PhD from the University at Buffalo. She the author of Partial Derivative of the Unnamable, PUNCH, and Goodbye John! On John Baldessari, Hellocasts by Charles Reznikoff by Divya Victor by Vanessa Place, and SUTURES. She has two books forthcoming, Things to Do with Your Mouth (Les Figues Press) and UNSUB (Insert Blanc Press). She is a member of the publishing collective Troll Thread Press and a writer for Jacket2, the database for commentary on modern and contemporary poetry and poetics.

Janna Willoughby-Lohr has been writing poetry since she was 5 and performing since age 12. She holds a B.A. in Entrepreneurial Creative Business Arts from Warren Wilson College. A Grand Slam finalist in 2005-2008 for the Nickel City Poetry Slam and a member of the 2006 Nickel City Slam team at the National Poetry Slam, Janna is also an editor for Earth’s Daughters literary magazine, the longest running women’s publication in the country. She has been performing with her band, BloodThirsty Vegans since 2008. They are currently at work on their second studio album. She also runs her own business making handmade paper and books and teaching workshops

Meet the Book Artists & Photographers Joel Brenden is an artist and educator working within a broad range of disciplines including photography and bookmaking. A native of Washington State, he received his MFA in Visual Studies from the State University at Buffalo in 2008. His recent exhibitions include Beyond/In Western New York: Alternating Currents & Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center. Find him online at thelessyousee.com.

Kate Ebling is an artist and educator from Buffalo, New York. She received her Bachelor’s of Science in Art Education with a minor in Art Therapy, as well as her Masters’ in Educational Technology from Buffalo State College. Kate has taught in both public and special education schools throughout the area, and has worked with CEPA Gallery since 2011.

Nikki Gorman is the Lead Teaching Artist for CEPA Gallery. Originally from Syracuse, NY, she received her B.F.A. in Photography and M.Ed. in Teaching in and Through The Arts from the University at Buffalo.

Catherine Linder Spencer is an award winning artist and art educator. Her work has been exhibited widely in museums and galleries throughout Western New York including the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Burchfield-Penney Art Center, and The Castellani Art Museum. She recently completed a one-year fellowship program through the New York Foundation for the Arts. In addition to exhibiting in local museums and galleries, Catherine has participated in many public art projects including “Herd About Buffalo” and “Art on Wheels.” She is represented by Studio E Partners in Washington, D.C. Her work is in private collections across the United States.

6

Justin S.

The River The art of a river is not to forget the river is destined to be new and to sing.

Grade 3

Akron Elementary School

Brenden Waters

I Am I’m everything. I’m a mixed juice of races: Irish, German, Scottish, with a hint of Cherokee, every ounce is a portion of my life.

I’m the shell and the core, the rhythm and the rhyme, a shadow in the night no one sees, no one notices, but I’m everywhere.

I was born from the ashes of my ancestors.

The ashes will burn again, they will burn brighter than the wings of a phoenix.

PS 27 Hillary Park Elementary

Grade 7

7

8

José Iglesias

Season’s Change There used to be grass on the ground, but now there’s snow.

In winter, I sleep and drink hot cocoa.

The snow makes sounds like hibernating bears. And trees, the trees sleep like newborn babies.

Grade 4

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Charles Nowak

When I Saw A Hawk When I saw a hawk on my trampoline I jumped on the floor while my friends said, “Play Dead!� I studied the detail of the dark brown feathers while the hawk fell on me.

I felt the smooth, but sharp beak pierce me. My friends just stood there, perfectly still. I saw the hawk die in my mind by the power line, falling like confetti.

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 3

9

10

Maika Bird

A Night Like No Other Mountains overlapping seas.

A spring night, bright enough to work, dark enough to rest.

Trees hovering over the ground.

No sun.

No moon, just the sky to lead the way.

Only you and the night.

Just let the sky lead the way.

Grade 4

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Milagro Lopez

Trees The tree smells like tropical fruits.

When I touch it it feels smooth.

It is

a tree with no leaves.

When the

leaves are off it’s a

new life.

The tree

used to look like

a day with light, but

now it looks like a dark, dark shadow.

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Grade 4

11

12

Timothy Burtis Jr.

The Ocean Breathes The ocean is bright as the wide blue sky. I can see fish swimming in the water. You can see a boardwalk. The sun coming down into the water.

It is shining brightly.

The ocean breathes water all over me and now I am wet because of the water.

Grade 4

PS 72 Lorraine Elementary

Sean M.

BEAUTIFUL NATURE* The

sensible reply,

the ray of her star.

First view

and familiar glimpses.

Dark morning stillness

strike the eye.

Watching the sunrise

on the

tideless sea of the South

opening into the meadows.

*poem generated from a page of Jane Eyre

Nichols School

Grade 10

13

14

Asha Kartha

Waxen Earth Seek the blind tulip seed in its prison called the ground.

Familiar songs waft from June treasures.

Mysteries creep down my neck like a charmed bloom and then we become your home.

Grade 4

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Xaiveria Butler

The Blanket When I was 10 my mother gave me a blanket.

It was small and blue with a white bunny that said “It’s all about me. Deal with it.” I received it on a visit to see my mother in Alabama. On her deathbed she gave it to me. She told me it was something to remember her by.

Me, her, and my sister spent my weeklong visit talking, going over the good times we had together. Then I had to go home. We said our goodbyes. I got on a plane and flew back home.

One day the next week I couldn’t sleep. I went to the living room wrapped in the very same blanket.

I sat next to my grandmother. Then she told me my mother had died. I spent the next week wrapped in the blanket. No crying. Just enveloped in my own sorrow. No funeral. Just lying on a blanket in my bed. The blanket still sits in my room. Tattered, burned, cut, and stained. Just like its owner.

Oracle Charter School

Grade 12

15

16

Kara Gill

The Clothes Bring me your destiny and I can help you with it and see you off like a baby bird into the wild world.

Grade 3

Enterprise Charter School

Madeleine Kania

My Mom My Mom, one who I remember.

Her hair flows behind her back like the wind.

Her eyes twinkle like little stars at night.

I remember her being kind when going

to work.

I remember her getting to

go to work to help poor ones at Gateway.

Her favorite color, pink, twinkling all over her.

My dad calling her Cat every day of my life.

Good at driving but sometimes gets a TICKET.

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 3

17

18

Gabriel K.

The Shadow The shadow is black.

The shadow dreams, he dreams of running in the grass.

The shadow wants to be free, wants to climb a tree.

He is screaming for help.

The shadow needs to play in the leaves and hear them crunch. He wants to be 3D. The shadow is getting dragged on the sidewalk.

He can’t hear the noisy cars vroom vroom. The shadow can’t hear the bee’s buzz bzzzz bzzzz.

Grade 4

PS 72 Lorraine Elementary

Gloria Lukozi

The Abandoned Building This abandoned house is as cold as a freezer. I am walking outside. It is dark like the end of the world.

I discover it’s as empty as an empty cup. I see lights on and it is bright as the sun. It comes from inside the abandoned house. The snow is as white as sugar. It is windy like I’m blowing away. It used to be beautiful like a sunset at the beach. But now it is as ugly as a rotten tree. There are signs as white as snow. I taste the air.

It tastes like frozen ice cream. I hear cars passing by. I feel relaxed.

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Grade 4

19

20

Hannah Raybon

Sounds The sound of coyotes whistle through the wind.

Bats’ screeches roar through my window and into my ear.

Candles flick and flicker, shadows dance on my wall as I try to sleep. I listen, I hear footsteps coming closer and closer.

Then when I open my eyes, nothing is there.

Grade 3

Akron Elementary School

Pasha Jones

My Father He left on a sunny day and never came back, anyway.

I was left weeping on my bed and thinking in my head – is this my fault?

No, my mother said, but my heart is still broken because he never said, it isn’t your fault.

PS 27 Hillary Park Elementary

Grade 7

21

22

Tashiana H.

A Girl Named Shyana This is about a girl named Shyana who struggles with a lot in her life, like the way she dresses and her crazy hair days. People talked about her mom and about how she’s nothing. So she decided to be as strong as a branch on a tree.

Grade 7

Enterprise Charter School

Jacob Koziej

Who Am I I am a monkey swinging from tree to tree I’m a hurt deer who is shot in the leg I am my mom’s peanut who is a little small but really strong I am the lord of heaven who keeps everything calm I am a cello that makes the dark sound I am a light blue sky that never turns gray.

Akron Elementary School

Grade 3

23

24

Gia Krause

My First Birthday On my first birthday so many people came and gave me hugs and kisses, kids wacked a pi単ata, all the goodies came out. I crunched some wrapping paper.

Then we all said goodbye.

Grade 3

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Kyshawn W.

The World of Wishing I’m thinking of a person who could go somewhere else, fly all around the world or pick flowers or float in the air like a bird or wish he or she could run fast as a tiger or was a tiger mixed with a lion or a house cat mixed with a bobcat or a doberman pinscher that was 7 feet tall or a polar bear mixed with a wolf.

PS 72 Lorraine Elementary

Grade 4

25

26

Carlos Rodriguez

The Snow Outside The white snow on the house looks like ranch dressing.

The icicles look like a cone of cotton candy.

If the snow outside was all candy, I wouldn’t eat it all myself.

I would share it with the people that don’t have any.

Grade 4

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Alejandro Castillo

Beyond what is beyond those trees so near to each other as if they are a gate blocking my way to freedom?

PS 72 Lorraine Elementary

Grade 4

27

28

Arianna Morris

Happy A helpless creature…cornered.

A scared soul…not cared for. The air was as brisk as the Arctic tundra.

Sores lay upon the animal’s back.

Scars emerge on his skin.

Suddenly a loud noise tore

through the air and the sun was kidnapped. When the animal was fully aware of what was going on his tail began to wag.

A young girl kneeled down

and kissed the creature’s cold wet nose.

The brown animal kissed her back.

He plopped himself down on a cushion. He was warm, comfortable, and happy.

“My life? My life. My life. A happy one indeed!” said the dog with a wagging tail. “Thanks. Thanks a lot.”

Grade 4

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Dekari Jackson

Forever As I look back, I also look forward.

So you’re getting older by the second.

Now I’m almost 10 and still I haven’t forgotten my imaginary friend. I still ride down the stairs in a laundry basket (occasionally).

This is you. You are getting older, yet this is the youngest you’ll ever be again.

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 4

29

30

Shea Masse

The Night Owl Deep in the woods the moon is shining the owl is hoo hoo hooing on a bare branch in the dark night leaves are swaying the acorns are falling the owls have just awakened the night has just begun.

Grade 3

Akron Elementary School

Sincere W.

On the Bus I remember everybody was talking and it smelled like summer and wood polish.

Kids talking and playing with each other, throwing things at each other.

I remember I was looking out the window seeing kids playing basketball and a car honking its horn.

PS 80 Highgate Heights

Grade 5

31

32

Sophia Crapsi

My Memory It was noisy waiting for it to open.

It was closed.

It finally opened.

Me and my family were there, my mom, dad, two sisters and my brother.

We rode on rides, we had fun for about an hour‌ then Boom, Crash, Plip, the rain poured shhh down the window.

Soon it covered the grounds and made a shoop sound as we waded through it.

We ran to the car soaked to the skin.

Grade 3

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Naomi Marti

Hopscotch She hop

scotches like

a bunny

through the

evening sky

one foot

two foot

one foot. She asked like she

always asks

when she

sees other friends hopscotching if

she can join

in they say yes and they play together

day and

night til

it is

time to come in

the house

and she hears the crickets say goodnight.

Enterprise Charter School

Grade 3

33

34

Aliyah Smith

Being Judged Being cool or being lame, being judged if you are not the same.

It’s so sad what this world has become, being judged because of where you are from.

The dogs will bark and the cats will meow, but we are not all the same so just be proud.

Grade 7

PS 27 Hillary Park Elementary

Ruby Soudant

Belong brave as though the wind whispers in my ear I belong to the earth then the wind takes me lets me soar in the sky so fast up then at last I float sitting on the clouds taking in the beautiful sight of dawn warming my soul not hot but warm and perfect, then slowly descend grasping onto where I once was deeply wanting the feeling to last forever.

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 4

35

36

Naiemah Cooper

Dream Dream Dream I dream of being a cloud soaring through the sky letting the wind carry me in the cool cool breeze like leaves dancing everywhere in the air. I dream of the wind singing to me a sweet lullaby while I drift off to sleep.

I dream of meeting the sun, seeing its bright beautiful glow. Dream big. Dream small.

Dream of everything you want. Follow your dreams and they might just come true.

Grade 5

PS 72 Lorraine Elementary

Mildred GarcĂ­a

My Creative Moments with the Room The room was like a turned off light.

Now, it is alive like a playground at summer.

The room was like a book without pages.

Now, it is a beach in daylight.

Before it was like a dead bird.

Now, the room is like birds singing songs.

Later, it will be like a desert at night.

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Grade 4

37

38

Nicole Luko

Ambition Should Be Made Of Sterner stuff.

Harsher stuff.

Made to add to life.

Ambition is just an addition that should be in your life.

The drive to be the best, to be above the rest, a dream I know all too well.

A dream to buy.

A dream to sell.

Filled with colors - blue and red a monster hiding under your bed.

Leading you into the dark with only a flashlight to hold, not knowing what you possess is actually pure gold.

Grade 9

Nichols School

Megan Olson

The Sky The light is coming from the sky. I can feel the cold air going right through me, it is brisk outside. I can hear the birds singing to me, they are chirping, they are talking.

You can see the leaves falling from the trees. The sun shining from the sky – pretty sky, so blue. The trees are shaking. The trees are like pencils, they are so skinny. The leaves blowing all around.

PS 72 Lorraine Elementary

Grade 4

39

40

E.P.R.

It’s A Mystery People walking, staring, standing.

There are many possibilities about where they are going.

Nobody knows, it’s a mystery.

Maybe it’s on a journey through their country where a tiger comes and rips their clothes and takes out their souls.

Nobody knows, it’s a mystery.

It is possible that they are trying to escape from themselves, to find a new life.

Nobody knows, it’s a mystery.

All of them have a wolf howling inside them.

I don’t see anything sad I don’t see things that make me cry I only see fractured hearts.

Grade 4

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Jada’Lynn Vasquez

The Church The church is white

birds. The

church helps people

pray for God. They

sound like

a bell.

The window sounds like

wind passing by the church.

The church

white as

wind.

Enterprise Charter School

Grade 3

41

42

Calogzaro Perez

Dirt!

Dirt is a hopeless object Dirt is like overcooked ground beef Dirt smells as if it were dead Dirt sounds like the death of a boy Dirt feels like little twigs broken apart The dirt is like a sheet of black paper

Grade 4

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Caleb Morales

That Night It was dark and cool It was boring and noisy In a little house crowded Reading a book No one could sleep Everybody was crying

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 3

43

44

Eight years ago, we joined forces with our collaborative partner, CEPA Gallery, and formed Writing with Light, a joint education program, bringing together photography and writing.

The work highlighted in this section was created during one of our Writing with Light programs - Reclaiming Buffalo or Picturing Poetry.

Reclaiming Buffalo introduces students to 21st Century Skills through combining photography, computer literacy, and creative writing into one overarching project. Students begin by photographing buildings in their neighborhood that they wish to “reclaim.” Using Photoshop, students transform their “before” image into an “after” image and write an accompanying piece that puts their vision into words.

In Picturing Poetry, students first learn the elements of photography from a CEPA Gallery teaching artist before taking home their own black-and-white cameras to practice what they have learned. Once their photographs have been developed, students exercise their critical thinking skills in selecting their best image. Then, over the course of multiple writing sessions, students compose original poems inspired by their photographs.

Danni Jo Bechtold

Tapestry High School

Grade 9

45

46

Denzel Crockett

X XX

Grade 11

Health Sciences Charter School

James Wagner

X X

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 5

47

48

Esther Gardner

Grade 4

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Caleb Chapman

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 4

49

50

Maya Eason

Rabbit I love my grandma, I got my nickname from her, she’s rabbit and I’m squirrel.

Her hair is light red.

Her laugh makes you want to dance.

She doesn’t have a real job, but she can start a party.

She has a white car, and a driver’s license but doesn’t drive.

She always sings “Jesus, keep me near the cross.”

She makes tea bag tea, cut open the teabag and pour it in.

I always tell her I’d rather get a spanking than get her lectures.

Grade 3

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Matthew Covell

The Wren in The Jungle I see a small, soft wren in a lightning storm.

The wren is by its nest.

It is holding one of its feathers in its mouth. It is standing on a branch. It is in a jungle.

The jungle is very alive.

The nest looks like it is falling down. The wren is by a lake. The lake is by a rocky mountain.

The leaves look bigger than ever.

Akron Elementary School

Grade 3

51

52

Grace D.

Yeah, Maybe She Should Smoke I remember when I was three I would sit on my mom’s lap and start discussions.

I would ask uncalled for questions. One day I said “Mommy, why do people smoke?”

She said “Because they’re not very smart.” A few days later we watched a movie together. A girl in it did something that was not very smart.

My mom said, “That was not very smart.” I said, “Yeah, maybe she should smoke.”

Grade 3

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Shy-Lynn L.

My Beautiful White Wall It is too hard to learn languages. It is scary to be afraid. You look beautiful.

It is easy to look into your eyes.

It has been an hour. Ring ring, there goes the school bell. How many months until autumn? Do not go crazy.

To go crazy is to lose a game. It is time to go home kids.

Akron Elementary School

Grade 3

53

54

Clarence T.

Brother My brother was standing against a red brick wall smelling the market at the corner as I was drinking iced tea I heard people talking loud as televisions. My brother asked me to take the photo with a smile as bright as the sun when I was looking at him he was standing as straight as a statue when I took the photo the flash was as bright as the moon.

Grade 5

PS 80 Highgate Heightss

Breanna Carnahan

That One Writer I’ll be that one writer that my old self adores.

I’ll be the one you’ll never meet.

I’ll make some hearts soar and some beat like you made mine.

I won’t be a fake or a fraud.

I’ll just kindly reshow what I saw.

With no regret or sorrow I’ll make my own story.

With hope, I’ll make a heart shine like you made mine.

PS 27 Hillary Park Elementary

Grade 7

55

56

Sarah-Elizabeth Noel

The Night Sky Falls The night sky falls and starry portals open.

People in boats start rowing.

The starry portals guide them.

They ship off to their destination.

They are off to a land where anything can happen.

When they reach the land the starry portals disappear and they are in tomorrow, a land that never ends.

Grade 4

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Maria Chew

Flowers It used to be a sapling now it is full grown. My baby blue flower was as lonely as the moon covering the sun.

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Grade 4

57

58

Sol Estrada

the world, a sideways smile the world, a sideways smile turned the sea into beauty and simplicity a vertical distraction changing challenging glowing entwined pierced translucent

covering dreadful love blemished scarred and spotty is our human perfection tempt and lure blissful envy

bloody serenity stitching beauty paint divine

Grade 10

Hutchinson Central Technical High School

Jordon H.

The Day With My Family The day I went to my dad’s dogs were barking, sisters were screaming, TV was talking, sun was rising, and then crying, crying. I tell you, mad, sad, happiness, going on. People taking showers, people playing outside on their scooters and bikes, people going in the grass, falling in love, oldest sister crying, she thought she was in love, I guess she wasn’t. People eating pasta and funnel cake. Let’s see what happens the next day. Come on, let’s see.

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 3

59

60

Winter L.

Mama Tú es un Artista tú hacer un azul briza cuando es oscuro, tú pintar pocos luz con tu bracha magica Tú es coloroso todos los dias porque yo es tu inspiración

Mother You’re an Artist you make a blue breeze.

When it’s dark you paint light with your magical brush.

You’re colorful every day because I am your inspiration.

Grade 3

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Dante Feliciano

North And South Birds don’t wait for you to harden.

They sing, mate, fly from your garden.

Heavenly bodies combust.

You stand ignorant beneath shallow gates.

Nichols School

Grade 10

61

62

Ella F.

Song As the trees swayed, a single cricket sang a song to the girl sitting in a tree listening to the song but looking at the river.

Grade 3

Akron Elementary School

Alvin Ashaba

The Therapist And The Criminal Empty is the heart Which is yearning for love Empty is the land Which is burning that dove He sits there asking questions In this empty room I can’t clean up life’s mistakes with a broom Most of his troubles are a tornado Which sucks up everyone in his life His solutions are something That would earn you a wife But, though he is dangerous, That is true, This won’t stop him From loving you.

PS 27 Hillary Park Elementary

Grade 7

63

64

Cayli Enderton

Cannot I cannot draw her eyes even though I try I get one done color it in But it’s not the color of the sky so blue so bright

Grade 8

Elwmood Village Charter School

Falena Berdine

At The Beach The touch of the sand on my feet as I stand cold juice gushes into my mouth then I step into it cold as ice I run right back to the sand.

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 3

65

66

Loisa S.

A Stormy Day We got off the bus and walked into a storm. We ran inside and put our stuff down and played. We heard the thunder rumbling down like rocks on a hill. The ground shaking like an earthquake. We see the sky flash like a flashlight as we play with our dolls in the living room.

Grade 4

Enterprise Charter School

Leif Anthony

Gold, Wind, and Fire Swoosh Swoosh the South Dakota wind would push.

All the plains and fields are golden as can be.

The sun is burning down on me.

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 3

67

68

John Fiegel

The Water Mirror I was dreaming of walking to the sun. The water was quiet as an ant, the sun bright as shiny gold, the wind like a small tornado.

I was dreaming of walking to the sun. The water was a mirror reflecting the sun.

Grade 4

PS 72 Lorraine Elementary

Matthew Iannarelli

The New World One day the first sea formed.

Deep in the heart of that sea lived the biggest fish, the biggest sea creature that ever lived.

One day the fish came up and poked its head out of the water.

The fish looked into the sky and saw the bright yellow newborn sun.

The fish closed his eyes and then opened them again and said “Wow! what a bright beautiful new world.�

Akron Elementary School

Grade 3

69

70

Viviana Hernandez

I See And I Wonder I see light dripping off the sky but I see no darkness I see the homes of millions but I don’t see any people I see trees on the ground but I see no nature I see love but I see no two souls I see the spirit of the princess but nobody I see the water I see what I wonder

Grade 4

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Aleisha Colón

Water Now the sky looks like a black jacket. The water is changing from hot to cold like the seasons.

The water used to sound like a river splashing into a rock, but now it is silent.

The water used to pop like a balloon, but now the water doesn’t pop at all.

The water used to spread like the snow, but now the water falls into the hole. The water hopes to be as blue as the sky, but it is as black as a jacket.

PS 3 D’Youville Porter Campus School

Grade 4

71

72

Yadelis Hernandez

The Shadow The shadow is like the sun saying nothing, blank as white paper.

The shadow is like people raising their hands up to heaven.

Shadows represent the same thing as us.

Grade 3

Enterprise Charter School

Chloe Milliman

Leo He plays with me after we are done with our homework.

He has blue shiny eyes and light brown hair, with happiness inside.

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Grade 3

73

74

Gianna Franco

My Other Life and My New Life When I was young I used to be the wind in the trees the water in the sea the birds in the sky. I used to be the horse or lion now I just play with the horse or play with the lion.

It is not so bad to get older.

I climb through the grades like a ladder going up and up and up.

I still am the King of my land.

Grade 4

PS 64 Frederick Law Olmsted

Anya Schulman

City Blurry – a rearview mirror, eclipsed by someone’s brights Bleeding, running, ink spread red rivulets escaping a pulse.

Kaleidoscope turn, merry-go-round of memory imagined and remembered again.

Sunlight filmy, blinding, cruel on a cold day, permeating unseen cracks.

City – speeding, living, breathing, escape into color and form and clash

Nichols School

Grade 12

75

76

Emily B.

The Moon Spirit As I walk on the Chinese beach the carvings of a stone speak to me of wonder. I look to see a whale.

He said, “The moon visited me.”

“Who?” I said.

“The moon,” he said and went away.

That night I met the moon of poetry.

She speaks!

I enter her palace to live forever.

Grade 3

Akron Elementary School

INDEX Alvin Ashaba Leif Anthony Danni Jo Bechtold Falena Berdine Maika Bird Emily B. Timothy Burtis Jr. Xaiveria Butler Breanna Carnahan Alejandro Castillo Caleb Chapman Maria Chew Aleisha Colón Naiemah Cooper Matthew Covell Denzel Crockett Sophia Crapsi Grace D. Maya Eason Cayli Enderton Sol Estrada Dante Feliciano John Fiegel Giana Franco Ella F. Mildred Garcia Esther Gardner Kara Gill Jordon H. Tashiana H. Viviana Hernandez Yadelis Hernandez Matthew Iannarelli Jose Iglesias Dekari Jackson

63 67 45 65 10 76 12 15 55 27 49 57 71 36 51 46 32 52 50 64 58 61 68 74 62 37 48 16 59 22 70 72 69 8 29

Pasha Jones Madeline Kania Asha Kartha Gabriel K. Jacob Koziej Gia Krause Shy-Lynn L. Milagro Lopez Winter L. Nicole Luko Gloria Lukozi Naomi Marti Sean M. Shea Masse Chloe Milliman Caleb Morales Arianna Morris Sarah-Elizabeth Noel Charles Nowak Megan Olson E.P.R. Calogzaro Perez Hannah Raybon Carlos Rodriguez Loisa S. Anya Schulman Aliyah Smith Ruby Soudant Justin S. Clarence T. Jada’Lynn Vasquez Brenden Waters James Wagner Kyshawn W. Sincere W.

21 17 14 18 23 24 53 11 60 38 19 33 13 30 73 43 28 56 9 39 40 42 20 26 66 75 34 35 6 54 41 7 47 25 31

77

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