Take Me Back

By Yasemin Khakian

I miss when I was young back in the day,

My mom would tuck me in and make me sleep,

I wish that I could go outside and play,

Lying in bed I used to count the sheep.

I need to go back and relive in my life,

The people used to always be so nice,

I wasn’t even able to use a knife,

I want to play again with my pet mice.

I want to be a little kid again,

No school, no work, just playing everyday,

High school should have never even began,

No one bothered me and got in my way.

Please take me back to when I had no stress,

Ever since then my life is a huge mess.

Education’s Fall from Grace

Sierra Estes

Pens and pencils scribble, words start to flow

Creativity shunned, just memorize

As test grades plummet, anxieties grow

Tired cramping hands and weary squinted eyes

The stress keeps expanding and fuels fresh tears

Stuck in this building we waste all our time

Our countdown continues, just two more years

How’s this torture of young minds not a crime?

We are forced each day to learn by the book

So much is expected from lives so new

Our needs should not be something to overlook

Are top-notch scores all that matter to you?

I say this in regard to all the schools

It must be time for a change in the rules

Olivia H.

Confused

She hides away from the rest of the world

The tears of shame streaming down her face

Her scroll of secrets has now been unfurled

Her dark emotions cannot go to waste

She questions love, for it does not seem real

Her heart has been mangled into a knot

Those blue irises are a shade of teal

She clearly remembers how he forgot

A roller coaster is what she is on

Twisting and turning until she feels ill

She stays in the dark until the bright dawn

Even though she is strong, the tears fall still

There are red rims burned around her blue orbs

They house the secrets that they have absorbed

Eve Ushkurnis

Glowing Beach

The bright and sunny sun glaring on me

The gusty wind touches my sun kissed face

Pink and orange skies is all the I see

The Italian ice is what I taste

I can feel the sand between my plump toes

My friends and I splashing in the water

Being at the beach levels out my lows

Lying on the sand always seems hotter

The long ice cream line is somewhere to wait

The blue sea cost is so very pretty

Any beach is something that I don’t hate

I don’t want to go back to the city

I’ll drive to the beach next time I get paid

I hope the pretty sun will never fade

Chris Grome 

Summer Come Soon

Everyone, waiting for the sun’s sweet rays

The long days come and the short one’s fade

Students counting down ‘til those last school days

Sitting by a pool sipping lemonade

Playing baseball by day, parties by night

Bagging groceries, mowing lawns for cash

Spending it on ice cream, oh we just might

Others act wisely, and save up their stash

No summer curfew, staying out past ten

Taking trips with my family and friend

Going to DQ, eating what we can

Dog days of summer, may they never end

Snow still on the ground, winters here to stay

For now its just a dream, three months away

Hodan Gudal

Wonder

When I look into your eyes, there it is.

Infinite oceans, with waves crashing into one other.

My heart turns into the 4th of July,

Beating faster and faster, at an inexplicable rate.

How is it that someone like you exists?

With 7 billion people in the world, what are the chances that we even know each other?

I don’t know what it is that you do to me.

Is it your ability to make me smile no matter what’s going on?

Is it your intelligence that always takes my breath away?

Is it how I always feel like I'm on a heart racing adventure when I talk to you?

Is it the fact that everything seems so natural with you?

Is it your handsomeness which glows brighter than that of the pearl in the sky?

Is it your dominance over others that makes me feel so protected?

Or how I always get butterflies in my stomach yet feel so familiar around you, like it’s been a long time?

I think, think, and wonder how you achieve all of this and if you’re even aware of how it impacts me so.

But then I realize, that I should stop analyzing, and wondering.

I should just accept these feelings, and let it release my soul.

Melissa Marchetti

The Mystery Game

This game has developed the past few years.

Some would say its one of the best around.

I like to play along with all my peers.

I’m so glad its one of the sports I found.

You play it on a one hundred yard field

With two restraining lines on either end.

Two goalie creases in which you must yield,

Crease violations are often a trend.

You play with a stick and a yellow ball.

Mouth guards and goggles are essential, too.

They’re their to protect you in case you fall.

What is this game I have described to you?

Lacrosse is this great game that I speak of.

It is a game sent from heaven above!

Michael Goldberg

Spring

The air smells like lilacs and fresh honey

The clouds above mend themselves and make shade

When nightfall comes, you will know where I’ll be

Beyond the hills fingering a grass blade

For now the sun shines bright upon my skin

A sensation of warmth runs head to toe

Face up, eyes closed, my mouth begins to grin

The wind picks up a bit the clouds fly slow

Big bees buzz by as if they’re in my ear

A bellflower resembles the vast sky

My rippled face in the river so clear

When crickets sound, it’s time to say goodbye

On the stroll home I enjoy the sunset

Snug in bed I wait for day to reset

Kylie King

Dear B. Virdot,                                                                                                           December 8, 1933

        My name is Elizabeth Rose I am forty years old and the mother of five kids I have two boys and three girls. I saw your ad in the newspaper and was wondering if you could help our family. My husband owned a shoe store that had very good business and we made good money until the great depression began. When the great depression began my husband began to lose business and we were not making as much money as we normally did. My husband had to close our shoe store because we eventually had no business anymore. I also had a job at the grocery store, but I also lost my job there when the great depression began.

My husband recently got very sick and couldn't try to find jobs anymore so my two oldest kids had to drop out of school and try to find jobs to help provide us with some money. We have barely enough money to provide our children with food. My husband also needs medicine because he is sick and we can not afford to get it for him. With it almost being Christmas we want to be able to provide them with gifts and give them a Christmas to remember.I want to be able to give my family water and heat because we barely have any left. We just recently received bad news about how we have a chance of losing our house because of the debt we are in. We are not looking for charity or sympathy, we are only looking for some help, and we would greatly appreciate it if you helped us.                                                                                    

                                                                                               Sincerely,

                                                                                           Elizabeth Rose

                                                                                           3020 May Ave 

                                                                                          Canton, Ohio

                                                                                                  

Dear B. Virdot,                                                                 December 28, 1933

        Thank you so much for the five dollars. I can not even explain how much we appreciate it. My family and I used the five dollars on some food for ourselves,to get my husband medicine and also some gifts for my kids for Christmas. Your five dollars helped our family so much. We hope you had A good Christmas and have a Happy New Year.

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        Elizabeth Rose

                                                                        3020 May Ave 

                                                                         Canton, Ohio

Pink Lemonade by Carolyn Merriam

Pink Lemonade

School is over summer is here to stay

A beautiful day the weather has changed

No stress relaxing by the pool all day

The amount of activities are ranged

By my side a glass of pink lemonade

Ice cubes floating in the refreshing drink

It tastes so fresh because it’s homemade

Made with a perfect amount of pink

Mixed with the perfect amount of sweetness

Lemons picked and then squeezed dry to the core

Put together in the perfect sequence

An invigorating taste to yearn for

Its the little things that made a good time

Pink lemonade makes the summer divine

Resilience

by Gabriela Carrasquillo 

I saw for my first time a real fighter

She has lived only six years at the most,

But no words could describe the strength of her.

Death was awaiting her like an evil host

Yet she showed no fear for what was to come.

She smiled and colored with such delight

The immense scar on her head made me numb;

That scar traced her skull like a nasty bite,

I looked closer and saw more puncture wounds

around her eyes; the absence of hair

Her little body and her little shoes

So innocent yet so much to bare

I look at this little innocent girl;

Such pain and sickness in this precious pearl.

Clancy Clark

Me, You and the Wind

The wind chimes swaying to the sound of the wind

Beautiful noises soothing my tiny ears

Calms me down as my thoughts become pinned

Start to think about the beach and it’s piers

Stuck in the middle of our story blues

And wishing I had you to comfort me

Good thing our love story is on the news

Everybody talks how you have the key

Locking up my heart, you’re being selfish

Sitting here listening to the chimes again

Reminds me of our perfect dating wish

Me wanting you as my own to gain

I miss the way things used to be with us

Just me, you, and the chimes was not a fuss

Soban Peng

Sonnet

What is it like to be in Soban's shoes

Two younger brothers who play XBOX games

Although we share rooms, the question is whose

My mother who keeps on mixing our names

Two older sisters one is in college

In the summer I had a job that paid

One more younger sibling to acknowledge

The younger sister when is in fifth grade

I always fix something when I am told

All year on Saturday I work

Fixing cars no matter how hot or cold

Not always smiling but not a jerk

My family is the Peng Dynasty

People always ask why they hired me

Defiance By Elena Jacob

A beautiful girl, but trapped in herself

She’s self conscious about everything.

A couple of friends, but none that could help.

Like a baby bird, with a broken wing.

Only feels in control when she skips a meal

She works out constantly to stay in shape

She can’t reach out. Who would know how she feels?

She knows it’s wrong but she can’t escape

Her hands go numb, and her body is weak

She knows she should but she can’t take a bite.

Her blood is cold, no color in her cheek

Her mind is torn but she knows she must fight.

Reaching out, she forces herself to eat.

Strong once again, she rises to her feet.

The corrupted heart of the Silver Golem by Brian Zschau

From the heart of the Golem of Silver

With five rising and setting suns above

With the open oceans of quicksilver

Controlled by the Memnarch’s firm iron glove

Protected with myr as its guardian

The Phyrexians soon attacked the plane

Mirrodin needed a strong champion

Mirrodin didn’t have Phyrexian’s bane

The plane corrupted by the invaders

Corrupting every color, even green

Karn’s world brought to its knees by the raiders

The Phyrexians did what was obscene

Starting as Argentum then Mirrodin

Then corrupted by the Phyrexian

Fred Pappas Spring Has Come

Fred Pappas

Spring Has Come

The wind has lulled into a peaceful state.

The flowers begin to all bloom and grow.

The creatures all enjoy the food they ate.

A day this nice, I do not see or know.

The sun does help to melt the snow away.

The grass and plants now show and gleam with green.

I am thankful to be given this day.

The sky has clouds that are perfectly seen.

The air has a crisp feel that I do love.

The smell of freshness I cherish so much.

The sun gets dimmed as it sets up above.

Laying on the grass, feeling the soft touch.

A day perfect as such, has struck me here.

Not to see a day like this one I fear.