Welcome back to the 2014/2015 school year. I hope to see ample posts from my students this year. Remember, you can receive extra credit for writings, drawings/paintings, photography, etc., or for comments on the work of others.

I will start us off with a poem I wrote when I was in high school. Enjoy!

Individuality

Underneath our skin

lies our own distinction, our own personality

here our own uniqueness lies

only for us to see, and it’s up to us to

show the world who we are.

Inside our hearts lies our need to love

And be loved, a place for others to give

compassion and love.

Our eyes hold our view of the world

our perception, our possession

where our passions lie:

Individuality.

In our minds lies our strength to decide

our ability to choose

It is from here that we accomplish

our legacy

follow our fate

and make our name.

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.