Burlington High School

Natural Disasters

Hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and droughts, all devastating natural disasters well known in the world around us. We’re fortunate enough to live in a state where the closest thing we have to a natural disaster is a snowstorm. Where black ice plagues the streets and roads, and icy cold snowdrops pierce your face as you walk. Hats and coats always being a necessity during the record low temperatures, sometimes even forcing kids to stay home from school due to the dangerous conditions of the roads. Also forcing parents to miss work to watch over the children during the wintry day. All adding up to be the natural disaster of our tiny state.

I have these french verbs
'dancing round in my head
they make me so dizzy
I fall on my bed.

They execute steps
I know nothing about
Then they twirl 'cross the floor
But i don't know the route.

I step on their toes
and receive icy stares
I slide them sweet smiles
But i get tight-lipped stares.

The dance calls for a twirl
But they spin me around
'Til my head is a tail
and my feet leave the ground.

The world keeps on spinning
Around and Around
My head's spinning too
But it's homeward bound

As I lose all my balance
And I fall to the ground
My plastered on smile
Turns into a frown

What right have these callous
and blue nosed verbs
Past tense, conditional
and Imparfait
Have to waltz through my mind
while sipping their brews
when I was about
to have such a nice day?

To get rid of these snobs
while they pose with their punch,
I hang up a sign that says
Quote, "out to lunch"

The True Test

By Blaise Gervais
Burlington High School, Grade 9

TEST TAKING

My pencil, sharpened
Stands at attention,
Ready to destroy any problems
that dare misbehave
by proving difficult, tricky,
or otherwise disagreeable.

My unruly hair has been pulled back-
for the moment;
The boisterous wisps are straight-jacketed,
Unable to cause any unwanted distraction.

My shoes are comfortable,
But my big right toe taps nervously,
Like an eager hummingbird batting its wings
In anticipation of a delicious flower.

My contacts are in their place,
Like the shiny tinfoil that envelops chocolates
I don’t really need them,
But it can never hurt to actually see the test.

The test gets passed out
Like a football player
before a game in the rain.
A crisp white uniform, impeccably clean.
What a pity it will soon be covered
With my countless muddy,
grass-stained answers.

I feel like I am throwing hits
at a heavy leather punching bag.
I clobber it with all my might,
Yet it just swings listlessly back and forth,
Like a corpse that has just been hung.

I come to a problem I don’t know the answer to
I feel like I am stranded in a vast desert
without any landmarks.
My friends all have maps
but that will lead straight to a detention- or worse.

Now my colorful, foil-wrapped eyes
seem to be developing a will of their own.
Pulling my head like a dog on a leash.
Embodied by my hands, my conscience holds my head in place,
Staring blankly at the little black marks;
Ants that are ruining my picnic.

Before I can rationalize, any stupid decisions
I put my name on each page
and PASS it forward.
Now I have PASSed the true test.

Weightless

By Blaise Gervais
Burlington High School, Grade 9

The drops slide down my body
Salt mingling with the pure, honest streams of life
They weave together sliding over the scars,
Of sorrow imprinted on my skin,
Washing away the blemishes
of guilt and regret.

As the water slithers
Like silvery snakes through my scalp
It tickles the nape of my neck

By Dylana Drolette
Burlington High School, Grade 10

Life is a "place and bake" cookie. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s normal and overall, it’s good. We get caught up in the same routine, day after day. I know I do. School, sports, work, homework, sleep. It’s been that way as long as I can remember. However there’s a time of year that everything seems to change. It gets a little happier, and maybe even a little less stressful. People smile more, forget about budgets. And that diet they’ve been sticking to for the past month? Might as well wave it goodbye. That time is from the middle of November to the beginning of January -- the holiday season.

The room
By Rachel Sullivan
Burlington High School, Grade 10

Sunlight cascades through the palatial windows, drenching me in a golden warmth as I stand, stunned, in the most magnificent room I have ever seen.

I hardly know what to say or where to look. I am not even sure that this is all real, that it won’t all disappear if I blink. Honestly, I’m afraid to breathe.

“You like it?” he asks, a smile crinkling the corners of his mouth.

“Like?” I whisper, breathless, “there is no ‘like’ about this.