week28-08

Stark

By W. T. Smith
Hanover High School, Grade 11

Lay faith upon the chopping block,
With thought set close at hand––
I'll bear the blade of ignorance
To seek to understand.

And what survives the chopping block––
The pruning of a soul––
Will last you in your farthest walk
And carried, keep you whole.

So bare yourself in ignorance
And let yourself be shown;
Without your faith to cover you––
With naked love alone.

Haiku

By Tim Nichols
Lyme School, Grade 7

A tiny turtle
Happy, lying in her tank
Sleeping soundlessly

Ode to my Cat

By Jason Paul Harrington
Lyme Elementary School, Grade 7

I see you walking
Majestically like a lion
Your coat
Shining as black as night
Your underside
As white as snow
Your fur
Short
Soft and fluffy
I see you jump
And attack
As dust flies by
I hear you meowing
Asking for love and affection
And receiving just that.

Love

Love is a delicate flower
Love is an awesome power
Love in stranger ways
Can be some stormy cloudy day
LOVE

Fruit Salad

Oranges are sweet
Cantaloupe are too
Apples are bitter
Grapes are just right
Bananas are mushy
Kiwi are juicy
Pineapple are big
Cherries are small
Peaches are furry
Nectarines are bald
Mix them all up
You’ve got Fruit Salad

Similarity

By Emma Redden
Leland and Gray Union High School, Grade 10

Similarity
Lifetimes of milestones
Separate
Lives that are
Beginning,
Ending,
We’ve become
The same
Again.

Getting a Hit

By Kayla Ashley Wood
Dummerston Middle School, Grade 7

A hit!
Deep in left
Past the left fielder
Me
Running around the bases
Coach
Holds me at second
Left fielder
Has a good arm
Pitcher
Throws the ball
I
Break for third
Catcher
Throws down to third
I
Slide in before the throw
Batter
Takes a ball
Pitcher
Threw a wild ball
Catcher
Misses the ball
I
Break for home
And slide in safe
While scoring another point
And advancing the runners
To make us another point ahead
We
Win the game
A lot to a little
And then we celebrate!

What do I Wait For?

By Kaylah Sharpe
Rice Memorial High School, Grade 9

Every year I wait.
I wait for warm, cozy fires;
for a blanket of snow on the cold ground outside.
For songs of joy and merriment to fill the air,
like rushing water filling lakes during a flood.
A tree adorned with colorful decorations.
Lights twinkling cheerfully on the mantle.
I wait to see children outside running up a hill,
carrying their bright-colored sled with them.
The smiles they wear when they go down the steep hill,
accompanied by many screams of delight.
The making of a snowman,
dressed in a furry, wool hat and a matching scarf.
I wait to put on my best clothes and go to church.
At the mass, a small manger set up in front of the altar.
Wise men, shepherds, sheep, angels, Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus.
After mass, parents hand out candy-canes;
the red and white stripes taste of peppermint.
At the house, I wait to make cookies;
sugar, chocolate chip, and gingerbread.
Hands reach for them eagerly.
I wait to set some chewy cookies aside for an expected guest.
People gradually wander upstairs to their warm beds.
Listening in bed, the clock chimes twelve times.
Slowly, people drift off to sleep,
almost like zombies;
dreaming of the next morning.
I wait to wake up early,
run downstairs excitedly, and see what I’ve been waiting for.
Presents, wrapped in red and green paper,
sitting under the beautiful tree.
Stockings hang on the fireplace,
stuffed with goodies and treats.
Everyone laughs happily,
as if the day will never end.
I wait for joy that the Christmas spirit brings.

Acceptance/Rejection

By Liana Johnson
Mount Mansfield Union High School, Grade 12

Trotting
On the icy driveway
In over-sized, clunky, untied boots
Hair whipping
From the force of the wind
Head bowed
But always looking
Toward the destination.

The mailbox.
The envelope.
The letter.

Let it be today.
I arrive at the mailbox.
I stare it down.
Slowly,
Savoring the moment,
I open the door with a drawn out
Creak.

Empty.
No!
Trot back inside

To wait by the window
Rocking furiously in a chair.
It’s on my mind
Nothing else
Can’t think
My future
Determined
By letters
Of acceptance
Or rejection.

Stop rocking.
Stand up.
Out the window,
There he is
The one I’ve been
Waiting for.
The mailman.

Back into my clunky boots
Out the front door
Don’t slip!
I reach the mailbox
And remove all its contents.

Back inside, shuffling through
Bills
Magazines
Junk mail
Everything
Except my letter!

I sigh and flop dejectedly
Into a nearby chair.
Maybe it’ll come tomorrow.

Tapping Feet

By Lindsey LeBeau
Rice Memorial High School, Grade 9

Tap tap tap,
my pencil slid across my paper.
Tippity tap,
it felt like an earthquake.
Stomp stomp,
Was it ever going to end?
Tap tap tap,
It echoed throughout the room, bouncing off the walls.
Tippity tap,
It was like a constant irritating sound that was never going to go away!

Watching People Wait

By Heather Sheltra
Rice Memorial High School, Grade 9

People sit around waiting for life to happen,
Life happens whether or not you’re waiting for it,
Live life like there won’t be a tomorrow,
Don’t sit around waiting for the life you want to lead.
Living, Living, Living

People feel the need for life to move faster.
Time can’t be fast enough
The mall and the airport are full of people waiting for something or other.
Sitting, heart beating, wishing for time to move faster.
Waiting, waiting, waiting.

A father and a daughter sit outside the clothing store as mom shops,
The girl jumps around impatiently awaiting for her mothers return.
The father checks his watch, surely feeling late for something.
They attempt to busy themselves in some sort of entertainment.
Waiting, waiting, waiting

The plane leaves in an hour,
The people wait impatiently to go on their vacation to some place warm.
The kids try to entertain themselves by playing cards.
The parents sit, bored out of their minds.
Waiting, waiting, waiting.

The family sits down to dinner, when they call upstairs to the daughter.
She refuses to come; she sits by the phone, waiting for him to call.
Hours go by, finally the phone rings and the telemarketer begins.
She sits waiting and waiting, when the phone rings and she picks it up and hears his voice.
Waiting, waiting, waiting.

The elderly man sits on the bench across from the cemetery.
A little boy asks him “Why do you sit here everyday for hours on end?”
He replied “I am waiting for my turn to die so I can be next to my wife again.”
The little boy says “Sir why would you waste your time waiting, when you could enjoy life?”
Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

People sit around waiting for life to happen,
Life happens whether or not you’re waiting for it,
Live life like there won’t be a tomorrow,
Don’t sit around waiting for the life you want to lead.

Waiting

By Jake Robinson
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 12

Always waiting
for the next event
never living
for the moment.

So much is missed
time goes by
waiting for nothing
future is a lie.

Life is now
truth is here
to get where your going
you have to steer.

Waiting

By Briana Spangler
Hartford Memorial Middle School, Grade 8

I sit here waiting in this mislabeled room,
Foul smells of sickness and medicine hover all around me.
I hold it in tightly and silently but the longer I wait the more impatient I get.
Dim greenish fluorescent lights hover above me making a noise I can just barely hear.
And then I wait,
Much,
Much,
Longer.
Longer than I have ever waited before in my life,
Longer than I have ever been taught to wait before.
This room is very spacious,
But all the time I wait,
The walls close further in around me,
Creating suffocation around me that I have never known.
I think,
That if I must be here much longer,
In this miserable room,

I will surely lose my sanity,
Waiting.

Through Shiny White Teeth

By Nina Singer
Edmunds Elementary School, Grade 4

Something annoying that my sister does is whistle through her shiny, white teeth. It makes me feel like hitting her. That annoying whistle through her shiny white teeth sounds like a high pitched scream. She does it when she’s happy or nervous or any feeling in between. I’ve tried to stop her but it doesn’t work. Maybe I’ll try earplugs.