week3-09

Just us
By Audrey Jones
Leland and Gray Union High School, Grade 10

Do you know that feeling you get,
When something's just meant to be?
You feel like everything's perfect,
Like nothing could ever go wrong.
You make me feel like nothing matters,
But us.
When our eyes meet, I can't think straight.
My mind goes blank and all I can see are your eyes.
When you smile, words fail me.
My heart skips a beat,
And I can't stop a smile from dancing across my lips, too.
When you put your arms around me,
I just want to fall into them and stay there forever.
You pull me closer, holding me in your arms,
Protecting me,
Even though there's not a sole in the world but us.
When you kiss me,
My heart stops.
Your arms are around my waist, mine around your neck,
And your soft, warm lips are pressed against mine.
I can't breathe,
But I don't want to if it means one more kiss,
Because maybe next time, it'll last forever.
I just hope you don't break my heart,

Growing Pains
By Jasmine Carpenter
Montpelier High School, Grade 10

Child promises broken
Oaths of love gone
Secret hand shakes forgotten
Spy names stolen
Play games left to die
Toys broken
But they’ll never be mended
Now it’s all no more
Thoughts of boys come
Teen-age troubles have invaded
Make-up and gossip
Broken hearts and crushes
Fashion and new friends
But then it all changes again.
Then college comes to an end
The real hardship begins
No summer vacation
No teacher’s pets
No more jungle gym
To swing on at recess
Time for work little one
That’s how the real world is

Self-explanatory content

By Sally Tucker
Hartford High School, Grade 10

I hate
Comparison
I dread
The deep
Judgment
Of difference
I’m irritated
How it
Winds through
Society
Sinking into
Our automatic
thoughts
I loathe
Any second
Glance
That isn’t
Quick acceptance
In my head
Even the
Angry words
I am writing
It bothers me
How you might
Be using
Any negative
Words about
This poem
Because
You're comparing
It to others
Right now
And you
Don’t think
There’s anything
Wrong with that

Doors

By Josie Kerrigan
Hartford High School, Grade 10

Doors open
Doors close.
Doors creak
Doors squeak.
Doors are entryways
Doors are dead ends.
They whisper
They yell.
Doors are big
Doors are small.
They protect
They unveil.
Doors share secrets
Doors keep secrets.
Doors open
Doors close.

The Halloween train
By Taylor Comstock
Brattleboro Area Middle School, Grade 8

Railsville was a peaceful town for the most part, except on Halloween night.
A long time ago, when the railways were first being built through the little town a terrible accident happened. The railway was not supposed to be finished for another week, but all of a sudden an unexpected train was heard rumbling down the track. The crew had not finished the bridge over the wide and deep river that ran through Railsville. It was midnight and the crew was just heading home after a long day's work. Suddenly, one of the workers' dogs started howling toward the moon and then stepped onto the track just as the train whizzed past. The passenger train flew off the unfinished bridge and into the dark depths below. Four hundred and twenty- three lives were lost as the train went down that night, including that of the dog.

Code Hero

By Kerry Johnson
Leland and Gray Union High School, Grade 10

The way a story can change a life
A heart
And opinion.
How a child’s eyes
His smile
His little fingers
Capture ignorance
And innocence.
One would never know
What those eyes have seen
What that mouth has uttered
What those fingers have felt.

But I do….

Those dark brown eyes
Have seen the horror
Of a rifle barrel pointed
To his family’s heads.
They have seen
The fear
Within his mother’s eyes,
The silent surrender
Of his father’s honor.

That chiseled mouth
Has strained to scream
Yet remained still.
It has whispered the words
“Guerillas” and “Nos matan”
(“Guerillas” and “They’ll kill us”)
It has slept for weeks,
Silently obeying
The beatings
And starvation,
Protesting not an option
If life becomes
The desired outcome.

Those smudged brown fingers
Fidgeting to steal the
Guns and claim their freedom
Slowly rub the back of his

The Power of Two

By Lindsay Swanson
Ferrisburgh Central School, Grade 6

Yasdnil opened the big brass doors of her new middle school. Not only did Yasdnil have the weirdest name ever, but she had a pretty unique sense of fashion. She had tie-dyed hi-top socks up to her knees with a matching mini skirt, faded from her wearing it so much, and coated with grass stains. She had on a neon red and yellow shall with a white, frilly button-up shirt under it. Looking around, she knew that her life was ruined.
As kids passed her she could hear whispers and she could only assume they were about her. “I can do this,” she thought, “sticks and stones will break my bones, but…”
She was cut off when she ran right into a boy about her age with frizzy red hair and wide-rimmed glasses. Yasdnil fell to the floor and so did the boy.
“Hey look, the losers are taking a trip together!” taunted a voice somewhere out in the crowd. Roaring laughter was heard all around.

Hands

By Eva Theriault
Champlain Valley Union High School, Grade 9

I watched your hands and
they were young
and mine were old.
I watched your hands click your pencil
and write a
word
that wasn't meant for me.
But I took it.
I took all that you gave me and you shook my hand.
You knew what it was
and maybe you thought I did
and maybe I was
asking for too much
and maybe I wouldn't have shook it
if it wasn't a hand stamped with
"just friends."
My hands were there
that day.
They touched your shirt and
not your shoulders.
Your hands touched my shirt
and not my waist.
But I took it
I knew I had to.
I looked at your hand
little bits of cut-up light
from the DJ
flew across it and
I shook it and it was over
but I thought it wasn't.
I watched your hand grab mine and
I watched you run away
with it
and I followed.
And after you dropped my hand and I wished
you wouldn't and
I didn't know how to thank you and
I never did
and your hands were never

Frivolous

By Shara Rae James
Benson Village School, Grade 7

Frivolous, what a word! I didn’t even know what it meant. I looked it up and this is what I learned. Frivolous - of little importance.
How featherbrained I was, I couldn’t think of a thing to write about. My thoughts were childish, pointless and about nothing of importance. I was upset with myself and got angry; I had a fight with a friend even though the fight was minor, small and idiotic. Light bulb! I realized I was being juvenile. I was being petty and... . Look at this I wrote something. I never thought a word like frivolous would have so much meaning and solve my problems.

Un-Happy

By Sydney MacDonald
Woodstock Union Middle School, Grade 8

The happy
wide-eyed innocence
smiling faces
rosy cheeks
and button noses
they aren't real
only a cover up
for the pain we feel
and the happiness we want

I am from a woman
from a man that once were in love

I am from a true love
from a broken heart

I am from a thousand memories
from the many to come

I am from a first kiss
from a last good bye

I am from laughter
from my family

I am from the heart
from me

A life well-lived
By Lindsay D'Amico
Crossett Brook Middle School, Grade 8

I think that living life to its fullest is important because you’re not put on this earth for very long.
The many years ahead of you aren’t as long as they seem. They drift away like clouds on a rainy day, leaving you breathless.

Take risks and don’t care what other people think, and you should have no regrets.

When you get old and you’re lying on your death bed, looking at your beautiful grandchildren, you should have no regrets.

You should look back on your life as well-lived.
You should be happy, not thinking that the candle that represents your life is about to go out, but that your life was well-lived with all of the crazy things you did, the people you loved and each step you took along the way.