Change

I'm getting
A haircut
Today

I'm a little
Worried
This is going
To be a BIG
Difference

If I don't
Like it
I'm a little
Screwed
Pictures are in
Two weeks
Not enough time
To grow it out

And it would
Only get shorter
With another cut

But I need
A change

Hmm...

I used to wish
That I was Peter Pan

I never wanted to grow up

Drama
Guys
Sticky situations
Paying rent
Holding a job

Yuck

Sure
I wanted to be old enough
To get my license and drive a car

That's about it

I hated change
And everything
That came with it

The pain
The insecurity
The long nights

Wondering
What I'd do without
The teachers that'd
Stuck by me
That held me up

Every time
Change occured
I'd cry and be
Depressed

8th grade graduation
Was the most horrifying
Experience of my life

I didn't want to go
To high school
And leave Elfman

I was leaving Mr. H
Who had become a
Great mentor and friend

I was a mess

I knew I'd have my friends
But most of them didn't
Understand what I
Was going through

I didn't want to talk
With my mom or anyone
For that matter

I curled up inside
And cried to myself

I got to high school
It wasn't too bad
I started enjoying it
A few of my teachers
Were pretty cool

All my friends
are changing
their appearance
in the hopes
that they can
show
how much they've
changed
inside.

All my friends
are twisting
in a tide of their own
creation
and all I can do
is watch,
dry on land.

None of my friends
knew
that I don't
need
to cut my hair,
write new words,
that I'm still
changed
anyway.

None of my friends
knew
about you.

I've become what I don't want to be.
I miss the old me.
I can remember when everything was okay.
I'd give anything to go back to those days.

Want back my smile,
Haven't seen it in a while.
Feeling so broken and down.
Can't we turn this around?

Give me back what I'm sure I've lost.
Whatever it takes, I'll pay the cost.
I want things to to be the same.
Don't worry, I'll take all the blame.

Want back my smile,
Haven't seen it in a while.
Feeling so broken and down.
Can't we turn this around?

I want to feel like I belong.
Why did everything have to go so wrong?
I need things back to the way they were
I'm so sick of feeling this hurt.

Want back my smile,
Haven't seen it in while.
Feeling so broken and down.
Can't we turn this around?

Please...

The world has changed.
You can smell it.
Exhaust pollutes the air.
You can see it.
Grass is now concrete.
You can hear it.
Cars growl more than birds chirp.
You can feel it.
Our very air has a more sickly touch.
The world has changed.
Time is the cause.
Time is consuming us,
As time consumes itself.
Soon time will vanish.
When it does, we will vanish too.
No more land.

swagger
you walk you talk, its empty
you think you drink, its empty
what passes through your head when I walk by,
most likely nothing
what passes through your head at all. there's something there but I don’t understand it
I cant understand it
it doesn’t work
your thoughts seem so alien yet so familiar
the things you don’t know and don’t comprehend

I remember that day
we met, again,
accidentally.

Our hands twisted
into their familiar position,
clasped against November,
our feet shuffling crisp leaves
off the sidewalk.
We walked together

to
the store,
where I bought

a snickers bar,
he bought
an apple.
Funny, he said,
Anyone would have guessed
it would be
the other way around.

After school today

( its every morning, every night, every decision, every hesitation, every step forward, every bad hour and every good one, its forever life...)

I’m leaping
And I know
The net is no where
Below me
I’m falling
and
I don’t know how
To catch myself
I’m landing hard
But my feet aren’t
Underneath me
I’m hurting
As I lie broken
Against cement

I had no idea

I ask.
You answer.
I hope.
You promise.

I want.
You give.
I cry.
You console.

But what is that?
What are your promises?
What are you consolations?

You want to make it better,
But you hold back.
You hold back,
And those promises are nothing.
Just words.

For once
I want truth.
For once
I want action.

For once
I am angry.
Angry with the lies

School MY Way
By Cheshta Singh
Albert D. Lawton School, Grade 6

If I could change one thing about my school it would be for kids to rule the school not teachers. I mean, who wants to learn about algebra or when Fidel Castro overthrew Batista? Borrrrriiiiiiinnnnnnggggggg. Snore. If I were principal, I would do more funner things like take a field trip to Hawaii occasionally and surf the waves. Why study about Antarctica when you can visit Antarctica? For math instead of finding an area of a rectangle we would bake brownies and who cares about the area? I would just eat it in one gulp.

I Want my mp3
By Krystal Schraut
Spaulding High School, Grade 11

There are many things I would change about my school. One thing is the new rule enforced on no ipods or mp3 players during class. Just a few weeks ago, the rule was under teachers discretion; if the teacher didn't mind his or her students listening to music during certain activities, like taking tests or quizzes, then the students were allowed. Now however, the administrative has cracked down and has said "no musical devices whatsoever." This new rule should go back to the way it used to be.

Picture of Change
By Ryan Tran
John J Flynn Elementary School, Grade 4

If I could change one thing about my school it would be to make a school mural so we can have something good at our school. When we are older we can go back to Flynn and see what we did in the past and remember what we did before. I think the school mural should be people holding hands around a world and different colors and different languages from different cultures. I think some people will disagree. They might say how will we get the supplies? We can have a fund-raiser to raise money for the supplies. And where are we going to paint the mural? I was thinking of the cafeteria because when the students eat they will remember to respect and treat other people how they want to be treated. My idea is that some teachers and some students can paint the mural on a weekend together. Then people would think school is a better place.

New School
By Holly McClintock
Hiawatha Elementary, Grade 3

If I could change the school,
I would make no rules.
No homework for me!
The principal I’ll be!
If I could change the school.
I would jump around and play,
Much, much, more than just one day.
If I could change the school.
WE COULD SHOUT!!!!
(And give a clout)

Creative Writing
By Alec Ellis
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

If I could change one thing about my school, I would remove the things that help to put a damper on a student’s curiosity and interest in learning. For example, when a student is forced to write creatively on a teacher’s command, it turns writing into a chore for that student. It is likely that he/she will not write anything especially creative because the command of a teacher alone can lack the inspiration needed to actually use one’s imagination and creativity. This could make a student dislike writing and therefore, make it less likely for he/she to write on their own time. I believe that by removing these and other similar aspects of our educational system, students would learn more by finding more enjoyment and gratification in their work.

Quick Change
By Nathan Dike
Hiawatha Elementary, Grade 3

If I could change the school, we would have just 5 seconds of school. We wouldn’t have homework and I would sleep in my classroom. There would be no rules! I would eat in the teacher’s room. The playground will be my backyard, and I will play when I am bored. I will play on the computer all day long. The library is where I’d get all my books. The principal's office is where I’d be the boss of all the teachers.