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By Marilyn Stickler

A little spot in the heartland,
A little spot in your heart.
Where families are created,
And legacies carry on.
Where meals are around a table,
And the front of a fridge is your trophy case.
Where names are recycled,
And recipes stay secret.


Untitled

By Taj’Zhere Dillard

Warm evenings -
a slight breeze with the scent of smoked ham
and cornbread for dinner.
BROWN BODIES come out when the streetlights do
FOR FEAR OF BEING SEEN,
dancing and singing to Motown.
Turning bodies into wine
too sweet to taste.


Arcimboldo’s The Librarian

By Kayla Wiltfong

His shoulders are square;
But they are not shoulders.
They are the sharp corners
Of heavily bound volumes
Whose covers are pristine.


Quotable

By Grace Atkins

Dreams become actions
impossible becomes possible
it’s what I love to do
becoming focused on my goals
reaching those limits
passing the bar
once I get a new idea
I go with it
I don’t give up
I would like to change the world


Quotable

By Maddy Hunt

I smile when people ask if I’m all right
But inside I’m screaming and aching
I feel as if my world is an act
I act my smiling when
I want to kick and thrash everything around me
I act my laughing when I want to cry


Quotable

By Ann Preuss

Shhh. Be quiet and search inside. Maybe you’ll find what makes you unique.


Quotable

By Jacqueline Keith

The rustic smell and the crisp turn of the pages let me live out my dreams. They inspire me. They are the fairy tales, and let me escape from life. Then I finish them. And I am devastated. But they complete me, and interest me.


Quotable

By Katie Reeg

Who feels…like nothing is impossible when you try hard enough. Like dreams are never just dreams. Like life is a blank sheet of paper and, everyone writes their own story.Who wants…To do something that goes beyond herself.


Untitled

By Tori Gardner

We’re just dancing,
partying,
smiling. Having

Fun

For once in our lives;
being ourselves, knowing
no one can judge us. It

Is


I Wish

By Anonymous

I wish…
I could run like an Olympian
I could draw without restrictions
I could dance like nobody is watching
I could sing as pretty as a mockingbird
I wish…
I could be a world traveler


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By Hannah McCann

Reading should never just be
considered an option.
A life without reading, not
understanding words, only
spots on a page, with the power
to change worlds, but they’re
dead without a voice, no meaning
till they’re read.


Mother Fletcher

By Tripp Shertenlieb

Full-grown Harlem lady
Eyes as black as night
If caught in a situation
Her decision would be right

Full-grown Harlem lady
Welcomes every child
If one makes a wrong decision
They will be reconciled


Untitled

By Skyler Pippin

I hate putting my family through pain
If I could wrong my rights I would be sane
Until that point I hang my head in shame

I wish not but blame myself

For what I did I know not
Help
They know I do have faith
Even though I’m in this deep dark place


Peaches

By Nancy Green

It was a bad day.
Mysterious,
Big Joe had a bad idea.
He was going to ruin our street.
Big Joe is a bad man.

I will stop him.
I won’t let him do this.
Everybody will hate him.
I’m not just a little kid.
I am going to take charge.


Peaches

By Bryson Vanlandingham

My name is Peaches,
I am not very fond of Big Joe,
I think my mother deserves better than a man with dough.
He is selfish, impatient, and acts like a child,
Even though he helps people, and he has a very big smile.


Haiku

By Micayla Gleaton

Angry and spiteful
Attractive and very tall
Yah I am a teen


Untitled

By Jackie Trammell

I want respect
I need tough love
I want freedom
I need control
I want to be wanted
I need to be independent
I want things
I need nothing
I want the high
I need sobriety
I want happiness
I need reality
I want no judgment


Wish

By Jake Oltremari

I wish I was home
I wish I was stoned
I wish I was high

I wish I could succeed
I wish I would try.


Wish

By Gage Oshman

I wish
I had a tree house
One to sit in all day with my spouse
I would read to the leaves
Feel my hair move with the breeze
A tree supporting so much
Like a caring father that does such
The power to hold all


Quoteworthy

By Eric Gunnarson

Let us lift that burden off our shoulders
And stand straight and tall.
We are and always will be
perfectly imperfect.


Quoteworthy

By Catherine Strayhall

Aren’t all heroes simply the sort of people we live with everyday?


Quoteworthy

By Catherine Strayhall

Before she even rested, it’s time to face the world again.
Some days she wonders: How many others fabricate their grins?
She takes a deep breath of air, and heads out to see what awaits.
After all, curiosity is always one of a hero’s best traits.


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By Hannah Jenkins

Drifting through the world
I let my thoughts wander
what if?
what it might feel like to know...

I kept thinking & wondering ‘til
I am walking out the door.
Head strong but emotionally weak
I let my spirit embrace those that were bad for me.


Untitled

By JDC Resident

I would want someone to
Not judge me
No matter what
Someone who I can trust
Talk to about anything
Feel comfortable around
Someone who will be there for me
When I really need them
Someone who “gets” me.


Untitled

By Brandi Fischer

Everything happens for a reason.
I wish I didn’t make the bad choices that I did.
But we all learn from our mistakes...

I believe.


Untitled

By Joe Howell

Money is everything in this life we live
It’s about what I can get not what to give
Money can make life positive or negative
You have to spend money to make money
Money is to us as a bear is to honey
Why are a rich man’s jokes always funny


Untitled

By Zack Patrick

I always live
To see how much
I can achieve.
I keep the will
And learn the skills.
I always learn to strive
And I will not give up
Till I die.
I work so hard
I’ve made it this far.
I try to blend in
So I stand by my friends.


Untitled

By Benjamin Abbas

Do you know the Muffin Man?
His lifelong dream was to play in a band
Instead his feet are buried in sand.
If he skipped work he would be canned
His boss bringing down the iron hand
Another job he would demand
Ripping hair out strand by strand


Quoteworthy

By Hannah E. Jenkins

I’ll dry your tears, and erase
your fears, in the coming years,
just to always hear your voice in my ear.


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By Jessica Prater

I hear that knock on the door, it is the thunder calling.
Outside there are thousands of pasts,
and would have been future memories.