High School Entries- Page II
When Peace Comes - 2004
Poetry Writing & Reading Event




All one kind

by Jesil PAZHAYAMPALLIL

Living in this land of plenty,
We often forget the poor and hungry.
Millions of children left out in the cold;
Never given a chance to grow old.

And all the while, many prosper and grow,
Their ears deaf to the cries of these souls.
Compassion and kindness is all that they ask
But many feel this is too great of a task.

If only we could view each person
As sister, brother, daughter, or son,
The worth of each life would be
Realized and would see
That we are all one kind;

We are all entwined.
The pain of each felt by the whole,
The pleads of each heart heard by all.

* * * * *

Everyone's Enemy

by Graziella Lo BRUTTO

What is poverty?
Poverty is a state of being poor
Lack of means
Poverty is in depression
A person can have a poverty of love, friends, worries, and comfort.
In natural resources - poverty of soil or of oil.

People can be changed by poverty
It could turn people into criminals.
It drives women to marry for money, not for LOVE.
Poverty makes people think of drastic resolutions to get out of it.

Most of the time a country's citizens are living in poverty.
During the old regime in France, 98% of its population was in poverty.
It created a riot amongst the peasants, of which were all poor.
Poverty can be an effect to the cause of corruption
Which lead to the cycle of divine right, which will hopefully choose a leader
Who will put their nation in peace.

After the Latin American revolution
The creoles dominated the land
Although nothing changed for the better after the revolution.
Poverty, in fact, increased after the war.

Poverty is a chain of problems
Where depth is live and risen
Worries come forth, of whether they can buy food or buy new clothes
Money is scared and spent as little as possible
Life is dependent on money and without money you can fall to the ground.

Can anyone save me from poverty?
Poverty kills
Poverty starves
Poverty is everyone's enemy.

  * * * * *

Prayer for Peace

by Dani ZALIHA

A lonely child weeps and mourns
Beneath a bed so cold...
The war continues outside his doors...
He has nobody left to hold.

One more gunshot pierces his ears,
Another roar shoots through his soul...
He tries to sleep amidst the fear,
The fire is dying, and there is no coal.

His mother's dead body beside him rests,
The blood pours out from his father's head.
His brothers and sisters from hunger have died,
And he lays awake now, as good as dead.

Half way across the world, a little girl hides
Cold and alone beneath her parents' hard yells.
Her life has been torn, split into two,
A girl that may never again hear happy bells.

Not too far away, a little boy mourns,
His brother was shot at school that day.
All the love and compassion, the pride and the joy,
He mourns for the words he'll never get to say!

And all around the world, us children lay awake,
Wondering if this evil around us will cease...
These stories of mourning, weeping and tears
Are nothing more than a desperate prayer for peace.

* * * * *

Women's Long Hard Battle

by Monica KUTIL

They fight hard for their rights,
Yet they are always stepped on by a man’s world.
They are said to be equal after many fights.
Ages back till now they tried so hard,
They gain and lose never knowing if they will ever win.
Ages and ages they try to gain thi one thing.
It is like being born one is a sin

From no say in anything at all,
Only around for man's happiness.
Just looked down at and expected to fall,
Always viewed as inferior.

They have gone very far from those days.
Fighting hard for respect that men automatically receive,
Those were always the ways.
But they were forced to gain their right to be called equal,
Fight for the respect that men get with birth.

So many of them tried and tried so hard and now there's still a sequel.
They fought in the past and they now still fight in the present.
Maybe one day in the future there will be truth to the term EQUAL.

* * * * *

Untitled 

by Brittney LAMBERT

Slavery defines the struggles of African Americans
The one word tore apart our community which we lived within
It took apart our society and brought us poverty
Because of it we could no longer live in harmony.

Where was once peace is now destruction
Where was once unity is now lack of function
The slave masters who raped our women
They tortured us and enslaved our young children
Seems to me that they lacked love for humanity
Things they had us do was complete insanity.

Our fingers were swollen,
Our eyes were red,
We picked the cotton
But still ended up dead.

We may have lost our family, homes, land, and life
But we kept our integrity and made a sacrifice
We never once gave up hope and expectations for our future,
Freedom was near.

Regardless of how hard we try to forget about slavery,
The pain and struggles would always be there.

* * * * *

Believe Me, Time Changes Everything

by Aneta SKOTNICKA

Believe me, time changes everything
Ever since the American Revolution
The time when the air was filled with hardly any pollution
The flag was a patriotic symbol of our nation
And it was the talk of every conversation
It was a symbol of unity, inspiration, and strength
For millions of Americans

When things were getting tough
And the road to victory was getting rough
It was the reason for which thousands of young Americans went to war
To defend their country, flag and law even if it meant being a little sore
Looking up at the flag brings some sentimental value
And staying true
To our country and our flag too
Believe me, time changes everything

The seconds that it takes for a person to blink
Is all the time needed for all of our values to sink
Principles leave the mind real quick
Sort of like a disappearing act or even trick
Society sets their own virtues
Without anything that shows any clue
Of going back to the old ways
The symbol that kept our soldiers fighting for freedom
Was regarded seldom

Sooner than later, the issue became burning
And people didn't seem to be learning
The significance of the flag
Which was receiving less attention than a regular old bag
Believe me, time changes everything

It took a tragedy for people to join in union
Sort of like big reunion
People once again felt pride toward their flag
And took time out from their game of tag
The flag and what it stands for went through a great deal
People all across the country express how they feel.

The recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance
Brought forth lots of controversy and made others tense
Some things like the desecration of the flag still legal
Because they are considered forms of free speech
Believe me, time changes everything

However, everyone has different ways of showing their American pride
But nothing will ever replace the sentimental value of Old Glory, our flag!

* * * * *

End to the Oppression

by Joey RODRIGUEZ

All the hate, all the suffering, will there be no end to the oppression?
Does not man have any remorse for what they have done?
Ever since the first man killed another man, people have become corrupted.
They turn to violent means of solving their problems.

Why must it be like this?
Must people exist like this?
To take away the breath of life,
Just because of their strife.
Is it the color of my skin?
Or if I believe in sin?

Why do people see it this way?
Yet they still live in dismay,
And all the disarray,
Waiting for everything to go away.
For some this is not fit.

They'd rather just sit and watch the world fly by them.
Taking over high in the sky,
And fly through the gleaming towers,
Of what was dear to everyone.
As the balls of fire erupted,
Everyone stood in awe.

Not knowing whether it was fact or fiction.
Their lives ended in a matter of seconds,
They thought they died martyrs for their cause,
But they got no applause.
It was a sad day,

So everyone began to pray,
For the day
When there will be an end to the oppression.

* * * * *

The Light

by Diane DOUGLAS

Through the throng was seen a lighthouse,
A light, a spark of fright.
He who lingered round this luminosity was roused
And his beliefs needed a firm solid ground to erase the plight.

Amid this incipient struggle for this light to shine
There was one who believed himself to be indivisible.
He hastened to emit the havoc on his soil,
Which after several years became truly unbearable.

Then the people realized what used to be clear
Turned into something very arguable and fake.
They asked themselves, "is this man real?
Maybe a hero came to save the day?"

They answered after much deliberation,
"It merely is based at the angle at which one stands,
but still this light has come to save the nation
or to be the oppressor of our fatherland."

* * * * *

Dawn

by Annabel ZAHARIEFF

Does the hatred in this world mean a thing?
Is a life worth less than a diamond ring?
Was this world created for us to destroy?
Can life be played with, like a child's toy?

Our weapons are ignorance, fear, and hate
And the anger and chaos is hard to abate
Everyday we are told what to think and how to feel
But do we stop to ask ourselves: Is this all real?

Why are we afraid to say what we think?
Our integrity and pride is starting to shrink
We are made to feel unimportant and worthless
But ignorant words are always trustless.

Our mental freedom is staunched by society's standards
It is time to free ourselves from this everyday slavery
We must learn to love ourselves, so we can start loving one another
Instead, our emotions are always running for cover.

If we allow ourselves to be bound by the chains of hate,
An unfeeling world I our sorry fate
We must take a stand, and hold our heads up high
If not, our lives will pass us by.

We live our sad lives filled with hate and sorrow
But if we open our minds
Dawn will bring a better tomorrow.

* * * * *

Women through the Ages

by Gina SIERZPUTOWSKI

Women through history didn't have equal rights and privileges the men did.
Women were looked down upon,
They had no value and were there to support their men.
Women were there for the comfort and pleasure.
They had to obey everything they were told,
Being treated as objects.

Through history women were seen as a weaker race of men.
They were tired of being oppressed and decided to rise against
And let their thoughts be known.
Although this didn't work as well as they expected,
They were still determined to fight on.
They were willing to prove that they could do better.

A woman is a symbol of beauty and strength.
She's not just there for support but to make a difference.
A woman has a different way of thinking than a man,
Having two different opinions matter in everything we do and what we establish.

As women worked hard through history, they won their respects today.
Women now have equal rights just as men.
They are recognized to be powerful
Through the Enlightenment period and on,
They gradually earned their place in society.