BURGUNDY CRICKETS
my mom used to live in Russia
in a house with a burgundy bloodstain
in her dress
every time she put it on a cricket
would crawl in her hair and sound
she got tired of the crickets so she
moved to egypt and fell in the nile
she saw a crocodile with its triangle-
like eyes
as she leapt out of the water she could have sworn she
heard an orchestra
Emma Beazley
grass machine
I hear them all around they move with the wind
and as sneaky as a snake I haven’t heard a lawn mower
in a year weeds are as tall as a mountain
they taste like nothing I think there is a trend
they say they want the land
Gabriel Griggs
The Grammar
Grammar do you like soup
do you like stuff to be neat
do you like school
But most of all are you
trained in martial arts
Nicholas Mabry
Sky Blue Canada
One night I heard a wail from the
kitchen, a noise like a chorus of hyenas
howling to the beat of a pot and
wooden spoon drum.
The sky blue moose howled upon the
peaks of Canada.
The crimson snake wound up the
banana tree like a bloody corkscrew,
scaring all the monkeys.
The octopus snapped at me, then climbed into
the sink and turned the water on.
The little seal barked and his family
joined him. Soon the polar bears
joined them, growling, then wolves howling, and
then the orcas. The glacier was alive
with sound, like an icy orchestra.
Parker Smith
Scarlet Denmark
An ear-piercing sound emerged from the kitchen and it was a screaming oven.
The scary scarlet kangaroo from Denmark was flying in the air.
An immortal purple chicken emerged from the horizon with a massive wound.
The blue cockroach was struggling to stay alive in the puddle of water.
Trumpets and tubas together sound incredible in this orchestra.
Jack Dignan
The Whisper
Do you know you drive people
insane? Do you spread
rumors on purpose? Do you
sleep with one eye open?
Do you talk behind my
back? Do you like
the attention it brings?
Kaitlyn Morrell
Untitled
Fog feels like a silk robe
Water tastes like chicken teriyaki
Paper sounds like a drum
Apricots feel like fluffy slime
Glasses smell like apple pie
Soap tastes like tomatoes
Hair sounds like a car horn
Michele Arteaga
The Boy with Horns
a boy who was in middle school
grew horns one day, they felt like
very hard stones. They smelled
like a barn, he went to his grandpa’s
farm. Then he saw a goat with no
horns! He thought, “Could they
be his?”
Luis Gomez
Rock Machines
Rock machines are sneaky and
a thief. They want money and
Revenge from humans from kicking
and throwing them. They sound
like footsteps chasing you. They
leave behind riddles to who they
stole from.
JoJo Yarberry
An Ode to Eyebrows
You are compared to your twin.
You look like a distant cousin.
You feel rough, through pain
I feel the need not to lick you.
You sound like nothingness.
You smell like face wash.
Emily Booth
The Glossary of my Life
The day my toe turned against me.
The time when I was covered in white softness.
My ears turn to snow balls.
My teeth turn into ice crystals falling from their home.
The time when the past flew by.
Saying goodbye to my past.
Samantha Olmedo
Ode
It is shiny,
and thin like a flood.
You have created it,
dear baby. Your slobber
is memory.
Gracie Horn
Berryville Middle School
Berryville, Arkansas
Dates of Visit: April 24 – 25, 2017
Faculty Sponsor: Karie Sayer
Grade Level: 6
Appx. Number Students Served: 150
Visiting Writers: Elizabeth DeMeo, Anthony Blake, Bailey Hutchinson, Rachel Thomas