ME AT 21
I can see the future in the
mirror
It’s calling at me softly
I try not to rush things
but time isn’t on my side
Maria Pineda
How to be a Granny
To be a granny
you have to be insane,
goin’ down the highway at 95,
doing wheelies on a handicap ramp,
bumping people in the supermarket,
saving some money with tons of
coupons like a billionaire,
putting on perfume with
crazy and funky hair,
wearing clothes as cool as a rock star’s.
That is my grandma.
Louis DeLozier
Becoming an Octopus
I started to fly,
the clouds leapt by me.
I saw a duck on the road,
The sun started falling,
the clouds melting.
Austin Todd
Imaginary Friend
I have an imaginary friend named
Sushi. She tastes like applesauce, smells like
a dumpster, and looks like a miniature
mermaid on a stage of rice.
McKenzie Greenlee
I Used to Live in a Pineapple
I used to live in a pineapple.
It was awfully big,
a big yellow mansion with a vaulted ceiling.
I hated it because I had to dress in boots and
a jumpsuit every day until I moved out.
I was relieved the day when a knife
sliced through my pineapple and I got to
come out.
No more rashes!
No more pineapple!
Yay!
Shea Sandefur
Cream-Soda Catfish
People dream about a rain cloud filled with water,
empty cardboard boxes, and staring at a
blank TV for forty-five
minutes.
People don’t dream about splashes
of banana yellow sprinkled on top
of the big ocean, or of
cherry-red and bright neon-green plaid
on a cowboy’s horse.
But I dream about a crowd
of flip-flops singing Party Rock Anthem.
Savana Stewart
School Is a Microwave Cooking Buffalo Wings
School is a microwave warming
up big, delicious buffalo wings. If you got to school,
you are a buffalo wing entering a microwave.
It will warm you up then spit you out.
When you come out you will feel fired-up,
ready to go to the second microwave.
Obed Avelar
I Am
I am a pair of mittens for the cold winter.
You are a cave at Devil’s Den open for the world to see.
I am a fish’s head that just came from the ocean.
You are a freshly sharpened pencil tip.
I am pants that I am going to wear to school.
You are a spear going to battle.
And we will always be an envelope for a party invitation.
John-Mark Eaton
Traveling to Pluto by a Flying Bathtub
Traveling to Pluto by a flying bathtub is
like being a superhero soaring through the sky.
I filled the bathtub up with steaming hot
water so I wouldn’t get cold. I just relaxed
until I got to the asteroid belt. Then I
had to destroy the asteroids with my
rubber ducky grenades.
When I got through the asteroid belt,
I ran into another problem. Jupiter’s
gravity started pulling me in. I turned
my super-squirter engine up to full
power and flew away. When I got close
to Pluto I let down my bar-of-soap landing
gear and landed safely on the bathtub
water blue dwarf planet called Pluto.
I had made it to Pluto in one piece.
C.J. Parrish
Sweet Things
scarlet strawberries speckled
with sugar
The fragrance of a freshly
bloomed rose
a brisk glass
of water on a sweltering day
victory after
a good game
A slice of watermelon under
the fireworks
The first slice of cake on
your birthday
A s’more near the campfire under
the night sky
Benen Chen
I am an Avalanche
I strike you when you least expect it,
one tiny sound and I’m rumbling
down a mountain
When I come, all that’s left
is frost
One snowflake could set me off
I am a winter time-bomb
I am an icy hazard
I am an avalanche
Camden Lashley
Portrait of Jacob
His hair is a flaming fire.
His arms are cranes
While his feet are skyscrapers.
He has a giraffe neck
And an alligator bite.
His eyes are chocolate Hershey’s.
His belly is a bone.
His laugh is worse than a hyena’s.
He is the prisoner
And I am the warden.
Isaac Murillo
Recipe for Happiness
Start by whisking the playful laughter
of small children and warm rays
of sunshine in a large bowl.
Then add 2 cups of sweet piano
music and mix for 30 seconds with
loving families.
Last add a pinch of joyful smiles and
a dash of white puffy clouds against
a bright blue sky.
Let it chill for the length of time
it takes for you to read your favorite
book.
Serve with fresh yellow daisies and
a soft breeze.
Megan Boyce
Helen Tyson Middle School
Springdale, AR
Dates of Visit: May 9 – 10, 2013
Faculty Sponsor: Jessica Elledge
Grade Level: 6
Appx. Number Students Served: 120
Visiting Writers: Jane Blunschi, Alice Otto, Lizzie Paulus, and Eszter Takacs