2005/ YOUNG VOICES 2006 Young Voices Toronto Public Library is proud to present the 2005/6 edition of Young Voices. It includes poetry, prose and artwork selected from entries submitted by teens age 12–19. We have included items representing the variety of materials received at all 99 of our library branches. Thanks to the writers who selected the material for this year’s Young Voices: Anne Laurel Carter, Andrew Kaufman, Jay MillAr, Angela Rawlings, Teresa Toten and Mark Truscott; and thanks to artist Matthew Blackett for selecting the artwork. A hearty thanks to all who submitted and congratulations to those whose work is published here. Toronto Public Library August 2006 Cover illustration: Lest We Remember, Lest We Forget Stephanie Zhou, Age 13 Contents Prose: Age 12–14 Poetry: Age 15-16 Job at Queen’s Park, Min Che . 3 Paradise, Ria Carter . 61 Aquarius and Cirrus and the Baby of Middle Elegy to the Lost Soul, Emily Dix . 62 Earth, Samantha Cristello . 4 Porcelain Skin, Otiena Ellwand . 64 Heat and Lust, Kelly Hall . 5 Relaxing With Scorpions, Lisa Indris . 65 My First Day of High School, Kyle Harrison . 7 Footprints, Laurena Kirkwood-Lazazzera . 67 The Welcome Mat, Jackson Hoffart . 9 Memories, Judy Kwan . 68 The Great Race, Karl Kroll . 10 The Beautiful Game, Bright Li . 68 The Rules for Fitting In, Sula Sidnell-Greene . 10 Washed my hands and washed them again…, To All the Fakes, Melanie Stacey . 12 Simli Srivastava . 68 The True Story of the Chinese New Year, The Metal Thing, Stephanie Young . 70 Shawna Wang . 14 One Life, Junaid Warwani . 17 Poetry: Age 17-19 White Walls, Pavidra Ambiganithy . 73 Prose: Age 15–16 Jeopardizing our friendship, Bethany . 73 One of Those English Dreams, Ode to An Apple, Natasha Iyer . 73 Natalia Ignatenko . 19 Round Landscapes, B .R . McLeod . 75 The Best of Friends, Linda Li . 23 On the Brink, Paula Medeiros . 76 Neriah’s Installment, Sabrina Scott . 24 Two Fireflies, Justin Moga . 77 Morning Horizon, Zoë Sedlak . 24 Beyond Words, Jessica Paczuski . 77 Everyone Else, Deanne Vincent . 27 Love, Michael Thielmann . 78 Purple Dawn, William Walker . 27 The Truth Is, Andre . 78 Until the Next Rainy Day…, Jenney Wang . 28 Double Bind, Ann Beatty . 80 Writer’s Block, Billy Zhao . 30 Beautiful Boy, Emily ChuRui Zheng . 32 Illustrations Lemons, Nan Zheng . 33 Lest We Remember, Lest We Forget, Stephanie Zhou . .front cover Prose: Age 17–19 The Midnight Moon, Darkness, Sarah Ghazi . 35 Chinmoyee Debnath . inside front cover Be Responsible Tomorrow, Ayeshah Haque . 35 Angel & Devil, Stella Ha . 2 Internal Enigma, Patrycja Klucznik . 36 The Mask, Minh Thu Do . 6 Mystery of Evil, Orvin Lao . 38 Deserted Boots, Santos Chan . 8 Fire on Water, Shelly Luu . 39 Freedom's Wings, Anna Li . 13 The Anatomy of a Champion, Kirsten Parucha . 40 Freedom?, Max Mak . 15 Dedicated, Aruna Raghuraman . 41 Changing Opinions, Vittoria Lion . 16 Conspiracy Theory, Nella Rondina . 42 Broken, Mary Zhao . 18 The Vanished Sun, Zhenya Selezen . 43 Self Image, Kee Seuk Kim . .22 Where You Want To Be: Album Review, Still Life, Guia Camille Gali . .26 Richard Taylor . 44 Cerebus' Grandmother, Roland Tecson-Bourgeois . 31 Poetry: Age 12–14 Student, Igor Sinitar . .34 Being Alone, Jinesh Bhatt . 47 If You Love It, Set It Free, Julia Lee Peat . .46 A Matter of Fulfilment, Shannon Clarke . 47 Peaceful Village, Hongjin Yan . 51 American Guineapig, Scarlett Coppins . 48 Perfect Attendance, Helen Zhang . .53 Vietnam War, Alice Dang . 50 For Love and Courage, Stephen Park . .54 We, Ian-Jyzel Gallardo . 52 Eyes of Fear, Silvia Lee . .56 The Orange Basketball, Nyron Hoosein . 54 Tea Time, Carina Chan . .60 Into the Light, I Dare not Tread, Anonymous . 55 Words of the Ravens, Christina Cook . .63 He Cannot Rule Over Us, Tanya Mok . 57 Angel of Despair, Gloria Albanes . .66 I Am…, Saiveena Penikalapati . 58 Who We Become, Watery Graves, Ashish A . Shah . 58 Synthiya Vikneswaralingam . 71 Flow, Jessica Lee . 72 Other Side of Paradise, Melissa Spagnolo . 81 The Player Queens, Karen Pascual . back cover Prose Angel & Devil Stella Ha, Age 14 YOUNG VOICES 2005/6 PROSE: AGE 1–14 Job at Queen’s Park Do you know about the page program? The page program I am talking about is the Provincial Page Program . I was told that every province in Canada has this program . However, the requirement and age group differs . A lot of things were done because they saw some opportunities . They wanted to do something, and were always willing to work hard for it . I handed my application in for this program, because I was told about this program . I saw the opportunity . I remembered two years ago, when my family and I first came to Canada, my father was visiting Queen’s Park through his ESL lesson, the tour guide mentioned about this program . I was Grade 5 then, and was not eligible to apply for this program, because it was only for Grade 7 or 8 students . During that time, my father realized it was a great program, not only do you volunteer, but you also learn about the government and what they do . Many newcomers to Canada, even some Canadian citizens, do not understand the process the government uses to make laws or about how the government works . I believe that everyone should be able to attend this program, because it educates young people about our government and current events they are arguing about . Not only do you gain valuable knowledge, you also make friends from all over Ontario . Even though being a page was tiring, because you have to be at Queen’s Park before eight in the morning, and can only go home after six p .m ., it was well worth it . I encourage people to participate in this program . A page is a Grade 7 or 8 student who lives in Ontario, who was accepted to volunteer and work for the Legislative Assembly for three to six weeks in the fall or spring . Instead of going to school, a page acts as a messenger in the Chamber, and makes sure the MPPs have the right documents . This ensures that the senders have all the time they need on more important things . There are only four sessions per year . It is very hard to get accepted . Each session, the administrators receive hundreds of applications but only 20 students are chosen . The students who get in are competitive, motivated and well rounded . They will study the legislative process, math and the arts during their term of duty . Being a page meant missing school, so we, as pages, missed out on a lot of valuable information while we were at the page program . I believe this is community and service . Why is being a page great? Having this experience is great for a résumé . It is a very interesting and challenging job . I found that the most challenging thing about this job is memorizing the seating plan, the names of the MPPs and their faces . It is great practical experience, especially if you want to be a lawyer or politician . Min Che, Age 13 YOUNG VOICES 2005/ 6 Aquarius and Cirrus and the Baby of Middle Earth A long time ago, in the time of Ancient Greece, there was a very pretty Goddess named Aquarius . Aquarius was the Goddess of the sea . She had blue hair and blue eyes . Her skin was green . She was half mermaid and half human . Her symbol was a pot full of water . One day, when Aquarius was on rain duty, she grabbed her pot full of rain water and threw it up in the air . She did not know that it would hit Cirrus, God of the sky, in the head . When she went to apologize, they both fell in love . Aquarius took Cirrus to meet her family . They started with her brothers, Artimise, God of the underworld, and then Sunny, God of the sun . Then they went to meet her sister, Nadia, Goddess of the moon . Next they went to meet her parents . Her mother was Siolita, Goddess of nature, and her father was Leo, God of war . Aquarius’ family all approved of the marriage and the wedding date was set . The wedding was so beautiful, there was even a rain shower . Soon after the wedding, Aquarius was expecting her first child . They decided to name her Tera . The baby was to be named after Aquarius’ best friend who was murdered by her husband, Ilidias, God of the underworld before Artimise . Before the baby was born, Cirrus and Aquarius argued about where the baby was going to live . Aquarius wanted Tera to live in the ocean and Cirrus wanted her to live up in the sky . Aquarius swam underwater to a secret cave and had the baby . She didn’t tell Cirrus . A few days after the birth of Tera, Cirrus heard the distant sound of a baby crying . He went down to the ocean and saw his wife Aquarius swimming, but not a baby . He raised his voice and said, “Where is my baby?” Aquarius pretended she didn’t know what he was talking about . There was silence . He heard the baby cry again . He grabbed Aquarius and threatened to take her powers away . When he grabbed Aquarius, he saw the baby behind her . Cirrus grabbed the baby and cast a sleeping spell on Aquarius . The next morning, Aquarius awoke dreaming she could feel Tera’s soft cloudy hair upon her skin . Aquarius opened her eyes, but Tera wasn’t there . Aquarius tried to get the water to lift her up into the sky but she had no powers .