This Is Your Canvas

This Is Your Canvas Mercy Excellence 2012 Walking Down Main Street A poem by: Nicole O’Keefe Walking down Main Street is a sight to remember All the memories lit up all around you Look! Snow coming down from above The white fluffy speck coming down and landing on your face Photo By: Olivia Moir Hearing the voices of people, old and young Do you remember smelling the Mermaid chocolate? The candy and taffy? She swims gracefully across the sea The nighttime sky, drowned out by Making every moment the sounds and laughter of others One huge memory Mermaid I now know the magic in this place So rare in every choice she makes Happiness can be seen in every She wishes for that one special day corner Where she can walk on earth Will you come with me on this adven- Water, ture? Her only friend The only difference between her and us Where dreams truly come true? Trapped she feels Trapped by this evil gift Mermaid Her fins glow bright through the translucent blue ocean waves While her faith Slowly dies away A bulge of energy rushes through her body As she swims through the sea… She passes the Atlantic Pacific Dead sea All in one second. Passing all her ocean friends In this moment of reality The night…it’s like no other The moon glows brightly As the mermaid swims by the pier Staring enviously at every person passing by Enviously at the legs she wish were hers… Waiting for the day she can call them her own. Mermaid On this very night Photo By: Victoria Lutz She swims till she can find her way Back home, She swims Gracefully across the sea 1 Fatima By: Frances Belleza ! Fatima, good hearted, strong, stubborn, mean, and quiet. Doesn’t talk a lot, but has much to say. Fatima sleeps with the tears running down her face. Wakes up, like everything’s fine, some people know, some don’t. Her life, not so different from the rest, except the darkness of her past and the loneliness that fills her heart like the Falls of Niagara. She moves on and life goes on, but still she can never be happy. She always tastes sadness, whether she wants to or not. " Fatima comes to school with poker faces, never sad, never happy. No one can really tell when she’s having a good day or a bad day. Fatima doesn’t complain at the millions of rocks that life throws at her, and that’s because she knows that she isn’t suffering as much as others. She understands that she should be happy about her life and for what she has. But she isn?t. She hates being alone, hates falling on her face, hates that she can never be happy and hates being lied to over and over and over again... " Fatima comes to school with harp seal eyes one day. Her eyes looked as if she is cutting a never-ending chain of onions. I’ve never seen her show so much emotion, except three weeks before, when she came to school with a big smile and lingering eyes that dreamed. It makes me wonder. “Are you okay?” ?She looks at me, and I see in her eyes the pain she bottles up and the tears that pushed their way out. I then feel that same breeze of loneliness over my shoulder. ?She then smiled and says,?“Don’t let happiness betray you like it has done to me because in a blink of an eye, it’ll be gone. You’ll end up alone and confused.”? Just like that, I understand. Photo By: Kristin Garrison Why are you disappointed in me? What did I do? Or what did I not do? Did I not live up to your expectations for me? Everyday I try my hardest, but it seems like my hardest isn't good enough for you. What do I need to do to make you proud of me? You're always comparing me to other girls you see on TV or even the daughters of your friends. Why can't you accept me for who I am? I'm sorry I cannot be your child prodigy. I'm just plain, boring, and average. Isn't my love enough for you? Poem By: Gabrielle Geronimo 2 Your Little Angel Poem By: Jana Visperas Fighting in this house trying to run away no doubt, But that's not what it's all about. All types of words are running out their mouths. Your kids are a reflection of who you are, Trying to be close when you’re pushing them afar. Raising your temper to the highest bar, Your little angel from preschool to driving her own car. Never knew she was going to turn out like this, A little devil in her own magical bliss. The little girl who used to go up to you and kiss, And now she's on your mind the only one you miss. You wish to go back in those days when she wouldn't speak back. Next thing you know she's putting her clothes back in her bag. Running away from home you didn't want her to pack. Honesty was what your relationship lacked. Now you’re regretting the distance between you two, And now your little sunshine suddenly turned into blue. The line between that you never drew. Your baby girl is not like before, she's someone brand new. Drawing By: It's hard to be kept apart from the one you love, Franchette Tongson But now it's time to separate like a pair of doves. Letting her fly all the way above, And now you’re stuck saying this is enough. Sit and Wait By: Mayalani Callaghan Sometimes I feel like I can't ever get away - like I'll be here for eternity. I want to get out so badly that it eats me up inside. I know that if the ones who love me the most knew it will kill them inside. It's not like I want to leave the earth, but I want to leave the situation I'm in. I want to run away and never ever,ever,ever come back. I know in my heart I won't be stuck here forever, but I'm just over everything! I'm over the yelling. I'm over the threats I've made. I'm over all the constant fighting. Most of all, I'm over all of the worrying. When I'm with them when they're fighting, all I want to is leave, curl up into a ball, and cry. My mind is telling me to stay strong and that I don't really want to cry, but my heart and my gut... they're telling me to let it out and not to bottle it up. I start to feel a heavy pressure on my chest. One moment it's fine. It's like any other chest in the world. The next moment it is the world. It's the weight of the world holding all my tears - all of my emotions. I know exactly what I have to do. I have to run away. I pack a bag, get some clothes – I’m ready to go. Then I can't move. Paralyzed. I start to cry and I can't stop no matter how hard I try. I cry because I realize there's nothing I can do. I can't run away - I don't have the guts! I can't tell them to stop because then I'll get in trouble for yelling. I realize it's hopeless. All I can do is sit and wait - wait until they change their ways or until I'm old enough to do something ---to get up and leave without anyone’s permission. That's all I can ever do... SIT AND WAIT...SIT AND WAIT... SIT AND WAIT... 3 A Tale of Two Hairstyles By: Jacqueline Warner It is the best of hair; it is the worst of hair. I wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror. What is the first thing to catch my eye? My hair. This morning, like many other mornings, my hair is a rat’s nest. It is all over the place, and like Alfalfa, it is sticking straight up in the air. The orange, blonde, and pink pieces of hair underneath my blanket of brunette tresses are knotted up like the tiny pieces of string in a newly woven friendship bracelet. I attempt to flatten it with my hands, but I know this mess will require some more intense tools: a brush and straightener. This would be the very last day my hair would look like this, though. Later today, I will be cutting my long, multi-colored hair to donate to Locks of Love. My hair seems as if it is twenty feet long as I brush and straighten it to perfection. I wonder how this could be the rat’s nest I woke up with. My hair looks as if it had been done by John Frieda. The shortest layers hang just precisely to my shoulders, and my bangs swoop flawlessly to the left side of my forehead. My hair dances through the air as I swing it around my shoulder, and it elongates all the way to my lower back. I run my fingers through my hair, and like butter they run through it effortlessly.

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