Staring With Hope
By Nusiba (6th grade)Staring up at the sky
With hope
Wanting a sign
Waiting for a drop of water
Not knowing what’s about to come
Maybe a breeze
Or a storm, or just the sun
Maybe just the same as yesterday
The gloom of the day
Bringing you down
So you just sit there
Staring up at the sky
Wanting a sign of hope
Wanting a reason to smile
Turning gloom into joy
As you stare at the sky
Mysteries of the Past
By Adam (6th grade)A secret world, a place unknown
Hiding mysteries in both light and dark
Leaving clues all around us
Leaving its secretive markMysteries in both light and dark
The past hidden from our eyes
Leaving its secretive mark
Embedded within the liesThe past hidden from our eyes
A golden mountain of secrets
Embedded within the lies
None deserve to keep itA golden mountain of secrets
A land of hope and trust
None deserve to keep it
Abandon it we mustMaybe we’ll find it, maybe we’ll know
A secret world, a place unknown
Perhaps we will one day learn
Leaving clues all around us
Winter
by Parthiv (6th grade)He looked out at the snow and ice,
As a cold wind whistled winter
Through the door, bringing hope
Of making a real-life snowman,
A special friend for a lonely boy,
At least in his world it was so.He ran out of his room and leapt so
High, sliding down the banister as if on ice.
Then, putting on his boots and scarf, the boy
Flew out the door into the depths of winter,
Laughing, scooping, sculpting his snowman,
His pal, his accomplice, his hope.He rolled about without a hope
Of caring for the cold, and so,
Wrapping his scarf around his snowman,
He skidded about on sparkling ice
Losing his boots to the big mad winter—
And there was no happier boy.A solitary but cheerful boy,
No others there to spoil the hope
Of finding secret delights in winter
That only he believed in so,
Secrets long buried in solid ice,
Yet found inside a snowman.He danced and chatted to his snowman
And he in turn smiled down at the boy,
Complete with carrot nose and eyes of ice
It filled his heart with warmth and hope,
Showed him the meaning of life, so
Full of love, in coldest cruelest winter.Back inside, he looked on winter
Watching his own precious snowman,
And though the fire roared and sweets so
Tempting filled the senses of the boy,
Nothing gave him more joy-filled hope
Than gazing on two lumps of ice.The darkest winter that lies inside a boy
Is brightened by a snowman
A light of hope that friendship gives so,
Through frozen ice.
2015
The Leaves Make Sounds: Shape-Shifting Beings
The Mamie Fay School, PS 122Q, New York City
Edited by Bertha Rogers, writer‐in‐residence
Teachers & Writers Magazine is published by Teachers & Writers Collaborative as a resource for teaching the art of writing to people of all ages. The online magazine presents a wide range of ideas and approaches, as well as lively explorations of T&W’s mission to celebrate the imagination and create greater equity in and through the literary arts.
