MPitS - Leggett Valley High School

MPitS

Leggett Valley High School
2006/2007

I am what I am.

I am a bird with a broken wing,

with knowledge of how to fly, but unable,

I am a tornado,

filled with power of grief and destruction,

but also of new life,

I am the fire that burns hot,

that so many try to put out,

I am the mute, unable to speak,

with so much to say,

I am the exotic animal,

kept hidden because of the fear of something new

I am not everything you'd hope I'd be

I am what I choose

I am what I am

Liberty W
9th Grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

My true country is in the dark

surrounded by people, all concentrated on one thing.

The stage is dark only figures and shapes can be seen

The first bass thud sounded

the lights flash simultaneously as the crowd roars

The atmosphere quickly accelerates into frenzy

The energy only increases as you get closer

You can physically feel the noise in your body

It makes you feel light, almost weightless, but strong

This is my true country.

Garrett R
9th grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

(after Susan Griffin's Woman and Nature )

We grown upward and outward

but together

as trees in the forest

We have grown down as well

and connected with the soil in which we grow

We have connected with the environment in which we grow

as trees in the woods

no matter how far we grow up and away from

the earth

our home

we will always be touching

and remember our roots

our home

the earth.

Bo G
11th grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

Anger

It lies deep in our hearts

but only comes out in the dark

when the going gets rough

and you've had enough

we let it out like a caged animal

but some just let it out at random

Sometimes we hurt others with it

no matter where it is, it won't ever fit

If we keep it in, never exposed

out on the streets, it could explode

your plan to hide it backfires

it says it will stay inside but its just a liar

the feeling is all the rest combined

the most dangerous way to unwind.

Isabel Z
11th grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

Courage wears

clothes that shine,

or sometimes nothing at all

He does not care

laughs at other people's

expectations

His hair is wild, snarled

tangled like the roots of an old tree

He is always smiling,

beaming in defiance

He has no want of friends

they flock to him wherever he goes

envying his conviction

He never backs down from a challenge

and he always holds true.

Bridget Y
11th grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

I look in her eyes and I see it there

right there behind her security

but just before love

Not many people see it

but I do

It is fear

the fear of falling

and having no one to catch her

the fear of stopping

and having no one to push her forward

the fear of living

but having nothing to live for

She doesn't show this fear

but I know it's there

I can see it.

This is what holds her back

from love,

from moving forward,

from just living her life.

And yet along with that fear,

I see a hope

She may not see it yet

but I know it's there.

I can see in her eyes.

Adelaide A
12th grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

Helping Hands

A means of shelter and accumulation

of knowledge and skills.

To provide a safe place when surroundings

are frightful.

To improve other means of sensory input.

Shade your face, sharpen vision.

Cup your ear, comprehend.

Stifle a giggle, be it inappropriate

in timing or placement.

Feel through the dark and find your way.

Callouses, lines, wrinkles, scars.

Veins, nails, and hairs.

Appearances show condition, upkeep, and injury,

present and past, some might say future.

Hiding and covering or open and waving.

Expression, deception, fear, and strength.

Containers of emotion

Nervous habits, comforting and repetitive.

Ways of thought, unconscious doings

Explanation, helping you along and aiding in

presenting argument or point.

The pedals, chain, tires, and handlebars of a bike

Steering, pushing you forward through life,

and every once in a while doing all the work for you

by memory while you get to coast and observe.

Sorrow, trembling and covering true hurt and

feeling. Sometimes out rightly and boldly asserting

explanation and action.

Folding their way into my life, mostly one,

neglecting the other.

Shelby K
10th grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

Five fingers if you count the thumb

my hands are never dumb

they will help me eat a plum

or open a pack of gum

sometimes they feel numb

my hands are extensions of myself

my thoughts my dreams my fears

they help me through my day

carrying out tasks that we may see as simple

but try and do them without your hands

they stir the batter

paint the picture

write the poem

stroke the hair

dry the tear

feed the mouth

pet the dog

curl the hair

work the remote

comfort the friend

high the five (very nice)

press the button

zip the zipper

type the message

paint the nail

without my hands

I would be lost

they tell my story

Hannah B
10th grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

Today I hid...behind this mask.

To hide my sorrow...my loneliness...

and my hate.

And I watch...behind this mask...

as I exit childhood...and

become a teen.

But I want to break, to rip apart

this mask to show you

who I really am.

But I cannot...

How can I leave this falsehood behind?

This falsehood that I have hidden

behind all my life?

I need strength for that...a hidden

strength of self and mind.

I yearn to show you my true self...

but I cannot...this mask is wrapped too tightly around

me...making me unable to breathe...

So I will wait awhile, take a breath and let it out,

until I can feel the mask start to wear thin with lies...

Then someday...someway...I will be able to show

my true face...a face hidden within me all these years.

Violet B
10th grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

Everyone wears masks

we use them to hide the truth of who we are

we are afraid to show the real side of ourselves

the masks we wear can be discarded when we get close

No one needs a mask, if everyone is comfortable wearing a mask

around everyone else then it would be the same as no one wearing

a mask. My mask holds my feelings at bay and keeps the truth

of my past locked away in secret. My mask has only been

broken by the person that I love and I now choose not to

make a new one around her. My mask is with me at all

times and I put it on to guard from everyone else.

I wish that I could destroy the mask that holds me in

chains and keeps me from the true joys of life. No one should

have to wear the masks but in our society no one can

stop. The true tears that I feel but can not cry

because of this horrid mask are from the joy and

happiness lost by wearing the mask.

I ask you why do we wear masks?
Ryan O
10th Grade, Leggett HS
Dan Roberts, Poet-Teacher

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