Summer 2018$10
The Charles Hart Middle School Literary Magazine

The hArtworks Editorial Board
Writers-in-Residence: AJ Henson, Khalil Jones, Nancy Schwalb, Ashley Stevenson, and Patrick Washington
The Literary Magazine Club: De’quan Atchison, Ethan Akins, Nathan Bacchus, Leroy Bailey, III, Emir Battle, Judiana Benjamin,
Jose Bouknight, Julio Bouknight, Michael Boulware, Shaniah Boyd, McKia Bromfield, Niko Brown, Omarion Butler,
Daizha Chism, Christina Cook, Keily Cruz, Na’jee Ferguson, Kevin Franks, Jahir Gray, Jayden Gray, Amir Green, Jonesa
Green, Christian Harrison, Jalonnie Hawkins, Andre Hicks, Bernard Holmes, Isaiah Hunter, Gary Imes, DeAndre Jackson,
Laniya Johnson, Leondre Johnson, Octavia Johnson, Shannell Jones, Isyah Joyner, James Joyner, Trevonne Joyner, Kimari
King, Kiyanna King, Naiya King, Joquan Knight, Marques Knight, Shaki Knight, Shanay Lasane, Savion Lomax, Chapria
Marshall, Denali Marshall, Nyelle Marshall, Anthony Martin, Jamaree Martin, Faizon Mason, Blake Mathews, Ernest
McBride, Zanaca McCrae, Saebian McKnight, Denahi McNeill, Shakira McPherson, Ladeisha Meriweather, Daniel Minor,
Tamoni Onley, Dein Peterson, Jamel Pettaway, Jamil Pickett, MarcAntony Pierce, Tatiana Pierce, R.E.L. Platt, Shanice
Plight, Shawna Plight, Jazzmine Price, Melody Prince, DeMarco Randolph, Briona Ransom, Wayne Rhodes, D’hani Rispus,
Synia Robinson, Kayla Rosemond, Lawrence Rosemond, Tyion Ross, Tymesha Roulhac, Jaleel Rush, Saquan Short, Jailyn
Smith, Joeseph Smith-Patterson, Keiah Smith, Indya Spencer, Jashaun Strother, Myniah Sweetney, Christina Taylor,
A’Quise Thomas, Arman Thornton, Armani Thornton, Cierra Thornton, Micheal Thornton, Demarco Tucker, Eric Vaughn,
Marcus Vick, Richard Walston, Kamaree Ward, Mark Washington, Peirre’ Washington, Khidell White, Aaron Williams,
DeAndre Williams, Kitana Williams, Phillip Williams, Roosevelt Willis, Jontae Wilson, Nadaisha Wingfield, Vincent
Wingfield, Jaymir Wise, Tyrone Wise, and Asonte Wright

Front cover, l-r: Arman Thornton, Isyah Joyner, Armani Thornton
Inside front cover, l-r: Phillip Williams, Kitana Williams, Vincent Wing field, Octavia Johnson, Shanay Lesane

Introduction
IntroductionW

elcome to hArtworks, the nation’s only inner-city public middle school literary
magazine, written and edited by the students in the after-school writing club atCharles Hart Middle School. hArtworks is published through a collaborative effort
between the school and the D.C. Creative Writing Workshop, an independent nonprofit working to create a literary renaissance in Southeast Washington. Now in its
sixteenth year, hArtworks gives our young writers the opportunity to exercise theircreative energies, speak their minds, and be read by an audience throughout the city.
The 2018 edition of Poet’s Market recognizes hArtworks as “an outstanding example ofwhat a literary journal can be (for anyone of any age).”

We have many friends who have helped to make hArtworks possible, and we would
like to express our gratitude to them. Our sincerest thanks go out to the Bainum
Family Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children’s Charities Foundation, theCity Fund of the Greater Washington Community Foundation, the Clark-Winchcole
Foundation, D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Max and Victoria Dreyfus
Foundation, Harman Family Foundation, Corinna Higginson Trust, Horning Family
Fund, Lainoff Family Foundation, Cathy and Mark McNeil-Hollinger, New York
Avenue Foundation, Hattie M. Strong Foundation, Holly Syrrakos, Gail Oring and
GO! Creative, LLC, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Arena Stage, theShakespeare Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theater, Jack and Monte, Tollefson andCompany Investment Management, our friends at Popeye’s on Malcolm X Ave.,
Barbara Bainum, Fritz Edler, Joseph and Lynn Horning, and Robert Johnson.
Our friends at the Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative also deserve ourthanks for giving so much time and energy to our after-school Writing Club, as do
our volunteers, Steven Brown, Jessica Carpenter, DeArren Dawkins, Bernitta Johnson,
Daquan Johnson, Damon Kee, Gregory Nickens, Isaiah White, and Anthony andAnnette Williams.
Special thanks for the hard work and dedication of the D.C. Creative Writing
Workshop Board of Directors: Dr. John Walton Cotman, Dr. Susan Gerson, Brian
Gilmore, Helen Hooper, Bernie Horn, Bill Newlin, and Nancy Schwalb.
We would also like to thank the following administrators, teachers, and staff who are
our partners in this endeavor: Principal Charlette Strickland; Assistant Principals Ms.
Samecia-Muriel Broussard and Dr. Sharon Armstrong; Ms. Sherry Dailey, Ms. Pamela
Dixon, Ms. Latavia Drakeford-Allen, Mr. Craig Duchemin, Ms. Nijma Esad, Mr.
Jamal Kennedy, Ms. Jasmine McGill, Mr. Derrick McRae, Ms. Rashimah Nixon, Ms.
Sheranada Robinson, and Ms. Eleanor Seale.

INSIDE
Ethan Akins
Yes/No ..........................................................................................................................48
The Golden Flash .........................................................................................................53
My World .....................................................................................................................82
No One Knows .............................................................................................................82
How to Make Best Friends ...........................................................................................82
Nathan Bacchus
Poetry is not a luxury .....................................................................................................8
Daniel Barnes
Raised by Poetry...........................................................................................................18
Emir Battle
Lost ..............................................................................................................................29
Roscoe Belk
Son of a Sun ...................................................................................................................4
Erica Bell
Everything Says YES ....................................................................................................26
Calling the Signals .......................................................................................................36
Judiana Benjamin
Invisible and Bored .......................................................................................................12
Who Knows? ................................................................................................................63
10 People ......................................................................................................................65
About Me ......................................................................................................................66
My Regret .....................................................................................................................66
How to make a cardboard train ....................................................................................68
Tavon Berford
Tay Synesthesia ............................................................................................................23
Steven Brown
The Darkness Adventure ..............................................................................................89
Omarion ButlerLife ...............................................................................................................................19
Washington, D.C. .........................................................................................................75
Thanksgiving................................................................................................................77ii

Daizha Chism
The Chef .......................................................................................................................35
Grey .............................................................................................................................42
Anxiety .........................................................................................................................44
Christina Cook
Alienation.....................................................................................................................48
When I Was Born .........................................................................................................49
Danai Corbin
Almost ..........................................................................................................................37
Elijah Douglas
Life ...............................................................................................................................52
Na’jee Ferguson
One day ........................................................................................................................59
Ewwww ........................................................................................................................76
Ugly Faces ...................................................................................................................76
Ayanna Francois
Magic Me .....................................................................................................................55
Kevin Franks
Lonely ..........................................................................................................................42
Kevin Franks ................................................................................................................54
Tommy Fridie
Flowering Yes ...............................................................................................................34
Jahir Gray
The Senses of Synesthesia ............................................................................................22
Destroy, Build, Destroy .................................................................................................34
The Last of Us ..............................................................................................................67
Jayden Gray
Synesthesia Wordplay...................................................................................................16
Revolution ....................................................................................................................30
Amir GreenThe Chaos ....................................................................................................................47
My Mystery ..................................................................................................................80
I Am From D.C.............................................................................................................81
Elijah Hamilton-Todd
Signs.............................................................................................................................36

iii

INSIDE
Christian Harrison
Legend ..........................................................................................................................33
Observation ..................................................................................................................39
Golden Power ...............................................................................................................45
Rise ..............................................................................................................................60
I’m a King.....................................................................................................................61
Thank You ....................................................................................................................62
Me and my Fam ...........................................................................................................63
Andre Hicks
About Life .....................................................................................................................93
Marcus Hill
The Scared Bird ............................................................................................................93
Isaiah Hunter
Who is real/fake ...........................................................................................................31
Real Illusion .................................................................................................................33
Shadows + Secrets ........................................................................................................62
Desiree Ignacio
Full-life ........................................................................................................................22
Gary Imes
Witness .........................................................................................................................26
DeAndre Jackson
The Greatest .................................................................................................................26
Who Knows ..................................................................................................................67
Hope .............................................................................................................................68
Laniyah Johnson
Perfect Place .................................................................................................................92
Leondre Johnson
Read the Signs ..............................................................................................................38
My undone life .............................................................................................................79
Universal......................................................................................................................87
At 3:15 .........................................................................................................................88
Jewel JonesThe Green Way.............................................................................................................51iv

Mavelli Jones
Leaders .........................................................................................................................43
Shannell Jones
The Average Four-Year-Old ..........................................................................................10
Poetry’s Heartbreak ......................................................................................................13
What’s Underneath .......................................................................................................14
Isyah Joyner
Always ...........................................................................................................................8
Mean to Nice ................................................................................................................16
Look Behind You ..........................................................................................................18
Ten People ....................................................................................................................69
No One Knows .............................................................................................................70
I am what I want to be .................................................................................................71
Trevonne Joyner
Golden ...........................................................................................................................5
Sunset ...........................................................................................................................13
Playing for the Championship ......................................................................................27
Bullying........................................................................................................................56
Where I’m from.............................................................................................................58
Jada Kelly
How to Make a Healthy Relationship ...........................................................................91
Kamari KingYes and Show Off ..........................................................................................................10
Not So Fast… ..............................................................................................................46
I Am from D.C. .............................................................................................................81
What I Believe ..............................................................................................................83
Joquan Knight
Believe It Or Not ..........................................................................................................41
Majestic I .....................................................................................................................81
How to Make the Ugliest Person ..................................................................................90
Shaki Knight
Senseless Senses ...........................................................................................................23
These ideal words .........................................................................................................39
My Home......................................................................................................................79
Amari KnottLead #2 ........................................................................................................................90v

INSIDE
Shanay Lesane
Violence ........................................................................................................................74
Some Day .....................................................................................................................74
Savion Lomax
Behind ..........................................................................................................................28
Who I Am .....................................................................................................................32
Prehistory .....................................................................................................................35
Today............................................................................................................................45
Who Knows? ................................................................................................................89
Christa Madikaegbu
Across the night sky .......................................................................................................2
Pastel to Rain .................................................................................................................3
Darkened midnight ........................................................................................................3
What’s Inside ................................................................................................................15
Where She Really Is .....................................................................................................20
Quick Thinker, Quick Dreamer ....................................................................................25
Internally Awakened ....................................................................................................40
Your far, far away hero .................................................................................................41
Mystery X Magic ..........................................................................................................43
16, 17, 18 .....................................................................................................................51
Not From a Squad of Saints .........................................................................................57
6 plus 4 ........................................................................................................................58
A recipe for disaster .....................................................................................................59
Jamaree Martin
Destiny .........................................................................................................................49
Stinky Story .................................................................................................................50
Taylor Martin
Crush ...........................................................................................................................14
Blake Mathews
No ...............................................................................................................................12
Be Anything..................................................................................................................94
Saebian McKnight
Sights and Sounds ........................................................................................................20
Shakira McPherson
Yes and No....................................................................................................................11
Fire ...............................................................................................................................54vi

Aubrey Miller
Silence and Strength .....................................................................................................80
Tamia Moyd
A word to the wise ........................................................................................................25
Fluffy Doggy ................................................................................................................92
Gregory Nickens
Glowing New Day ........................................................................................................53
Tamoni Onley
Sad Mother ...................................................................................................................12
11 .................................................................................................................................94
Jamel Pettaway
Benji Synesthesia .........................................................................................................21
My Gaze.......................................................................................................................64
Jeremiah Prince
Lesson Learned.............................................................................................................28
Tyion Ross
Signs.............................................................................................................................38
Why we need things .....................................................................................................71
Who am I? ....................................................................................................................72
Cortney Seburn
President of mixed emotions .........................................................................................27
Saquan Short
Avenge the day ...............................................................................................................8
Painting With a Man in It ............................................................................................28
Future Past ...................................................................................................................55
My Gaze.......................................................................................................................73
Jailyn Smith
Facts.............................................................................................................................21
Stupidity (after Terrance Hayes) ..................................................................................65
Who Knows? ................................................................................................................72
Born and Raised in Washington D.C. ...........................................................................75
Xavier Spruill
You Cannot Destroy! ....................................................................................................66

vii

INSIDE
Bunny Stevenson
Alliteration ...................................................................................................................30
Uncertain .....................................................................................................................39
Entangled Words ..........................................................................................................57
The Hood......................................................................................................................77
James Stewart
The Magical Man .........................................................................................................95
Myniah Sweetney
A Hole in Forever .........................................................................................................32
Christina Taylor
Unknown......................................................................................................................29
Arman Thornton
Word Puzzle ...................................................................................................................2
The Galaxy and Me ........................................................................................................4
Listen .............................................................................................................................9Long Gone ....................................................................................................................18
Zoom ............................................................................................................................50
13 .................................................................................................................................78
Ten Favorites ................................................................................................................86
Don’t Know ..................................................................................................................86
D.C. Childhood ............................................................................................................87
Watching Cars..............................................................................................................88
Armani Thornton
Poetry Slam ....................................................................................................................7
You are not welcome .......................................................................................................7
When I’m Feeling Sad ..................................................................................................15
Gloom ..........................................................................................................................17
Sky Blue .......................................................................................................................17
Inside Out .....................................................................................................................23
NO! ..............................................................................................................................46
Magical ........................................................................................................................47
Ten People ....................................................................................................................84
Recipe for a Healthy Relationship, NOT! .....................................................................85
Bravery ........................................................................................................................87
Sidetracked ..................................................................................................................88viii

Micheal Thornton
Behind the Scenes ...........................................................................................................7
Like Black Panther .......................................................................................................24
15 .................................................................................................................................68
Go Outside ...................................................................................................................69
Super Me ......................................................................................................................76
Demarco Tucker
Closet (after Terrance Hayes) ......................................................................................60
Philosophy....................................................................................................................63
Ricardo WhiteMy Sorry Hero ...............................................................................................................5
The Sweet Discipline ....................................................................................................37
I Am a Blackbird Ahhhh!!!! .........................................................................................90
Aneshia Whitney
Almost Lights Out ........................................................................................................31
Kitana Williams
The Lion .........................................................................................................................6
No Day .........................................................................................................................11
My Thoughts ................................................................................................................70
My Life .........................................................................................................................73
Phillip Williams
Earthling Boy ...............................................................................................................52
Where I’m From ...........................................................................................................95
Renita Williams
Synesthesia...................................................................................................................19
Martin Luther King Jr. ..................................................................................................61
Vincent WingfieldYes and No Day ..............................................................................................................4
The Call of the Wild .......................................................................................................6
The Image behind the Mirror .........................................................................................9
The Power of Super Speed ............................................................................................53
The End? ......................................................................................................................83
My Gaze from History .................................................................................................83
Buildings ......................................................................................................................84
How to Make a Clubhouse from Couch Pillows ...........................................................85
Mykel Woodbury
My Philosophy .............................................................................................................64ix

Word Puzzle
Life is a mystery:
I don’t know if I stand or sit;
Do I go or stay?
Do I ride or die?
Do I make more money, or give money?
Do I go play or clean my room?
I wonder if life is a game,because you get all this stuff
and then lose it;
And is everyone a robot but me?
Or is it a dream?
Arman Thornton

Brandon Gatling

Across the night sky
Around the world
I can see it all, from Asia to Canada
and all the way to Russia;
The evening sun shining like harbor lights
fiery and bright for a certain path,
the world whirling around her as she lights the day.
Yet the moon, like a stone from a beautiful galaxy,(beautiful but so far, far away)—
all the light in people’s eyes turns into stars;
they catch the light of the moon.
But I’m not the sun nor the moon;
I’m a dying star, looking around the world
before I reach my hyper-nova
Christa Madikaegbu

2

Pastel to Rain
Pastel: Lightly showing off without knowing
Pastel, like a rose quartz, just pure light color
Pastel, light like lilac, cotton candy, and a cloud,often admired when embracedby spikes, crosses, and jet black;But rain, forever agelessand a clear monotone liquid;
The pastel breaks down
and can’t hold off the breachfrom the light, lovely colors
they melt into puddles of clarity;
a see-through and depressing
mini-flash flood of nothing but
Rain.
Christa Madikaegbu

Marcus Hill, Samuel Hauser, Gregory Grinage, Steven Brown

Darkened midnightThose unnamed emotions
that are too complex for names
always stick within us
despite our demise;
But we’re not forcing ourselvesto feel this sort of thing,just the brutality from the lonelinessof our unending grief,
forever beneath our skin.
Unadorned pride leads to jealousy
toward the admired ones;
If you don’t get it, then I’ll make you see,clearly, that there is always
an unspoken gloomthat never leaves us
no matter how high or low we goafter we meet our fate.
Christa Madikaegbu

3

The Galaxy and Me
The darkness on my skinis the darkness that I’m in;
The gloom on the moonis the rule on the moon.
The sun is jealous
but the moon is stunting
the unknown planet called
Jupiter.
Arman Thornton

Jayden GrayYes and No Day
Everything says yes?
Some things say no.
Walk into a building
with dusty floors
yet no single trace of footsteps;
Pure souls orbit the earth
with destiny, which is a mysteryof creation, outside the universe.
Vincent Wingfield

Son of a Sun
I am one-of-a-kind!
Just like one of the many planets:
My mother is the sun;
She is a bright and kind.
Like the earth, I circle my mother.
I’m one-of-a-kindjust ike the Earth.
Like us humans,
we have voices in our heads.
Roscoe Belk4l-r: Shanay Lesane, Octavia Johnson, Kitana Williams, Vincent Wing fi eld, Phillip Williams

My Sorry Hero

GoldenI am a parrot, repeating whateveris the bluest thing I’ve heard;
Sometimes, I forget my slingshot
and have to shoot balloons
full of chocolate milk and scrambled eggs.
I like to fly through smoke and vapor
when I’m leaving the jungle that’s
hidden in Times Square.

My silence is golden
I already told him
My life is like a gold bar
Priceless like antique cars
I got bars for days
Just like my A’s
Don’t drop a dis track
Cause you’ll get whacked
And that’s a fact
I’m so powerful, my life is valuable
My bars are gold, like Fort Knox,
Don’t like me? Kick rocks.
‘Bout to get cookedwith my golden pan
I’ll hit you so hard,
you’ll think my name’s Bernard
Peace, big fella

My wings taste like the sound of horses
stomping on seven flat tires
taken from a stalled school bus;
splash, splash, splashing in my bathtub
I jump up and down on my tin drum
whenever I am hungry for worms
and thirsty for sweat.
Tomorrow is the last day I will get a kick out of magic
My nephew is a clown
My cousin lit a firecracker, thinking it was a candle
and blew us all to the moon.

Trevonne Joyner

Ricardo White

5The Lionl-r: Saquan Short, Armani Thornton, Isyah Joyner, Christa Madikaegbu

The Call of the Wild
You don’t have to be mysterious,
Just throw some shade on them.
My creation of blue green regrets exists
The darkness’ arrival is not untold
You sacrifice a soul.
You are suffering from the unknown presence
Outside in the shadowsYou don’t need a firewall just to conquer the world
You are the only one who can change your destination.
Vincent Wingfield6

My soul is the golden window
The depth of my soul is a lion
When I come outside
I see darkness
It comes slowly; I come out
but I do not know I exist
I spiral out on the world,
am hot like the sun
but cold like the sunset
Unknown, I observe
I am not a planet—I
do not orbit; I am a lion
I am a good discovery
I am a mystery
Kitana Williams

Poetry Slam
Poetry is like a grinning dog:
Every time you write a poem
you are tackling an immortal being
but it is worth it in the end
and when you grow,it sticks like crumbs on a spider web
just like a bright star
carved in the stone tomb.
Armani Thornton
Jahir Gray

Behind the Scenes
You are not welcome
Embrace the legend.
You are not worthy;
Go lurk in the shadowswith the smallest violin.
My lyrics have come to me
ever since I was a newborn.
Stay silent, present, and stay still.
The jester made the room light up in laughter.
The jester is You.

Behind the scenes there are actors
Behind the scenes there are pipes in the wall
Behind the scenes there are people who hide themselves
never showing who they truly are
Behind the scenes there’s a bullet in the wall
which is bad
Behind the scenes kids wanna do trapeze
but they are forced to do something else.
Micheal Thornton

Armani Thornton

7l-r: Shakira McPherson, Vincent Wing field, Kitana Williams,
Arman Thornton, Isyah Joyner, Armani Thornton

Poetry is not a luxury
Poetry gives me hugs and kisses
and cooks me soup.
Poetry drives me to school,takes care of me when I’m ill;
Poetry puts clothes on my bodyand shoes on my feet.
Poetry makes me laugh when I am down;
It gets me through hard times.
Nathan Bacchus

AlwaysThere will always be a school bus of deathfull of darkness
There will always be someone paralyzed
There will always be someone who’s hideous
There will always be someone who’s clumsy
There will always be courtyards…
Isyah Joyner

Avenge the day
My lifeis screeching
like a slow collapse of words,
like a tiny red apple.
Follow myself enough andsince you gonna run those games,
I guess I’ma do the same.
A blessing is coming to you. It
twitches and cries out like a slanting roof;
He’s narrowing downknotted tightlike catching the light.
Saquan Short8

ListenTamia Moyd

Poetry should walk loud and proud
Poetry should say a bunch of words
Poetry should conquer the page
Poetry can’t be shy
Poetry can be seen through the depths of the world
Poetry can say “Can you hear me?”Arman Thornton

The Image behind the Mirror
Behind the fire is the ice
Somewhere in the ocean is a whirlpool
twisting with force
The tangled outline of the haunted roadin New Jersey
spirals with blinded phantom trucks
and a ghost boy that drowned in a lake
under a bridge
The imitation of the moonmoves backwards with the high tides
like a kingdom ruled by armored whales
Vincent Wingfield9

Yes and Show Off
Listening to Pandora music is my Yes Day
A Yes Day is doing art
and I like showing my artworks
My Yes Day is when people fall
and tumble
and I say “Are you okay?”
to be goodI like to show off my bookwith it is a cool bookand it is fun to not be mean
Be good and happy
My Yes Day is funny videos
on YouTube
My Yes Day is going to schooland preparing for college

Booker T. Whitaker

Kamari KingThe Average Four-Year-Old
The average four-year-old
asks over 400 questions a day
The innocent mind becomes frozen in time
The powerful question locks itself
in the mind of the disappointed soul…
The unknown answer climbs to the crystal surface
Unremembered, you silently say
well, uh…
and as the decay of darkness drowns you
you smile and offer juice
to the confident, wondering
average four-year-old
Shannell Jones

10

Yes and No
Once upon a time,
there was a monster
who was defeated by Superman
which made me say “No”
Superman being pushed overthe edge
and broke his skull
No
Coming into a chaos school
doing pure workand being blamed for everything
is a No day
Not being a morning person,
taking an invisible cold bathsitting in an undefeated corner
upset and lonely
makes me scream “No”
Having an evening away from my brother,
listening to rap music,
and spending single time with my friends
makes me happy and calm
like the sound of the ocean waves
Yes
Shakira McPherson

l-r: Marcus Hill, Amari Knott

No DayI said that I’m unbroken,
but not that I’m invisible.
My skull is a spiral—
I am happy and then sadkill me, get me out.
Not single, but not happy
he is not my life, but he is my love
I can clearly see what isin front of me
am at the edge
kill melet me go
the ocean calls me.
Over and over, it is time to go
music will play when I go
the branch is broken
I am gone
Kitana Williams

11

No
No, I don’t like darkness
No, I don’t like you
No, you are pure darkness
Maybe your eyes are chaos
and I might get in trouble
You are invisible to my skull
The edge of the spiral is a force
not to be with
Everyone around me is dark

Samuel Hauser

Blake Mathews

Sad Mother
A mother that has a child,that is single, with a broken heart
swirled to the oceanwith the music playing
while tumbling in the sandso she could be invisible to her child.
Tamoni Onley

Invisible and BoredI am invisible to my mom
when I talk like a baby;
My TV is unbroken.
When I hear music,
I become calm.
My evening was good;
The ocean sounds calming.
My playground gets dusty;
A branch fell on my mom’s car.
My sister is single.
I draw swirls on the window when I’m bored.
Judiana Benjamin12l-r: Savion Lomax, Christian Harrison, DeAndre Jackson

SunsetPoetry’s Heartbreak
She wore an impossible red lipstick that night
Her walk was magnetic and her eyes were dull
Apart from her breathless black dressand her slight promising blinks
I spent each moment watching the ocean in her eyes
and listening to the final click of her heels
It was windy that night
and the memory of her vanilla-scented hairspread a wildfire in my heart
Listen! She struggled to say
The fallen leaves buried her word
and the next thing I knew
I was listening to her footsteps
Dusty, away in the somewhat silent nightThis is how poetry broke up with me

As the sun sets,
the afternoon begins to not exist.
As the night begins to darken
my soul begins to suffer.
Darkness starts to overtake me
so I plan to conquer the darkness.
Only the golden key can free me;
I never tasted defeat,but the gesture begins to fill mewith triumph, trials and tribulations.
Arrival is unexpected, unknown;
My conscience overshadows me—
Change of events…
Farewell darkness.
Trevonne Joyner

Shannell Jones13

l-r: Micheal Thornton, Kamari King

Crush
Poetry should sing to you,creep into your dreams at night
when it’s too hard to go to sleep
Poetry should be as lightas the laughter of a small childand as jagged as the edge of a dagger
Poetry should be the firstand last language to be used,and disappear into the night
like the sun setting in the West

What’s Underneath
About five years ago
an impure smile was cracked under false
circumstances…
It was forced, due to an empty heart…
Why smile anywhere except home
catch bullets to the soulor become blind to the obvious?
Why lie to the people you trust
only to put your frown in solitary?
Don’t tangle your emotions
Don’t outline the negativity
Open your eyes and see
What’s underneath…
Shannell Jones

Poetry should conquer the unknown
without fear
and whisper romantic gestures
as though you are the love of its life
Taylor Martin

14

What’s Inside
Honey never spoils
but my heart did.
A raisin never rots
but my mind did.
She thinks of me like a pretzel
nice and breakableyet, oh so salty.
He thinks I’m like a tomato
bright red, soft, yet so disgusting.
They treat me like peach
They don’t care for what’s inside.
But I’m not honey nor a raisin,
not a pretzel, tomato, or a peach.
I’m blood cells, flesh and skin
but most of all, I’m alive.
Christa Madikaegbu

Steven Brown

When I’m Feeling Sad
This past winter has been the worst.
I’m like a seashell, hollow on the inside to others
but for real, the only people that really get me
are my goofy best friends.
Just for a second,
I was happy,
but then I was covered in sandstone.
It was only a matter of time
before my happiness ran out
like a tiny red apple
after someone finishes with it.
Welp, now it’s time to say goodbye
before my past finishes me.
It’s time to say hello to my new self
the happy me;
But until then you are stuckwith the old me.

15
Armani Thornton

Synesthesia Wordplay
l-r: Kitana Williams, Christa Madikaegbu, Bunny Stevenson,
Armani Thornton

Mean to Nice
I do not need to walk or talkI control that
Try me and you’ll get hit with a bat
And that’s facts.
Don’t bother me or you’ll get got
I’m mean
I stay in the house, quiet as a mouse
Feel my wrath: You stink, go take a bath.
I’m just playing, that’s all I’m saying
I’m moving slowly
I won’t regret it, wanna bet it.

A star sounds like glowing in the dark;
A howl tastes like moonshine.
A circle smells like deliciousness,
Smiles sound like bodaciousness;
White moves in a shadow,
A baby’s cry is bright in a meadow.
A whisper looks devious;
Mischief smells like evil, tedious.
Texture of purple feels a-okay;
A new idea feels like a genius new day.
Whenever I look at you, I hear fake.
The sound of what you giveis the feeling what you take.
When I bite an apple, I see land,
But really we’re the mans with the plan.
Jayden Gray

When I’m an All-Star making gestures on the court
I’m soon going to be driving cars
Now I’m nice, I think that’s right
In a blink, that’s what my friends think.
Isyah Joyner

16GloomI’ve been buried
breathless, in a skinny coffin
alone with no sunlight
Akeera Jacksonjust darkness,shattered mirror pieces all over my heart
because all my life got sucked awaywith my hopes and dreams.
The rhythm of strangenessmakes me feel awake.
My enemies make me speechlessand filled with hatred.
I know sometimes they
make their parents want to disown them, too.
Armani Thornton

Sky BlueBlue like Ballou,
sky blue is my favorite blue;
Blaring blue is powerful,amazed by the spoken wonder.
Perplexed, dramatic cowards
betrayed by witty silence;
cranky pockets, bubbling in the sockets,
valuable historic memories alarm memonotone horror, cooked up drama.
Just look at the sky—
It makes all the girls faint.
Sunsets are my favorite set.
Armani Thornton

17Long Gone
Trees live longer than humans
Branches are shorter than avalanches
My ranch is longer than his pants
My poem is so longthat you don’t notice
So long.
Arman Thornton

Raised by Poetry
Steven Brown

Look Behind You
Beyond the bridge there is a car
Inside the car is a passenger
Behind the passenger there is a seat
Within the seat is foam
Around the foam is leather
Behind the leather there are some annoying kids
Behind the kids there is an empty trunk
where they belong
Outside of the trunk there is a beautiful world
Behind the beautiful world there is the universe
Behind the universe you go above and beyond
Behind above and beyond there is a spiral
Of lost souls waiting to find their place
Isyah Joyner

18

Poetry made me macaroni and cheeseand played my PS4;
Poetry did it like no otherand took me to Safeway
and said “Shut up,
don’t ask for nothing.”
Daniel Barnes

Life
There will always be enemies hating,boldness and pride,sweetness when my mom says I love you,sunlight in the day and darkness at night,
and there will always be trust and faith in my future.

Christian Woodall

Omarion Butler

Synesthesia
The star sounds like the Earth’s lullaby to us humans
A circle smells like snake sheddings and dishonesty
White moves in the color black
A whisper looks uneasy to an unpleasant ear
The texture of purple feels like smoked lips
The letter B glows the color red
Whenever I look at you, I hear claws on a chalkboard
The sound of gospel makes me smell fresh collard greens
A baby’s cry is a symphony to a mother’s ears at first sight
Smiles sound like Christmas carols
A new idea feels like a crushed juice box in the palm of a teenager
Every time I bite an apple, I see an evil queen
Awaiting her death
Renita Williams

19l-r: Ricardo White,
Tommy Fridie

Sights and Sounds
A whisper looks like a person fading away.
The letter B glows like the color blue.
Smiles sound like laughter.
A new idea feels like clothes coming out of the dryer.
Whenever I look at you,
I hear my heart beating faster.
A star sounds like a mascot shooting a shirt cannon.
The sound of a circus makes me smell cotton candy.
A circle smells like peace.
Saebian McKnight

Where She Really Is
They’re screaming.
They’re running in fear and terror.
The kingdom is falling apart;
They’re bursting through the rooms,
townspeople searching room to room
until they reach her room.
While bursting through the door,
they’re yelling for her to escapebut she’s still there.
But her eyes have lost their moon-like shine
and they only look empty
like an unused canvas.
It’s clear to see that her heart, mind, soul
are hidden behind her emotions;
So well hidden, they’re actually lost.
Now she lies there quietly
on her sleeping bad
and in a matter of seconds,
it’ll be her deathbed.
Christa Madikaegbu

20FactsOn Jupiter and Saturn, it rains diamonds
Poetry is a skill, it’s nothing but rhyming
Ostriches can roar like lions,and mountain lions can whistle
Do you ever wonder why, when the sun hits your face
girls say it kissed you?
Honey never spoils, come to think about it—
It’s kind of like aluminum foil,
Just sit honey in a pot and watch it boil
Will it be sweet then?
Brandon Gatling

There are more fake flamingos in the world than real ones
They are pink, but people mistake them for penguins
Stranger in Moscow, I wonder what MJ mean by that
Maybe because for every human on earth
there are 1.6 million ants
Scotland’s national animal is a unicorn
but they don’t exist
Who made this? A strawberry is not a berry
so why do they call it a strawberry?
There are more stars in space than there are grains of sandon every beach in the world.
Facts!
That’s why they shine bright like diamonds and pearls
Nowhere in the nursery rhyme does it saythat Humpty Dumpty is an egg,
but they talk about how he felt
and bumped his head.
Not my fault, that’s the monkey’s
The stuff that I’m telling you is the truth, though
For example, Russia has a larger surface area than Pluto
Now that I’m done, you think about if I’m right or wrong
But while you do thata king’s about to go take a seat on his throne!
Jailyn Smith

Benji Synesthesia
Tears sound like a basketball
bouncing around inside
a hollow quiet room.
Love tastes like waffles
on a Friday morning,with birds chirping in the window.
The texture of red
is a sunny day
full of joy and great spirits.
Jamel Pettaway

21

Full-life
l-r: Vincent Wing field, Kitana Williams,
Octavia Johnson, Phillip Williams, Shanay Lesane

The Senses of Synesthesia
A star sounds likeit’s glowing in the dark;Well, go ahead and take a nighttime
stroll in the park.
A whisper looks like the wind,silence will be grinned;
Mischief smells like trouble,
so crash and burn under all that rubble.
Trap you in a bubble: It’s double trouble!
A new idea feels like gold, you are mold;I’m the brave and the bold,and everyone knows that we’re alltight and stone cold.
Jahir Gray22

I was born a leader
Like I was queen of the galaxy
My home was a cat
My dad was a horse
We lived in the biggest bug
We had 24 rooms in our house
I had 17 brothers and sisters
We had stars as cars
Our planet was the best
I had a lot of friends
We drank water that was red
Desiree Ignacio

Inside Out
The kingdom of boredom
lurks upon me with this poem.
I bridge over it and try to escapebut they always end up catching me.
Guessing by my appearance
you can tell I came from pressing
the fantastic emptiness in my brain
but impurity takes its spot.
Somewhere in my mind a voicesays that I’m a burden, so…
I’m gonna take my leave.
Armani Thornton
Shakira McPherson

Tay Synesthesia
Senseless Senses
A star sounds like it’s singing
to the other stars;
The howls taste ofa lot of madness, or a wolf.
A circle smells like Thanksgiving,a lot of food that people like to eat.
Smiles sound like happiness;
White moves in a diagonal way.
A baby’s cry is bright,
like a shooting star going across the black sky.
The texture of purple feels all soft;
Whenever I look at you, I hear you singing like Shakira.
Every time I bite an apple,
I see Snow White waking up
from a true love kiss.

A circle smells like mysister cooking spaghetti in a pot
A whisper looks likea dark untold thought
White moves in a wavy flow
like an ocean
The texture of purple
feels like an evil, wicked potion
A star sounds likea depressing echo at night
Whenever I look at you,
I hear you cry every night.
Tavon Berford

Shaki Knight23

l-r: Armani Thornton, Isyah Joyner

Like Black PantherT’challa looked into the stars
at the edge of a hill in his suit.
When he looked down, he saw bad guys
so he ran down like a train whistles on a railroad.
When he finished, he hid in the darkness
with his Black Panther suit.
As he counted, there were ten bad guys
and his sister was talking to him
with limited location.
As he waited, he took them out, one by one
In a few minutes, there was only the leader leftthen Black Panther popped up in front of him.
The leader had an AK-47,
and he started shooting.
The suit was bulletproof.
T’challa walked up to him and did a combo,
and arrested him on the spot.
Then he went home and fell asleep
like he was inside of his Grandpa’s arms
like a kid.
Micheal Thornton

24

A word to the wise
Walking through the tunnel
I finally see
a glimmer of sunlight.
Gathering my thoughts
is a sign of wisdom.
Tamia Moyd
Savion Lomax

Quick Thinker, Quick Dreamer
They say she’s uncreative and uninspired
but they don’t know that her mind
is like a dark ecstasy.
My dreams are made of paint or stars
glistening so brightthe sun shines weak, like glitter.
My thoughts are divine fragmentsfrom my unholy heart.
My silence, so quiet, my thoughts are all I can hear.
My soul, made from tragic one-sentenced stories
with a happy word at the end;
My joy, leaving me so happyeyes shine like fireflies in fairy lights.
Christa Madikaegbu

25

Witness
I witnessed the intelligence of DeAndreand the bravery of Savion.
I am the spirit of the grouplike a singer in a band,with anger like Christianthat resembles a demon.
But we all are brave,
like a black knight fighting a dragon.
Gary Imes

Arman Thornton

The Greatest
Poetry should always make the three-pointerplaying basketball
Poetry is lit
Poetry wins awards at the Grammys
Poetry can cook buffalo wings
My YES day is playing the guitar
Poetry has manners
until it’s time for bed
Poetry is cool
blasting music, causing chaos
Poetry is smart
flowering roses in my background
Poetry can cut fades
watching the ocean splash water on my face
Poetry is fast
while it tumbles down my cheeks
Poetry is greatsun shining bright, giving me clarity
DeAndre Jackson
YES, my hair cascades
like a waterfall on a stormy, rainy day
the branches swing in the windtapping my window
waking me up from a YES dream

Everything Says YES

Erica Bell26

Playing for the Championship
Playing for the championshipI think of Mohammed Ali—
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
My football tights are not loose
like my pajamas
I burn past the evening sunlight.
My sister squints as I sprint.
She leans across to watch me score.
I scored! Quiet hands roared!
While I run, my cleats skim the grass
like a dog chasing the mailman.
All hail the new champs;
Against the sharp light, I take a deep breathand launch the ball; as he catches it
he begins to fall. We don’t stall—
TOUCHDOWN!
They fail to score, my mom leaves to go to the store;
After the game, my body was sore
like we just went through war.
The team needs to work more.
Football is at my core.
We went to FedEx field,
took a tour.
Come on let’s take a look
I got a bookabout football.
I made it to the Hall of FameChampionship; this season was the same.
Our team was underrated,
the Jaguars soon to be tamed.
The Jaguars said we’d be maimed
60-10 we win again.
Trevonne Joyner

l-r: Ms. Dixon, Amari Knott

President of mixed emotions
The president of mixed emotions
is as dark as a thunderstorm.
One minute the president is roaring
like the thunder,when the next,
the president is bright as the sun
as it shines down afterwards.
People think the president
to be bipolar or confusing
but at the end of the day,the president doesn’t give a hey.
The president still remains untouched
and travels where he pleases
while feeling like cold winter breezes
or glittering, like a cherry freeze
on a hot summer day.
Cortney Seburn27

Lesson Learned

l-r: Savion Lomax,
Christian Harrison

Painting With a Man in It
I will make my body out of memory
Life of the afraid, unwanted
It makes me shout to the imagined,
to the thumping heart.
The vision to be a rainbow
is a lonely thunderstorm.
Saquan Short

Yesterday, mighty death invited me
and I was scared
I didn’t know what to doso my heart started to beat real fast
It was dark, and there was a full moon
There was a big skyscraper in the sky
Now, I have learned not to be bad
No moreSo death just taught me something
Jeremiah Prince

BehindBehind my face is my cranium
Behind my cranium is my brainium
Underneath my soul is the dribbling in the stadium
Behind my ears are things that
I’ve heard from the past
Behind my eyes are negative and positive sights, while
Behind my legs are the hurdles I’ve had to overcome
In my 13 years of life
Savion Lomax28l-r: Savion Lomax, Christian Harrison, DeAndre Jackson

UnknownThat woman who looks out
the transparent window into a soulless worldof change and separation,
she wonders what society has to offer.
She stands at the same 90 stop every morningwith a lit cigarette, waiting for that 9:35 bus.
She always seems to get off
at the corner of Georgia Avenue,
silent, still, as she gets onto and off of the bus.
Through all the mothers who fight with fathers,
and all the rowdy children,
her expression always stays nonchalant and gloomy.
The weather always seems to bea sun shining when she gets on
but when she misses one ride,
the sky is gray and dull
like the bus ride is nothing without this woman.
Christina Taylor

Lost
I am the president of my childhood
and I am trapped in silence
In a dream, and my head empty
traveling to a forgotten island.
I am all alone but I hearrattles of voices in my head.
It is so freezingthat you can see the steam coming off your hands
snow melting during this morningas the sun is risingthen pop, suddenly I’m awake,unmoved from the couch.
Emir Battle

29

Alliteration
l-r: Christian Harrison, A.J. Henson, Jada Kelly

Revolution
Revolution is freedom.
Evolution is kingdom and queendom.
Revolution is not violence.
Revolution is not war.
It’s peace.
In revolution, revolution is said to be victorious.
In revolution, it’s said to be glorious.
But revolution is a country of opportunity.
Whenever it isn’t, it’s complete insanity.
Revolution is all’s fair in love and war;
Complete resistance till it’s not like before.
Jayden Gray

30

Irreplaceable ignorant inside injusticeLong leather laughing ladder
Smooth scar struggle separation sickness
Disappointment discarded drama
Evil empty eyes emphasize
Wasabi window wildfire
Behold burned blue-green birth
Chopped citrus candles
Aniya’s anonymous anger arrives
Franchise fragrance fully frozen
Violence vigils violent
Rich rolling rotten
Together throwing tomorrow’s testimonies
Bunny Stevenson

Who is real/fake?
Who is real or fake?
Poets are such geniuses
with their wordplay
and their clichés,but some are frauds
l-r: Savion Lomax, Christa Madikaegbu, Saquan Short
who steal someone else’s creationand disguise it with their creation
while all of their fans are
As the clock strikes three,blindfolded by their trickery
children get out of school
covered with their blanket of achievement
all rushing to the bus
while other unknown discoveries aren’t noticed.
to get home before it reaches
Then they get their work mistaken
the point of no retracing.
for someone else’s
Outside, the bitter smiles of
not knowing their past work,
the kids sitting in the window
then years later, the real poets get more famehearing in the depths of their minds
and fake poets have regrets, feeling bad“Dinner’s ready.”
and no one has sympathy for them
The mother stands in the doorway
and there is always a lesson
counting her child’s sighs
for real poets:
which seem endless,Don’t give up.
mother and son sitting at the table
Keep trying.
as he stares out the window

Almost Lights Out

Isaiah Hunter

watching the sky change
from play to PJs.
As the changes hit,it all seems enchanted,
like a dream that never dies.
Aneshia Whitney31

A Hole in Forever
I burn past the memory
a train whistles for me to come backI saw a dog once, and fell in love with him,
he wasn’t savage around me.
His foot skims the floor
like he has a grudge against these walls.
He counts birds…says it’s
a way of concentration.

Savion Lomax

Who I am
I am strong as a rhino
and as gentle as a lamb.
I am sharp as a tiger,so sharp that I divided up the continents.
I am mystical like a unicorn,so special, like an emerald,
but I feel like a fossil,
so old yet fragile.
My hunger can be like a hyena’s,
so ravenous that
I can swallow up an island,
but I am who I am.
Savion Lomax

The money was screeching,and sirens were ringing
but knowing me, I gotta hold it down
for what’s mine. Before
he put his foot in that car,a slow collapse of words
crept to his tongue, quiet hands
reach across that courtroom gate…
Whispers in my ear, “Can you keepa secret?” “Yes, of course I can.”His last words, in my room,
top closet floor box…
My last savings for ride or die.
Then the latch clicks closed.
My pain twitches and cries out,
I let him fall…
Now you can never say
I ain’t a rider, because against a sharp
light rests the definition of#staydown, find really the way
we ride and die, I’m willingto sit at the edge of a holein forever.
Myniah Sweetney

32Real Illusion
This illusion almost seems realand it’s scary, but it isan illusion, like a vortex
in a vortex, inside a vortex—
Does it make sense?
That’s the whole point—
Christian Harrison
This illusion is meaninglesswith no point, like paying for something
you already have.
It is like a nightmare
that I can’t wake up from.
If I had a chance,
I would have left this world, but
you’ve got to make the best of your struggle
when times are hard.
Isaiah Hunter

LegendI was born in the sweet crazy parts of D.C.
I walked to my mansion
and gave money to the homeless.
I designed the best games in the world,
better than PS4.
I am a lion.
I am a King.
I can’t be beaten by anyone.
I’m strong as a tiger
but light as a feather,
fresher than a bar of soap
and as cool as snow.
Christian Harrison

33

Destroy, Build, Destroy
If I wasn’t this angry, I could
destroy a whole lot of things.
I’ll destroy anything the guy brings.
Ice is my main element, it’ll give you lice.
I can destroy rocks, bricks, blocks, tick-tock,tick-tock, blow up the clock, you’re stone cold,
I’ll give you ten-fold, psych!
A bright star in the sky, in the galaxy,a constant struggle tells me otherwise.
Gotta rise above it, a swarm of dandelions
won’t be flyin’.
If you’re lying, I’m dying, forget it, this poem’s
written, it’s smitten. Get rid of her.

Shakira McPherson

Flowering Yes
Green says yes
and I feel happy
pigeons flying up highin the sky
say yes and I smile
and it is evening
everybody is going homeand I am excited
I get to play games
and be alone
and the whole world
smells like cookies baking
Tommy Fridie

34

A conquistador, take no prisoners. I’ll destroy
and build the people you killed. Your alter-ego
starts playing people from the get-go.
I can destroy friendships, go ahead and scoff,
if you get to sneak-dissing, I’ll pop off.
The only thing I can’t destroy are fakerelationships, friendships, what a rip-off.
Jahir Gray

The Chef
Every day I see her
Bags full of groceries
A meal waiting to be prepared
But the expressions on her face are not those of hunger
or eagerness
but of anxiety and concern—she looks scared
When her phone lights up, the message that seems
urgent doesn’t seem to phase her
She has bruises on her face like she’s been in a fightHer wedding ring scratched
She bounces her leg up & down
She can’t seem to sit still
She’s nervous
Her phone lights up
It’s her husband
He expects supper to be ready before he gets home
Wouldn’t want another “accident”
She replies faster than her hands can type
like she’s excited
but the pain in her eyes says otherwise

l-r: Armani Thornton, Christa Madikaegbu

Prehistory
The earth is as old as history
so old, it put the dinosaurs out of their misery.
Mammoths rode on cavemen
while pterodactyls had tea parties
and T-Rexes were the rulers of Egypt;
So old, that for every one human on earth
there are 1.6 million little antsthat build tiny houses.
Savion Lomax

Daizha Chism

35

Isyah Joyner

Signs
When things come apart, it is a sign of loss of gravity.
When darkness comes, it’s a signof an eclipse, or an abandoned city.
Knowing every riddle means sweet wisdom,
the wisdom to know a miracle is coming,and sweaty palms is a signof nervousness from a familiar nocturnal shape.
Elijah Hamilton-Todd

Calling the Signals
Everyone gathered outside
to see the eclipsed moonas soon as the sunlight went down.
The wind gusts through the alley;
It signals a sandstormthat will blanket the streets.
A miracle signals
the hope of a better day, a new future,
the prayer that worked!
Gravity signals our limits as
the invisible ceiling that reminds usthat we are just humans.
Erica Bell36

l-r: Armani Thornton, Christa Madikaegbu, Kamari KingThe Sweet Discipline
AlmostI walk into my home
and the fragrance of
peppery pepperoni
drifts through the kitchen
and rests on my nose.
Tick-tock, tick-tock:
The sound that keeps mefrom the delicious meal. I
anxiously await that
final exhilarating… ding!

What if we didn’t have gravity?
Everyone would be looking at each otherlike, “Why aren’t we on the ground, anyway?”
A stranger came up.
I said, “Who are you?”
And then it was Eli,
who became my best friend.
He had wisdom, and thatwill always be my best friend.
Ricardo WhiteOn the old brown oak table
sits a single plate…
Oh no! This warm, cheesy pizza isn’t for me!
In walks my brother, smiling…
Danai Corbin

37

Signs
A stranger in the nightis a sign he may be here
to kidnap me.
A person on the roof
taking aim is a signthat I should run.
l-r: Patrick Washington, Micheal Thornton

Read the Signs
Sweat on my head means I was playing outside.
Sunlight is a sign that the sun is coming out.
Getting good grades is a miracle. All A’s is a sign of the honor roll.
Being a part of a club is a sign of greatness.
The moon in front of the sun is a sign of an eclipse.
The sign of tidiness means a clean house.
If you see a stranger at night, that means they are stalking you.
Leondre Johnson

38

Coconut oil on the table
is a sign that my parents
are about the cook with it.
My sister got in trouble
and she blamed it on me,
which is a signthat I am about to get in trouble.
My mother left mein the house
which is a signthat she abandoned me.
Tyion Ross

These ideal words
I am a slingshot
throwing drums at people
I sweat like a pig
on a farm
I live on a moonwith aliens
guarding me everywhere I go
I jump on my tin drums
Shaki Knight
Gregory Grinage

Observation

Uncertain
I am blueberry juice missing
from a slingshot; Black smoke
coming out of my square ceiling fan.

When I ball my fist, it means anger.
When the trees move, it’s windy.
When I get goose bumps, it means I’m cold.
When I cough, it means I’m sick.
When I scream, I’m trying to get my point across.
When I’m sweet, it means I had a good time.
When I’m sad, I’m not feeling well.
When I’m in pain, it means something bad happened to me.
Christian Harrison

Maybe I’m a stomping gorillawith seven hands
splashing Kool-Aid.
I am sweat from a sports player’s jersey.
If I light a candle, I’ll melt to death.
Nobody will ever know
Bunny Stevenson

39Marcus Hill

Internally Awakened
Open eyes, regained consciousness
keep walking through midnight;
Sense of direction
colorful images, clashing in front of me.
Open eyes, not open at all.
Memories of what I experienced
flood back to me,
bitterness from an old broken heart
replaced with a heart of sunlight
due to the prayer from the disciplined, yet refined.
These torn bones covered in earthly dirt
fixed by the wisdom from familiar strangers;
These lungs of mine that are filled with smoke and pain
cleared and now breathing in air
with a slight sense of medicine;
These eyes open and these legs and arms are able to movethanks to the grace from a miracle.
I make my way out the door, looking backA final time to see that hospital,
the place of my divine intervention.
Christa Madikaegbu

40

Akeera Jackson

Believe It Or Not
I am SpongeBob
I am square
I get stomped on by horses
I slash the basketball into the net
I also drum underwater, but I don’t sweat
I like to get a kick out of fun
Once I got eaten by a crow
but survived
I once flew to the moon
Joquan KnightYour far, far away hero
I am the blue moon in the sky
my stars are broken pieces from eggshells
the misty smoke from Earthrefuses your permission to see me
I am the seven virtues, yet the seven sins
the wolf’s howl sounds like a drum
the fear in your brain starts to kick inthe crow is the color of my black, candle-lit eyes
Christa Madikaegbu

41

Lonely

l-r: Mr. Duchemin, Tommy Fridie, Ricardo White

Face
Mouth closed—Not smiling
Eyebrows down
Looking from side to side
Walking around the living room
Everything is quiet
Stay in the house
When somebody is behind me
I just jumpIt’s going on all the time
Raining on
wet slippery streets
empty with no people
Someone says, “Do you need help
getting down the street?”
I say yes
I feel like when it’s dark outsidewhen the lights are out
and you hear gun shots far away
Kevin Franks

Grey
Underestimated. Misunderstood. Misused.
Such a segregated color, put in placement
to describe things impure and hollow.
Grey, the lead within the pencil of thegreatest masterminds,
but forgotten when the Nobel Prize is won.
Grey, the color overhead that drips rain to
feed our crops or the snow to feed our spirits.
Grey, with its many shades, walks behind the talla shadow to mirror your greatness.
Grey, like a uniform you wear, other opinion, but
continue to do more without question.
Daizha Chism

42

Mystery X Magic
What did he do to me…
Infected me with smile, style,and the way he isfeelings and emotions boiling up inside,
Christian Woodall

so I stare stealthily at him
to find out how he used his witchcraft
to make me feel this way.

Leaders

Yet still, desperate and craving forthese prayers to work and knowing
these playful interactions
fill my infatuation with himwith a false hope for a romance.

The president of rising knows how
To uplift people and himself
The president of travel moves
Forward with his people
The president of barbed wire knows
How to harm you when you try to
Leave his site
The president of silence knows how
To act without soundLike a 1940’s silent film, and we are all trapped
In it until the end of their first term
No one, nor anyone, can speak
Their truth or falsehoods
The nations are all destroyed, because
All nations were not free—they had to
Follow the leader
No, nothing, but one person can fight
And turn nothing into something

Christa Madikaegbu

Mavelli Jones

Infatuation filling my soul…
but he did the same to her
but she cares for him and so does he for her…
More than I thought and still
the effect from his magic won’t wear off.
So I’ll sit and observe…
no hatred in my eyes
no jealousy, only infatuation
hidden by normal tone and loyal, friendly attitude.

43Tommy Fridie

Anxiety
It walks with quiet steps, watching its surroundings
Anxiety thinks the worst before it has a chance to come alive
Anxiety lives by steps—anxiety doesn’t stand tall
It walks, head down with hunched shoulders
Walks as if it carries the world on its shoulders
for fear it will tip
Anxiety talks with a nervous stutter like it has
ice in its shirt
Its eyes hang low, filled with glossy tears that don’t fall
Anxiety bites its nails to the skin
It wears headphones so people won’t talk to themeven when no music is playing
Anxiety’s nightmarish words are yesterday, today
and tomorrow
Anxiety is always jittery like someone is out to get themAnxiety lives in silence out of fear that the loud noisesof the world will tear away their peace and sanity
Daizha Chism44

l-r: Ricardo White, Amari Knott, Tommy Fridie

Today
Maybe I will have a Yes day
Maybe I will have a No day
But maybe I might have a Maybe day

Golden Power

Maybe I might get in trouble
Maybe I might get a reward
Maybe I might make a friend
maybe I might make an enemy

I have so much power, it’s overflowing.
I have 50 million people waiting for my arrival.
Some people ask where my power comes from,but till this day it’s unknown.

Maybe today is the day
but I do knowthat maybe is just maybe

Got so much power, I could be a planet in orbit.
It’s golden, just like a sunset.
I’m the beginning of any creation.
How I do it is a mystery
slowly being unraveled in the universe.

Savon Lomax

Perhaps, nah
I can never admit my defeat.
Christian Harrison

45

NO!
Danai Corbin

Not So Fast. . .
I have the power to run fast.
When I found out, I was 13 years old
and I was racing my friends
and I was running fast,
as fast as a cheetah.
I think my new name is Dr. Fastand my mommy doesn’t know it.
But Dr. Fast (and she’s notgoing to know, because I’m scared
to tell my mommy)…
I don’t know.

You tumble onto the dusty floor
with two broken bones
and a broken single heart,allergic to the flowers
and it makes your skull spiral in your head.
Have you had a pure swirly?
It’s like you are standingon an invisible edge of Hell, andon top of that, the worst songs
on my music playlist all evening.
This is the last straw.
You all put me on the outskirts
and the only friend I have is Christa.
Armani Thornton

Kamari King

46

The Chaos
As I walk outside
I see buildings
tumble and crumble.
We see chaos,some glass unbroken
on the sidewalk broken
glass in the trees andthe invisible skull
I see in my headas I sit in class.
I close my eyes andlisten to music andthink of oceans and sea creatures
then think of branches on a tree
in a park, and think ofa pure swirl of vanilla and chocolatethat everyone likes.
Everywhere is chaos.
James Stewart

Amir Green

MagicalI began doing magic at the age of zero.
I started off with a magic phone
but then I lost it in the 4th grade.
That day I felt my magic come back.
That’s when I questioned why,and she came in with purple glasses
and a big binderand I walked up to her.
I felt the magic
overflowing in my universe
slowly, it’s a mystery,
how she had so much magic.
She became my BFF.
We’ve been together since 4th grade.
Now we are listening to nice music while writing.
We plan to go to Ballou,
and then we plan to go to Maryland University.
So basically, were going to live together forever.
Armani Thornton

47

Yes/NoWhen I dance,
I always say yes. When I see
the ocean at the beach
I say yes! When
your music plays
you’ve got to say yes.
When I ask you areyou single, say yes. WhenI hang out with my friend,
I say yes. When I getin trouble, I sayno.
Ethan Akins
Phillip Williams

Alienation
I hate being a human having these emotions
I hate waking up to go to school
People got me feeling alienated—un-powered
I hate guys trying to figure me out
I hate being noticed for nothing—I hatetall boys—they make me feel sad
I’d rather be tall as a tree—It would be lovely to see
I’d like to be different—I’d rather be a publisher
or famous—I’d rather hibernate than go to school
I hate when boys act fake around me
I’m a planet, and have no one to bother me for a week
I hate school when students want to get yourattention by being annoying to you
I’d love to be a shadow—no one would bother me
Christina Cook48

When I Was Born
When I was born
Micheal Thornton
there were wonders around me.
Balloons with all the meaning of acheand sorrow filled the atmosphere for breathless
moments of the unexpected.
Darkness stands up like a stature of brothers
filled with bitterness. I wanted a boy,
No a girl—as tension grows louder;
Regrets showing as shadows of the spirits
and from the unknown silence ofan old lullaby’s soul—there I wasat the depth in the orbit of nowhere.
Christina Cook

Destiny
Believe all the stories of who I was
the first son to ever walk the moonI›m afraid of dogs
I come from a grandmother who walks
the dead & shows me the light of who I held
Kiss the door, but not too soon
Black Secrets told to a mother to never be borna god below the hoop
They say he went to the moon
Jamaree Martin

49

Zoom
My power is running fast and levitation.
I can make my brother float.
My mom can’t reach something
and she knows I can.
The plane can’t take off—
Oh, now it can.
The bird is hurt—
Oh, now it’s backin its nest. (WHOOSH)

l-r: Christa Madikaegbu, Kitana Williams

Stinky Story

Do you hear that? (BOOM)
The plane is in the ocean—Oh, now it’s not.
My sister can’t get her food fast—
Zoom, got it!
My friend needs a cake, quick—
Zoom, got it.
Me and my brother see a commercial.
We want the game on it—
Zoom, I got it.
I need to clean my room—
Zoom, I’m done.
Arman Thornton

I heard that somebody›s children are
afraid of water—that their Grandmothersmells like bear and dead bird
they smelled like they knew death andhad a book bag break her backShe sat up all night & day with a box of light bulbs
beneath her arms—I believe the story
because it was a hot season that I heard froma pine tree with a big tent behind her houseso now, that bone in her hip strains to heal the fracture
Jamaree Martin50

16, 17, 18
Another February,
16 days within the month;
The frost on my window falls on my model skull
the lovely scent of vanilla coming from a candle,
the only thing illuminating my dark room
quiet, all alone, sleeping in my bed.
Next day, I saw you, twice.
Maybe three times
but I couldn’t help it and it was all your fault.
Now blood rushes to my cheeks when I see you.
Periodically staring for a while, so you won’t notice,and if this is my birthday gift,
I’m stuck with it now.
The 18th
Now I see what you haven’t shown me,
her arms around you, and you doing the same.
I understand and know all I can do
is say a prayer and wait and wait
and wait… And still, sit down andhide the feelings away in front of you.
I’m not very patient,but I’m willing to wait for you…
And I still am.
Christa Madikaegbu

Trevonne Joyner

The Green Way
The green way is a way I wanna walk across.
It’s like I wanna walk with positive things,
like making sure my grades are goodand golden things happening to me,
because the way I’m at now
is green mixed with yellow, and yeah,
it’s not bad, but I know I can get better,and see the Green Way;I mean, I do see it a li’l, but
I want to really see it.
Jewel Jones

51

Gregory Grinage

Life
I don’t know poetry
I learned how to write in critical condition
I’m bored so I’m not gonna listen
Sitting here thinking and wishing
Poetry was not a gift
I’m at home now, needing a lift
Scared, wow,so frightening
Hoping one day I get my license
Elijah Douglas

Earthling Boy“I discovered my powers in first grade.
My powers were fire, water, wind, and earth.
I only use my powers for good.
As I got older, my powers got stronger.
My soul didn’t feel the same since first grade,when I first figured out my power.
My destiny was to put all criminals in jail.
I got famous fast.
The people got me an ancient mansion.”
His name was Timmy.
Now his name is Earthling.
So Earthling finished fighting,and saved the world from everything.
Phillip Williams

52l-r: Christa Madikaegbu, Saquan Short, Blake Mathews, Jalonnie Hawkins, Armani Thornton,
DeAndre Jackson, Gary Imes, Nathan Bacchus

The Power of Super Speed
I started to feel some weird stuff in my hair,then it started to itch and it got worse
so I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror
and my eyes started to glow with red and yellow electricity.
After that, someone found me lying on the floor
with froth coming out of my mouth.
I was taken to the hospital,
where the doctor said that I was
suffering from a mysterious diagnosis.
I come from a long line with a box of light bulbs
Fractured in my hand as I wake up in the middle ofVincent Wingfield
The country along a black rock on a hot season
Drinking beer and reading a hard back book on
The roots of a tree as I get struck by lightning
I run to my tented housed to grab my weapon
Of nails and glass as I run away to play basketball
And sweat in the hollow on a dry night
I have the power of speed
I can see all the people go slow
Gregory Nickens
I see a golden glare, and when I go so fast,people only see my shadow
I fly so fast, I can orbit the sun
When I fly, I can overcome darkness

Glowing New Day

The Golden Flash

Ethan Akins

53

Fire

l-r: Christa Madikaegbu, Micheal Thornton,
Trevonne Joyner

I began doing magic one evening
at the age of two.
I realized I was magical when, one day,mysteriously unbroken
flames came from my right hand fingertips.
I only take my magic with me
when I feel like I’ll be defeated.
It normally only comes out in a lab.
The darkness of the president’s voice
makes my magic appear
Fire-rific!
Don’t put me near a plastic board
unless you want it melting in flames.
Shakira McPherson

54

Kevin Franks
I come from a long line hollowed out
on a dry night—The first son in a line
Of someone else’s children
Hungry and afraid of the elderly and the new deadMy mother said she would take me whereever
I wanted to go—It was dark enoughto bury myself.
Kevin Franks

Kevin Franks

Future Past
Magic MeI began doing magic at the age of 11:
I would like to have frozen powers
and run-fast powers
to save the world,and I would like to havea purple and blue hero suit.

I like my power of tumbling;
If there were real-life magic
in my 9th grade skull,
blizzard of 2002—
I realized I was magic when
I was good at running fast.
I began doing magic at the age of 30 years old
and then I died at home in my sleep.
Saquan Short

I would save the worldfrom a slowly falling fireball.
I would fly up and then blow
breezy cold air, to freeze itthen throw it back over the sunset.
Ayanna Francois

55

DeAndre Jackson

Bullying
Who knows when the bullying will stop?
Calling me ugly—saying I’m dumb
just makes me popular in the darkness.
Locked away, you’ll never see it
but remember what’s done in darkness
will come to light.
When I get home you’ll never see me crylong breaths, I try not to show how you hurt me
People end it all because of bullying
Imagine your family ending their lives
Why not just STOP?
I almost lost a friend to bullying
Isn’t that something?
People think they know me and they judge
but it hurts inside
No words spoken; there’s laughter outside but
it’s not funny—silently,
I stay quiet wondering, Why me?
Will anyone else be floating away,
disappearing from the world?
I try to hang on, but who knows whenbullying will stop.
Trevonne Joyner

56Entangled Words
They say I climbed to the roof
Afraid of dogs without ethos
Afraid of hunger and stupidity
When I threatened to run away
With a box of light bulbs beneath
My arm—I come from a line ofSomeone else’s children
I come from hard back books
And tents leading to my motherYesterday I was glowing with no light
To heal fractures
I believed all the stories
Nailed to a pine tree
From my grandmother

Kamari King

Bunny Stevenson

Not From a Squad of Saints
I’m from the underground, where all my demons lie
I’m from gasoline and the scent within a bakery
I’m surrounded by stressed-out heathenswith heavy, dirty souls.
I came from the echo of their screams
I’m made with sour candy and cinnamon
I’m filled with sarcasm and generosity
I’m the one person who writes sins, not tragedies.
I believe crazy equals genius, and I wake up
at four in the afternoon;
I was behind the death of a bachelor.
My name is Lucifer, but you cancall me Satan.
Christa Madikaegbu

57

Where I’m from
D.C. is as dirty as a dumpster;I’m from apartments and baby mothers
I’m from fried chicken and kool-aid
I’m from parks and pools.
No, I’m not from North Carolina—
I’m from tall people, and no shorts,
Except for girls
Trevonne Joyner

Denahi McNeil

6 plus 4
One – you enjoy my dark sense of humor
Two – your randomness and creativity make me smile
Three – you make me into a kinder person
Four – you inspire me
Five – you make me believe, and bring out my creativity
Six – you talk a lot, and it’s always nice and positive
Seven – the fact you can’t dance makes me happy
Eight – you act so hostile, when you’re really wise
Nine – you are wild and hilarious
Ten – people underestimate you, but I know you are really strong
Christa Madikaegbu

58One dayOne day I was sleeping
and my back did not feel the sameand it was weird
I thought it was the way I was sleeping
but a few minutes later
I looked in the window
to see if someone was inside
Savion Lomax
but I saw my reflection in the window
and I saw a wing so I did not tell no one
it was growing at a fast paceso I found a high place to jump so I jumped…
then
I
did
not
fall to my death, I flew.
First you take three of my demons
I was amazed. A few months
and frost them each with an inch of pain;
later I told my family I can fly
Then you let them sit in a bowl
and found out my parents know
and add a handful of my darkest memories
all about it, and they can fly too.
and melt them in a cup;
After that you pour a cup of darkness over myNa’jee Ferguson
frozen demons, then you sprinkle some lonelinessand mix the batter with an ocean’s worth of sugar
made from the soul of a saint.
Bake it in the oven for half an hour, and, Taa-Daa!
You have a purified soul, but this wasn’t supposed to happen.
What a disaster!

A recipe for disaster

Christa Madikaegbu

59

Closet(after Terrance Hayes)

Armani Thornton

Rise
The world wasn’t made to put me down
But I don’t regret what I’ve done
I believe I can see the darkness in all the shadowsI don’t believe in no one suffering
even the unknown.
If I speak, I’m fulfilling my destiny
but when I’m quiet, I admit my defeat.
To love is to live—now I must rise
and ride into the sunset—
Farewell.
Christian Harrison

60

I was nothing to becomeof. They say fractured lightbulbs gloom from people’s
afraid minds. Hung but
entangled into the dustof the locked door. It
was shut, closed growing
from the roots of a half
chopped tree. As I run awayfrom yesterday’s broken hip.
I would take a board
nailed to my closet door.
And shoot a weapon ofkindness into the net. How
beneath my closet can I
be?
Demarco Tuckerl-r: Armani Thornton, Christa Madikaegbu, Saquan Short, Bunny Stevenson

Martin Luther King Jr.

I’m a King
I come from wild flames
I make my home the best
I see the future and I wonder:
Why am I so rich?
When I am alone I feast
I imagine that I can float on the clouds
Every day I see my sapphire birthstone
but if I look closely, I see my heartbeat

Born into a world knotted up,
He counts birds under the eveningsun.
He forgets his name until he realizes he’sa king.
He’s narrowing down what should happen next
At breakfast he thinks quick,the flick of the wrist burns anger like a stone toa stick.
Just for a second a slow collapse of words“I have a dream that one day,”It changed a lot through time
Renita Williams

A voice inside me says poison him but I say, “No”
and I want to tell the world, but no one will believe me
Right now I’m crying
but someday I will stop crying and rise up
I wish all of this would never have happened
Christian Harrison

61l-r: Vincent Wing field, Armani Thornton

Shadows + Secrets
I burn the past with all my secrets
but it also goes into another world
where tomato vines feed the secrets
up into autumn with just a whistle
you can hear a dangerous voicethat gets swooped up by a put-outerthat is hurtful enoughyou won’t be able to hear a voicewith a shadow
he forgets my name with every grief
we go throughcomes passion and violence
thrown like a stone
through the church window
Isaiah Hunter

62

Thank YouOne – you’ve always given love to me
Two – you’ve meant more to me than I’ve ever seenThree – you made me invulnerable to all pain
Four - You’ve driven me wherever I want
Five - You’ve helped me to do the impossible
Six – I will never not be able to call you friend
Seven – you’ve made me smart as a whip
Eight – you taught me how to jone
Nine – I love math because of you
Ten – you’ve brought me wherever I needed to go
Christian Harrison

Philosophy
My gaze is full of regret.
It is my custom to observe
my conscious mystery.
And sometimes I change
the universe’s sunset into
my own creation.
And I’m very good at unexpectedtrouble that comes my way.
I’m capable of making the shadow
invisible.
I believe in change to destiny
but it doesn’t exist in my time.
Demarco Tucker
Arman Thornton

Who Knows?
Me and my Fam

Who knows if this pillow is ripped?
Who knows that the sky is neverending?
Who knows that the darkness scares children?
Who knows the dark can be found at night time?
Who knows that I can be silent all day?
Who knows that the full moon is bright?

I’m from an artistic backgrounddrawing anime when I’m in the housethinking about Dragonball Z.
Judiana BenjaminMy sisters are athletes—the older
plays soccer and my little sister shoots
hoops so good it will make you cry.
I play both, but I can block a goal like no one else can.
My dribbling skills could make a dog wail.
My words are, most of the time, sweet
because when I talk, I always think.
Christian Harrison

63

My Gaze
Vincent Wing fieldMy gaze is clear as the eye can see
It is my custom to observeand destroy negativity
And sometimes I regret thecreation of a shadow madeby the unknown me.
And what I see is thearrival of overflowing Loveof my Black family.
Jamel Pettaway

My Philosophy
My gaze on rap is that it’s dope
Mysteries come wit it, and you never know
It’s a lot of people dat need some soap
But rap will get you money even wif da jokes
Spittin hot barz and spittin hot rhymes
And I’m very good at stoppin the time
I believe the style of rap won’t die
My squad walk in and can’t nobody decline
If I speak up on da beat it gon get killed
Y’all don’t even know da beat gon get illed
You can take my rhymes but you gon get stealed
The world was only made for me and my peers
Mykel Woodbury

64Stupidity(after Terrance Hayes)
I will not wait to becomea bird dark enoughto bury itself in midair
flying over everybody
that hated on you
Just look at them with despair
knowing that it’s only
l-r: Jayden Gray, Kevin Franks, Jahir Graya few people who care,that’s stupidity,
making people go on a killing spree
seeing people get shot
One – you are nice, like the weather tonight
without receiving a master’s degree
Two – you are loving, like a puppy
it’s stupidity,
Three – you are kind, like a bestie
people robbing you,
Four – you are positive, like my coachno matter what city
Five – you are uplifting when I am sadit’s not just the adults
Six – you are nice when others are mean
but also the kiddies…
Seven – you are crazy in a good way
kiddos, kids, there we go.
Eight – you are loving, like a parent should be
I guess I’m just a lucky so and so,Nine – you are nice to me even when I’m madsmart but never show
Ten – sorry, I have nothing to say to you
stupidity
Judiana Benjamin
Jailyn Smith

10 People

65

You Cannot Destroy!
You cannot destroy a weapon
You cannot destroy my hope
You cannot destroy my joy
In these darkened times
You are the light that guides me on
The warmth that keeps that chill away
The sound that sparks my hope
The joy that fills my heart
Xavier Spruill

DeAndre Jackson

About MeI see the flames in the distance
The softness in my skin
If someone betrays me
I will slap them
The moonlight shines on my house
I sit in silence—the ocean waves are calming
I will forever love purple
Judiana Benjamin

My RegretI regret ever talking back to my Mom
Perhaps if I didn’t talk back
I would have been fine
My arrival to school is sometimes late
Perhaps if I got to sleep on time
I would be fine
I went outside yesterday, but I’m notgoing outside today
Darkness makes me calm
I change my game in PS4
I look out of my window & when thesunset comes, I know it’s time for bed
so now my gesture when my mom talks
is good
Judiana Benjamin66The Last of Us
Games will never last, cards will never last.
Friendships will last, friendships won’t last.
Places will change, rooms will change.
l-r: Gary Imes, Saquan Short, Blake Mathews, Jalonnie Hawkins

Not the armor and range.
Tattoos never last, birthmarks never last.
Trees never last, plants never last.
What a delight, this ain’t the sports highlights.
Food never lasts, drinks never last,video games never last, desserts never last.
Lights change, twilights never change,
fake people change, voice will always change,
It ain’t that strange.
Buildings won’t last, houses won’t last,cars won’t last, trucks won’t last,vans, bikes, scooters, skateboards, snowboards,
motorcycles and other vehicles will and will notlast.

Who Knows
Who knows the darkness is coming?
It is very dark
You can see the full moon
People’s moves are smooth
and also they’re silent
The air is so bad you can’t breathe
Where is the magenta sun?
People are disappearing
Look out the window.
DeAndre Jackson

Relationships always last, relationships will
never last, relationships change, they won’tchange, it’s just a blast from the past.
Jahir Gray

67

15

Shakira McPherson

Who knows that you can do anything?
A mountain can become
as short as an anthill;
I love amber, but I don’t knowwhat magenta means.

Hope
I believe it is a wonderful earth I’m in.
It is amazing as a waterfall andsometimes I feel like I could regret it
because Trump and the President ofNorth Korea may do something terrible
but I hope not.
DeAndre JacksonMicheal Thornton

How to make a cardboard train
Take 4 cups of glue
Crush 4 cups of glitter
Add a year’s supply of stars & a day’s worthof cardboard
Fold in the sides—pour the glue and glitter over
all of the cardboard
Shake the stars onto the glue andtoss all the trash away
Judiana Benjamin68

l-r: DeAndre Jackson, Nathan Bacchus, Gary Imes, Blake Mathews, Isyah Joyner

Ten People
One – you are my everything
Two – you make me laugh like a baby
Three – you’ve been there when I needed you
Four – you make me tough like a man
Five – you are very creative like a painting
Six – you’re silly but I love you
Seven – I really care about you
Eight – I don’t get to see you a lot but I feel you in my heart
Nine – you’re the best at Call of Duty and I like bonding with you
Ten – you’re my nephew and my best friend
Isyah Joyner

Go Outside
I’m from my Mom and my Dad
I hear yelling from angered people
I feel tension in my body when I hearthem shouting
I smell fried chicken when my aunt is cooking
I taste good food when I eat dinner
I see kids playing when I’m outside
Micheal Thornton

69l-r: Christian Harrison, DeAndre Jackson,
Gary Imes

My Thoughts
My gaze is unknown
like the universal sunset
It orbits and spirals
so my window opens to afternoon
Souls observe my love and exist, but
you still distance yourself
My love is overflowing
I love you, do you love me?
It is unexpected
When I look, my loveis owned and not taken
Love is a mystery, but today
is a good day to love
Kitana Williams

70

No One KnowsWho knows that you can climb a mountainas tall as a skyscraper?
I can see the darkness andthe evil within the dark
Floating in the sky, not because I’m shy
or because of the old lady across the street
or, if the wandering kid across the hall ishanging out the window, andat night you can see thefull moon.
Isyah Joyner

Blake Mathews

I am what I want to be
I regret some things that I do
It’s like a mystery, but people make me madbecause the things I do are my creation
If it is my creation, then it exists
and you will have to get over it
because it’s my shadow
My back story is like my golden window
I will never stop on my first defeat
I will move forward, and won’t change
My life is mine & how I live it is up to me
So back off—I won’t let you rob meof my creativity or my imagination
This is my custom—this is what I believe in
What I see is in my eyes
The world wasn’t made for you to judge me

Why we need things
Who knows how I dream?
Who knows how a mountain is made?
Who knows what we see out the window?
Who knows why we need a pillow?
Who knows why we need the sky?
Tyion Ross

Isyah Joyner

71Who am I?
Gary Imes

Who Knows?

I come from nothingness.
I see an ocean
and I wonder about my heartbeat.
Every day I see shadows.
I wish I had rubies and gold.
Right now I am a wind.
A voice inside me says tobe successful in life.
Tyion Ross

Who knows if the mountain can speak?
Who knows if the mountain can breathe?
Who knows if the full moon is magenta,
When the whole time it can be green?
What if the spring was in December?
The child got amnesia so you ask her, “Do you remember?”If you didn’t get the joke, then you better start packing, like seriously
How could you forget the lyrics of the king of pop, Michael Jackson?
What if it was dark and out of nowhere you heard a spark;
You see a person floating—How can he do thatwith no magic, no potion? You didn’t see Casper
but you heard a bunch of laughter
Wandering in the darkness, knowing you’re not partof this—Who is this guy? Did he come from the sky?
He looks kind of shy—he just said goodbye
then disappeared—that was the beginning
Now it’s the end—who knows what might bein store next, my friend?
Jailyn Smith72

My Life
I come from NYC and love
Kitana Williams
I make my home loving and good
I see my Mom, and she is love to me
and I wonder if she has bones and a soul
When I’m alone I see a lot of clouds
I imagine that I can cry a rose
Every day I see love and flames
but if I look closely I see my Mom and Dad
A voice inside me says to love all and be goodand I want to tell the world to die and love me
Right now I am flames
but someday I will be nothingness
Kitana Williams

My Gaze
My gaze is a sunflower handkerchief
I walk the roads, looking right and left
unwittingly, and at each moment
is what I never saw before, overflowing
having that sheer wonderthat a newborn child would havefrom the shadows
Saquan Short73

Violence
Who knows if the dark is smooth?
Looking out the glass octagon window
to see if the darkness will disappear
Who knows if climbing the skyscraper
will tell me if the moons full?
Who knows if the rain will turninto aliens and sing lullabies to the babies?
Who knows if the floating planes
surrounding us will block the jagged streets?
Who knows if I will dream about
a mountain filled with lava, or my pillow?
Will l burst into flames?
Shanay Lesane
Saquan Short

Some Day
I come from heartbreak
I make my home unbelievable
I see everlasting dollar signs
and I wonder if it will really last foreverWhen I am alone in my room I dream about my family
I imagine that I can have my own glittering daycare
Every day I see my afternoon friends
We play the Play Station 4, but if I look closely
I see crumbling emeralds
A voice inside me says, “No!”and I want to tell the world I am inspirational
Right now I am nothing, but someday
I will have a fortune
I wish all my dreams would come true
Shanay Lesane

74Born in New York Raised in D.C.
No I’m not from D.C.
But I was raised here
As you get older in the DMV, you see things more clear
Where celebrities are barely known here
Only people you’ll ever hear
Are Taraji P. Henson, Wale and a few others
Right now I can’t think
The difference between New York and D.C. is
D.C. is not a state, but the President resides here
The only thing I don’t like about the big apple
is that Donald Trump lives there
D.C. is not a bad place to grow up
The number one rule—watch your backD.C. is not as big as N.Y. but it’s okay
I’m glad to be born in New York but raised in D.C.
Now you know my story
What’s the next state?
Tennessee?

l-r: Nathan Bacchus, DeAndre Jackson

Washington D.C.
I live in a neighborhood where beef lives
It is called Third World
People get robbed every day
People get into fights every day
People get shot at every day
Fourth and Third Streets are not a good hood
Omarion Butler

Jailyn Smith75

l-r: Vincent Wing field,
Armani Thornton

Ewwww
How to make Jade:You start with a hand full of lazyand then a half an hour of letting it bake;
After that’s done, put in a pinch of lit anda cup of dry and spread some love andhate over it, then mix in some ugly
and you will have a lifetime supply of Jade.

Ugly Faces
Parents look so ugly when they makea face that balls up to let you know thatyou’re in trouble.
Sometimes, people smile to show that they’re
happy, but their faces look so ugly that I
just smile back so they think the same.
It’s like their face is held down by gravity;
It’s just so ugly.
Na’jee Ferguson

Na’jee Ferguson

Super MeI come from outer space with super powers that
I didn’t even know I had
I make my home out of gold
I see birds flying around me through the air which
I’ve never seen betterand I wonder why I was sent to earth
When I am alone I wonder what my planet is like
Micheal Thornton

76l-r: Vincent Wing field, Arman Thornton, Isyah Joyner, Armani Thornton, Kamari KingThe Hood
I’m from the hood
where stop signs are yield signs
and 5 year olds walk to school alone
I’m from the hood
where noodles, hot dogs and beans, or PB &J’s
weren’t a struggle meal, or
where middle school kids
can’t act like children
I’m from the hood
where every other corner is a store
or a drug dealer
I’m from the hood
where living and having fun is drinking and smoking

Thanksgiving
I wake up in a good mood,smelling the good foodplus there is no school
so I am cool.
I get out of my bed
and my Mom is cooking
Thanksgiving dinner.
She said come and sit down
so I sit down with a smile.
I turn on the Turkey Bowl
until Thanksgiving dinner is served.
Omarion Butler

I’m from the hood
where neighborhoods two feet away from each other beef
and where communication is not key
and no one can argue without guns being involved
I’m from the hood
where there can be 12 feet of snow and school is still open
I am Bunny
I am from the dirty south
I am from the hood of D.C.
Bunny Stevenson77l-r: DeAndre Jackson, Gary Imes, Saquan Short,
Blake Mathews, Jalonnie Hawkins

13
I come from my Mother’s place.
I make my home over eyes.
I see flames inside a fireplaceand I wonder how big the ocean is.
When I am alone I play fortune.
I imagine I can build a tower out of legos.
Every day I see different eyes but
if I look closely I see cotton overhead.
A voice inside me asks, “Hey, do you have any grapes?”and I want to tell the world, “Good Afternoon.”
Right now I am playing GTA
but someday I will own GTA.
I wish that I could move my Mom
out of the projects.
Arman Thornton

78

My Homel-r: Bunny Stevenson, Arman Thornton, Kamari King

I come from a palace with flames
I make my home out of purest cotton and silence
I see a cave with emeralds, rubies, topaz,
sapphire and bronze
I wonder when I am asleep
I wander in a hurricane and clouds
When I am alone I go someplace fora special memory that I like, fromback when I was little

My undone life

Shaki Knight

I came from a far village out in the west
I make my home with unbelievable power
I see a palace in the moonlight, looking with my eyes
I will never forget the fortune
and I wonder if the clouds are where God is at
When I am alone I think the tower is full of
unbelievable strength
I imagine that I can fly above the clouds
and I feel the windEverywhere I look I see people with babies
but if I look closer, I see just me
Leondre Johnson

79

My Mystery

Savion Lomax

Silence and Strength
I come from emeralds within my skin
I make my home in my heartbeat
I see poison in the darkness
and I wonder when my eyes will meet the antidote
When I’m alone I watch the wind blow the flowers
I imagine I can become the inspiration I want to be
Every day I see whirling moonlight in the sky
but if I look closely I can see glittering sapphires
I want to tell the world that silence may one day
become my strength
Right now I am drifting in my thoughts
but someday I will cradle the twilight to sleep
I wish silence will one day become my strength
Aubrey Miller

80

I regret my not
being here for thelast writing club meeting.
I observe how
people feel when
I say I will stay
but end up leaving
outside to go into
the unknown andI have to say
farewell to writing
club. Someday there will be
no injustice, and no one
will be unremembered.
Amir GreenI Am From D.C.
I’m from my Mom and Dad
I was raised well
I’m from crackers and cheese—
They taste good
I’m the controller,
and I control the gameI’m the exhaustfrom mom’s car in DC.
Amir Greenl-r: DeAndre Jackson, Nathan Bacchus

Majestic I
I Am from D.C.
I am from candy red
gummy bears
I am from Art andpermanent paintI am from Math Books
from school
I am from my Mommy
I am from cool carsof King Industry.
Kamari King

I come from cash
I make my home into a palace
I see the future and I wonder if I can see the past
When I am alone I meditate and collect my inner
energy and chi in the softest breeze
I imagine that I can punch through the cloudsof heaven and talk to God himself
Every day I see through my haters and keep walking, but
if I look closely I can see the people I love and care for
A voice inside me says to meditate for more strengthand I want to tell the world they can meditate, too
Right now I am bronze, but someday I will bemajestic diamonds
Joquan Knight81

My World
My gaze is likea sunset andsometimes defeat.
I believe that thesky is green and blue,that it wasn’t madefor me, but
if I want tospeak I canexist, andthe life ofregrets means
I have no darkness,
not because of shadows
but becauseof friendships.

Jalonnie Hawkins

No One KnowsWho knows if the sky is smooth?
Who knows if dreams are going to happen?
Who knows if the sky is silent?
Who knows if the sky will disappear?
Who knows if skyscrapers are going to
be gone? Who knows that weare darkness?
Ethan Akins

Ethan Akins

How to Make Best Friends
A pinch of cool
A bunch of Dad
A handful of neat
and a pinch of goku hair
Stir with a bunch of cute girls
Sprinkle laughter on the keyboard
Chop up the code
You got Leo,
Tyion and Grace
Ethan Akins

82

The End?
Who knows if a full moon
will fall from space intoa volcano while water spills
over a dark silent skyscraper,
wiping out half of theworld?
The wandering sky,floating over a mountain;
Kids having amazing dreamy
dreams in darkness.
The end.
Vincent Wingfield

Saquan Short

My Gaze from History
My gaze is like a mysterychanging by time, passing bysouls from the underworld.
I believe in unwitting triumphover bad consequences ofbad people.
I have no ancient creationthat once conquered and defeatedthe gods and goddesses ofancient Egypt.
If I speak ofsuffering the unexpected, it will
be an honor to serve injustice andthe good people that exist
from now on.

What I Believe
My philosophy is goodand my philosophy is art
and my philosophy is foodand my philosophy is caring
and my philosophy is my phone
and my philosophy is be a good brotherand my philosophy is cool cars
Kamari King

Vincent Wingfield83

Buildings
I’m from 37th Place, where trees
fall on school buildings.
No, I’m not from Maryland, where
people get evicted.
Vincent Wingfield
Christa Madikaegbut

Ten People
One: She seems dark and crazy—She’s not
Two: He’s all bark and no bite sometimes
Three: He’s tough on the outside, but soft
only for the special someone
Four: She only has anger problems
when she gets mad
Five: She has the best name everSix: She is helpful when you leave your phone… sometimes
Seven: She is hilarious when it comes to anything
Eight: She sometimes connects to me
Nine: She is heavy handed a lot, but the best
Ten: She is the boss lady in the bunch, but funny
Armani Thornton

84l-r: Gary Imes, Jalonnie Hawkins, Blake Mathews, DeAndre Jackson

How to Make a Clubhousefrom Couch Pillows
First, put four cups ofCreativity while adding a pinch
Of sweet ol’ beats
Second, use a heaping tablespoon of excitement
With some Niagara Falls syrup
And blend
Mix with cotton while
Using a year’s supply ofMagnetic chocolate

Recipe for a Healthy Relationship,
NOT!

Vincent Wingfield

A year’s supply of lies
4 cups of hatred
A heaping tablespoon of anger
A handful of nastinessA teaspoon of resentment
And a handful of anger issues
Stir it all up and you get a bad relationshipArmani Thornton

85Bunny Stevenson

Ten Favorites
One - You are the something in nothing
Two - You’re the strongest, funniest man I know
Three - You’re my favorite aunt
Four - You’re my favorite sister, a lil psycho
Five - You make me laughSix - You’re my favorite niece
Seven - You’re my favorite nephew
Eight - You’re my favorite brother
Nine - You stay by my side and you look after me
Ten - You’re ok and fun if you don’t be a jerk
Arman Thornton

86

Don’t Know
I’m from D.C.
I’m from my mom.
I’m not from Dubai.
I want to be in Dubai.
I wish I could say I
woke up in a new Bugatti
but the truth is I woke up in my bed.
I’m not from the north.
I’m from the south.
Arman Thornton

Universal
I wish to go to space
once in my life so
I need to become
an astronaut when I grow up
and become a space pilot
and go to space andsee the universal system.
It took me one million days
to get to earth, but I died.
I believe that space is acool and calm place.
To love is to become one with theuniverse. I have no worries.
I died, but I am not worried.
Leondre Johnson
Isyah Joyner

Bravery
D.C Childhood
We used to play pretend, give eachother different names; we would build arocket ship, then we would fly it far
away, used to dream of outer space.
Now my Mom laughs in my face, saying“Wake up! You need to make money!” Yeah,born in your imagination and diedthe day I grew up.”

Who’d go down the long dark road?
The sky is orange-purple
Jeff’s mom sings him a lullaby
She fluffs his pillow
He takes deep breaths and exhales
He looks out the window, helooks at the darkness and thesilent skyscraper, smooth all
the way up. He was shy.
The beginning disappeared.
Armani Thornton

Arman Thornton

87

At 3:15
l-r: Gary Imes, Kamari King

Sidetracked
My gaze is the gaze you have never seenand sometimes it’s brighter than the sun.
I believe in magic.
The world wasn’t made ofcotton candy and gum drops.
Life is hard and rough.
The ancient unknown still exists
but never existed at the same time.

When I get out of school I hearhonking horns and crying babies.
When I get in the house, I feelsafe and ok. When I open thewindow I smell smoke andcookout food. When I try
to eat, I taste cookies andpizza. Also when I go outside
I see people and cars.
Leondre Johnson

Armani Thornton

Watching Cars
My gaze is clear as a Lamborghini
Car spotting is my hobby
Looking left and right is what I do best
If I speak about not knowing cars, it’s a lie
I do
I don’t know any words
Wait—that’s a lie
but I don’t like to lie
Arman Thornton

88Who Knows?

l-r: Nathan Bacchus, Gary Imes, DeAndre Jackson, Savion Lomax

Who knows if space is dreamy?
Who knows if mountains are boulders?
Who knows if amber is gold?
Who knows dark is darkness?
Who knows if pillows soften?
Who knows if silence is silent enough?
Who knows if laughter gets louder?
Savion Lomax

The Darkness Adventure
When the darkness brushes his teeth
they are shiny and brightand he dreams of military schooland he dreams of being out of the country on a farm.
The darkness is hard like a stone.
It has magic,
setting things on fireturning everything black.
The darkness swims underwaterand covers the Earth.
Steven Brown

89

Lead #2
Inflexibility of pencils:
The orange part of the pencil
is wooden, the ink is in the pencil.
The pencil has an eraser
in a metal part on
top of the pencil.
The pencil can’t bend.
Amari Knottl-r: Saquan Short, Jalonnie Hawkins

I Am a Blackbird Ahhhh!!!!
I get free from boredom
when my mom tries to beat me
I beat the system and throwlegos all over my roomso she can step on the legosand sometimes I get angry andgo ape and meet me up on
boulevard street to play on
my Xbox ones andI am a blackbird
Never forget it
Ahhhhhh!!!!
Ricardo WhiteHow to Make the
Ugliest Person
Two cups of continuous hatefulness
Four sprinkles of pettiness
Five half cups of dark matter
One cup of jagged ragged edges
And six cups of shut up
Joquan Knight90

l-r: Barack Obama, Kamari KingHow to Make a Healthy RelationshipTo start off, you’ll need 4 cups of a day’s worth
Then you’ll add a drizzle of love
Next you’ll add a pinch of gifts
The third step is to freeze
all of the negativity and drama
Then you’ll add a dab of ranch
Mix all of the ingredients all together
to shake a year’s supply of a big happy family
The last step is to add a teaspoon of commitment and passion
To add the topping
you’ll need to add a basket of loyalty and trust
mixed with kisses at the end!
Happy wife makes a happy life!
Jada Kelly

91

Fluffy Doggyl-r: Jalonnie Hawkins,
DeAndre Jackson,
Savion Lomax

Perfect Place

The white fluffy dog attacks evil
people after doggy paddling in thetriangle pool. Fluffy glanced at
the evil people in anger andwent home unhurt.
Tamia MoydI came from a palace
I make my home a place where I can feast
I see flames in the distanceand I wonder if someone I love will betray me andnot love me anymore
When I am alone I wonder if I will live foreverI imagine that I can calm oceans
Every day I see emeralds and rubies
but if I look closely I see sapphires glitteringlike the moonlight
A voice inside me says my eyes shine like bronze
and I want to tell the world that everyone is beautiful
Right now I am happy as a cloud, but someday I will be majestic
Laniyah Johnson

92l-r: Savion Lomax, Nathan Bacchus

About Life
I come from a faraway village
and I make my home out of gold.
I see people every day.
Sometimes I imagine that I could rap
and that I would be rich.
A voice in my head says that I am thirsty.
I feel like I am a far distance away from people
but some day I will have forgiveness.
I wish people would be silent so I could workand students could hear instruction.
I wonder when we are gonna have an
actual hurricane around here.
Andre Hicks

The Scared Bird
The scared bird was named Chip because
he was a chip off the old block
Chip fell out of the tree
because he was attacked by another bird
who was named Chucky
You can tell he’s a bully
That’s when I heard this other bird named Ben
He said, You know what happened
to the last bird Chucky saw?
Chucky pulled the bird by his beak
When Chip heard the story he moved
out of his nest immediately and henever saw his friends and left
The end
Marcus Hill93

11l-r: Christa Madikaegbu, Arman Thornton,
Kevin Franks, Jayden Gray, Jahir Gray,
Armani Thornton

Who knows if the sky is full of
darkness inside of the dark?
Remember when the full moon happenedin the middle of the long day, when the sun
was shy – beginning a silent scary day?
We all thought the sun disappeared
so we sang a lullaby.
Tamoni Onley

Be Anything
Who knows you can breathe through a full moon
Who knows you can fly like a full pumped up balloon
Who knows you can be as tall as a skyscraper
Who knows you can be a window made of rocks
Who knows you can be as soft as a pillow
Who knows you can be as dark as my heart
Who knows you can disappear from the dark
Who knows you can be as dark as the sea
Who knows your emotions can be as blue as the sky
Who knows you can sing a lullaby to a cranky baby

94

Blake Mathews

The Magical Man
Once upon a time there was an unhurt
Booker T. Whitaker
man who had magic powers.
The man saw darkness all around him.
The world was so dark that you couldn’t see anything!
Then the man saw a blackbird.
The man was startled andthe man attacked
the blackbird.
James Stewart

Where I’m From
I come from Mississippi Avenue
When I’m on the streets I hear kids playing andI feel the wind when they run pastI smell the hot chili cooking from houses andI start to taste the homemade chicken from my Mom
When I walk in I see all the people in my house
Are happy
Phillip Williams

95

DC Creative writing workshop
Your contributions help makehArtworks possible!

The D.C. Creative Writing Workshop is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing quality creative
writing instruction to students in economically underserved areas of Washington D.C. One hundred percent
of every donation goes directly toward our creative writing programs at Charles Hart Middle School, Simon
Elementary, and Ballou High School, allowing our students to work with professional writers-in-residence
in the classroom, the Drama Club, the Writing Club, and the Literary Magazine Club.
Show your support for hArtworks by mailing your tax-deductible contribution to:
The D.C. Creative Writing Workshop
601 Mississippi Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20032
If you have books or equipment to donate, call us at: (202) 445-4280
Or check us out on the web at www.dccww.org
Inside back cover, l-r: Shanay Lesane, Octavia Johnson, Kitana Williams, Vincent Wing fi eld, Phillip Williams

hArtworks
This magazine was made possible by funding from:
Anonymous
Bainum Family Foundation
Children’s Charities Foundation
Clark-Winchcole Foundation
Combined Federal Campaign of the National Capital Area
The City Fund of the Greater Washington Community Foundation
D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities
Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation
Greater Washington Community Foundation
Corina Higginson Trust
Foley Hoag Foundation
Harman Family Foundation
Horning Family FundInternational Monetary Fund
Lainoff Family Foundation
Catherine McNeil Hollinger and Mark Hollinger
New York Avenue Foundation
Luther I. Replogle Foundation
The Share Fund
Hattie M. Strong Foundation
Washington Nationals Dream Fund