Writing From Pictures - The Masked Polkas

My job is dull. My friends are dull. My family is dull. I live alone and generally have a largely dull life. The only place that I feel really alive is when I go to my monthly Polka meets. 

These are not just a gathering of music appreciators, these are people for whom the world begins and ends with Polka. And not just any polka, but our own special concoction of Masked Polka. Masked Polka allows you to become the music not just with your voice, but with your whole being and soul. We don't just enjoy polka, we are the new standard for polka.

The glorious birth of Masked Polka was all due to a happy accident, really. We had already been participating in a monthly Polka Meetup. Miles had suggested the idea in our Brooklyn Polka online meetup, and since the five of us all agreed that our Saturday nights were generally free, we decided, why not meet IRL? So our first few meetings were at the local cupcake shop, but we discovered that in order to share our beloved Polka music, we had to pass headphones from one person to the next, so Doris suggested that we start the meetup at her house. Her grandmother generally went to bed at 7 and wouldn't have been woken up by a jackhammer in her bedroom, so it worked out well for everyone.  

The masks were an accidental stroke of genius. The only night that Doris's grandmother stayed up past seven was on her monthly bingo games at the local church. Normally, the prizes were gift certificates to the local restaurants (for early bird specials only), or to the movies (afternoon matinee senior specials). However, this week, the church must have decided to clean out the basement of the adjacent public playhouse and just give decades worth of costumes to the old geezers instead.

So, in walks old Grandma Nana with a bag full of animal heads that I swear was bigger than her 85 pound frame. Zebras, horses, dogs, cats, elephants. She dropped the bag in the middle of the living room, yelled, "I won" as she shakily took both hands off her walker to triumphantly raised them in the air, and then shuffled off the bed.

We were all silent as we uneasily stared at the bag. Wordlessly, Miles reached in the bag and pulled out a horse mask. He grinned and slipped it on his head. One by one we chose a mask and pulled them over our heads. At first we were silent, but then Miles slowly reached for his accordion, as if there was a delicate spell he was trying not to break.

The music was like nothing I had ever heard. Before we knew what we were doing we were all up and joyously joining in, singing, playing and dancing. It was a joy unlike we had ever experienced, as if the music was lifting us in the air, floating us to the heavens.

We have never played music without the masks again. In fact, I now realize that all those hours outside of Doris' living room are the times where I wear a mask. In here I am truly free.

ARENA

The purple mountain. A glorious meeting point for the ancient purple moks. They practice their purple shaolin moves, striking from their shadows. Which are purple. As  you've might have guessed, the monks are purple. Their robes are purple, and their skin is purple too. The only thing that isn't purple about them is the food they eat and their internal body parts. That would just be weird.
Their enemies are the red lipped blue people. They wear golden jewelery as a sign of their strength. Also their weakness. With so much gold jewelry dangling from their necks, they move pretty slowly. However, in battle, they strike with staggering blows. Each fist mimicking the strength of a tiger's paw, mocking it's ability to break several bones with one hit.
Have you ever heard the saying, the enemy of my enemy is m,y friends? Well, this is where the flaming horse riding demons come in.The demons are a ridiculous lot, leaving fire in their wake of destruction and rampage. This fire kills not only the people of your home villages but all the crops you have raised. Both tribes, the red lipped and the purple monks are the enemies of the flamed devils. In order to prevent the flamed devil's tribe from topping on of the other's and then eventually obliterating any other race then theirs, then the monks and the red lips must band together to complete a common goal. The destruction of their enemies. What will happen after the flaming devils are defeated you ask? Only the hands of  fate will tell.
however, thinking that the sides are uneven, with it being a 1 v , the land sharks of metalmania are plopped into the complicated equation. The sharks strike without hesitation, and they only have a thirst drop blood that can be quenched with a massacre. The sharks hate the color purple, and they love shiny things. This wouldn't be a problem if the red lips weren't so obsessed with their jewelry that they would meld it to their skin. Looks like this situation is become a 2v2. bordering there line of injustice. What will happen next before the combination of pure bloodshed, and fire come together for a devastating compound? i worry for the monks health once they feel the lands sharks mountainous teeth entering their bodies. hopefully the monks can fend them off.
lo9oks like its time to even the score, so the mak wearing barbarians will jump into the fray. They are ruthless apex predators using their ,modern weapons and technology to brutally defeat their opponents. THey virtually hate everyone and everything, including unfair fights. The monks and the red lips are in ,luck. Now with the aid of scary freaky, give you nightmares, maks and modern technology, they seem to be an unstoppable  force. what's more, the horse wearing barbarians play the accordion, so thats a plus. Music for utter destruction.
But waits! theres more! for just 19.99, er i mean, the tiger tamer is coming in to the battle of awesome proportions. He has an arsenal of rusty bikes for throwing, and a tiger for cleanup. A tiger for cleanup you ask, why yes, the tiger tamer/ bike shop owner is an all powerful being that will even up the sides. The flame demons and the land sharks are going to need his help in order to
TurN THE TIDE. OR SHOULD I SAY, CEMENT. he has a cowlick for a hair cut in the back of his head, a sign of a t6rue warrior. Only the strongest of men and women, have cowlick hair cuts. It's a style thats
trending you know. The power of the cowlick is unbeatable.
in order for this battle of unjust proportions, there needs to be an arena. An arena so awesome that a person name d arena would approve! The subway! yes a perfect place for unnecessary fighting and bloodshed to take place. What a wonderful choice arena!
thankyou announcer/narrator/write/ shawn west
no problem arena no problem.
But thats nit all, the president just happens to be on the train. I(n the arena. What luck Both teams have. When one team is very far behind the other, the president, a neutral champion, will use his special move, aside from his primary, looking intimidating to the winning team and thats it, calling an airstrike. Thats right folks get your tickets now if you want to see limbs flying from explosions that are as high as the arena they are contained in! get ready because the president is flying in from washington just to look intimidating.
But guess what  folks,there are more champions that are jumping into the fray. The magical flying bear is flying in from alpine woods. he is a majestic being that's roar can push back any person to 100 feet./ i mean yard! yeahs yard sound more legitimate. lets go with that. Even the mall cops who don't belong in the forest, and the forest rangers wh9 do belong their, cant handle its untamed awesomeness, and its licked fur. With it's bear firmly scratched nothing can stop this bear's unmistakably;e power! good thing that the bear is on the monk team. better yet, the flying bear isnt even winged.,
Look like there's gonna be another landscape added to the ranea. I don't know t=what arena was thinking, but it looks like we are going to shift the battle to the golden forest. This means no president sadly. He was conveniently ion the bus to get to a meeting and he cant cut. Unfortunately. The golden forest is home to the red lipped people who navigate through the gold with surprising agility see as they have ridiculous amounts of jewelry on their necks. Everything is gold in the golden forest even the animals and the plants, and the...I am starting to doubt arenas choices.
HEY
sorry man i dunno about this golden forest
what wrong with it.
many many things,. i wont be able to talk about them in much detail but know that your choice was not the best one you could make
looks like I have to go to the next slide.
WAIT WHATS WRONG....

  I look back at the purple mountains. “Oh my god,” exclaimed Momo. She had never seen a mountain so big. They were probably A gazillion times as tall as the trees that were in front of the mountain. She wondered. How come the purple mountains weren’t in the history books?

  Anastasia looked in the mirror. Eyes went from a Bright blue color to a faded yellow. Her radiant olive skin had turned the color of a smurf. “What has happened to me?” Anastasia thought. She looked down at the Wine she had just drunk. That must have been what caused it.

   Fire was blazing all around me. I could feel the lava touching the back of my legs. Just before the lava was about to suck me in, I reached my horse. “Onward!” I shouted to my horse. We must warn the people.

  There I was on the biggest ship in the world wondering if I would ever make it back to Portland. A man decorated with armor rushed toward me and tried to grab onto me. That second, I hopped on top of the railing.

   

  I can’t believe Bill talked me into this. There we were sitting there wearing animal heads looking like idiots. “It’s good for business sherill!”Bill would tell me “ You know pop culture these days. I rolled my eyes under my mask.

I don’t care what kind of scientific Revolution this would be. I was not gonna die for SCIENCE! The cheetah stared into my eyes and I stared into its. Its yellow eyes were like a portal to another world. Just when I got calm, the jaguar attacked. I heard from my headpiece, “ABORT MISSION!!!”

  There is a green bus. It did not look very clean. It was grimy, smelly and ugly. However, inside was the our president, Barack Obama! What was he thinking? I don’t know. Why was he there? Whatever it was, it had to be important.

WHY DID I AGREE TO THIS!!! IM SCARED YO DEATH, SWEATING, AND IN A BEAR SUIT! I DIDN’T KNOW I WOULD BE ON A TRAMPOLINE! IM TERRIFIED OF THEM.

  It was the cheese revolution. The entire world was shades of white and yellow. It had the essence of milk and Dairy.” It’s pure heaven!” buster exclaimed. He started stuffing his face.

Will O' the Wisp

Will o' the Wisp

I was walking down a muddy trail in Scotland, the dumbest place to vacation.  I had lost my boyfriend and little sister, and was thinking about how stupid it was, when I heard a noise.

It was a high pitched moan, and I turned to see a girl about thirteen years old. She was very pretty, with soft brown hair gently framing her face, and mist grey eyes.  There was blood all over her lavender hoodie and she look scared. "Please," she said in a tiny voice. "I need your help."  Maria, how are you going to do this? You're a sophomore in college with a nine year old sister to take care of. You have a love life. Do you really want to save some little girl when you have a whole life to live? Being the idiot I was at the time, I went towardsa the girl. "It's OK, sweetie. I'll get you to the nearest hospital." She disappeared just like that, and reappeared a few feet away later.

I had followed her for a while. and I had finally arrived at the edge of a cliff.  Then the girl began to smile, and it was a nasty, twisted grin.  A grin full of cracked, yellowed teeth that not even the best braces could repair. And those eyes, which used to be a soft and pretty grey, were now a grey of lies and nothingness.  A small tap at the edge of the cliff, and I was hurtled into a white sky.  The muddy ground came closer and closer. One little ominous crack, and mud and blood everywhere. But just for a moment; then there is darkness.

Later, I woke up in a hospital room, scarred and aching.  I'm still there, away from my boyfriend and Connie, my beloved sister.  The doctors say that my will O' the Wisp girl didn't exist. But I know she is still in Scotland, somewhere. Waiting for new victims like me.

Cousins, closets and carrot juice

I am from a haunted house in Brooklyn With a scary basement and a old attic. I am from a home that is too quiet. I am from a childhood where my cousins were always teasing me, laughing at me and being mean to me, But there’s this huge closet and I mean huge, with nothing, but clothes, shower curtains and bed sheets. I think of it as a cave, where I can be alone, playing with my toys. Then comes growing up… I am from a place where the fridge has nothing but carrot juice, oj, milk and eggs. The place is so huge though that you could keep a elephant there, sadly though I have a bird (named after Yoda from Star Wars). I live in a place where you could only watch TV and sometimes video games. This place is made of stone that’s brown, called a Brownstone. This place is where I’m from and where I was raised. This place is in Cobble Hill, in Brooklyn. This place is where I am from.

Cousins, Closets and Carrot Juice

I am from a haunted house in Brooklyn,
with a scary basement and a old attic.
I am from a house that is too quiet.
I am from a childhood where my cousins were always laughing at me,
because they lived with me.
But iI would go to this huge closet...
and I mean huge with nothing, but clothes, shower curtains and bed sheets.
I think of it as a cave, where I could be alone.
The comes growing up in a place... where the fridge has nothing, but carrot juice, oj, milk and eggs.
This place is so huge though, that you could keep a elephant there,
sadly though I have a bird (name after Yoda from Star Wars), don't get me wrong, I love him, but an elephant would be fantastic!!!
I live in a place where you could only watch TV, and sometimes video games.
This place is made of stone that's brown, called a Brownstone.
This place is where I'm from and where I was raised.
This place is in Cobble Hill, I Brooklyn.
This place is where I am from.

I'm From Poem

I'm from Queens,
and I can tell you this.
That life in queens was way more different then it was today.
Our neighbors were all friendly and could be seen frequently throughout the building.
We would all smile as we saw each other and give friendly hello's.
When my mother went out, there was a friendly babysitter who would look after me and my friends.
I'm from sunny days and car rides with my family.
 I'm from running around and laughing around the house.
I'm from peaceful and happy dreams at night.
And from nice relaxing mornings.
I'm from Queens, New York.

Sunset Symphony

Sunset symphony

Here it comes right now
the best part of my summer
Where a choir of colors sings a brilliant masterpiece
Beginning by singing a pale, buttery yellow
that gradually fades to sweet, rosy pink
then royal purple, the first stars begin to poke out and play
Finally, the last song
of a deep, rich blue
as the music fades to nothingness
constellations applaud.
This is the highlight
of a summer's night.

Reunion Chapter 1

All I know is my name and her. She has been with me forever. But how long was forever. Ever since I woke up, she was there.
Outside is hell. Flame and darkness consumes everything. Death rots in the air. And the girl. She always walks down the street. She is quiet. She is beautiful. Just like the girl I have lived with ever since my awakening. But that girl is more than that. But how I cannot say. I don't know her, but she is familiar. Once, she was in my dreams. She looked at me and spoke. It was the only time I ever saw her mouth open. She only said, " Time to return. Remember."
But I don't. Not ever.

Two years later
  The girl is walking down the street again. The darkness and the death do not follow, nor do they appear to be there. She walks closer to me. Closer. Closer. I can see the color of her eyes. A deep violet. Staring into them fills me with a deep emptiness. Closer. Closer. She has aged. And she resembles me now, except for the eyes. Her lips draw closer to mine. I lean in closer, but I don't feel like myself, like someone is forcing me to. I lean closer then I snap back and scream. The girl shakes her head and speaks again.
"I told you to return. To remember. You don't listen very well."
She grabs me. I try jumping back, but my fear root me to the ground. "Let me go! What do you want with me?!"
"If only you knew...." she says. Everything fades away around her. I cannot move; I am still rooted. This must be death. I can't see anything at all an-


   I wake up. With a snap. Screaming at the fear. The girl rushes in with a snap
"Are you alright?" she fusses. I nod my head. "Honestly! You scared me, Kaz! You are literally on the edge of sanity. Sometimes I question you..."
"Sorry for scaring you, Alice," I apologize. I don't blame her for thinking I'm nuts. She calls days like this when I wake up screaming normal days. She calls days when I don't happy days. I think I'm nuts as well.
"Well, anyway, breakfast is ready, so just get ready." She walks downstairs.
We are the only people in the house. The adults abandoned us because we aren't normal. Alice is psychic, and can move objects with her mind. Me?  My powers are fuzzy, but they flash in at times. All I know about my powers is that they can cause huge explosions. And rip objects to shreds. Which is why I'm lucky I can't really use them well, but they still flash in at the wrong times.
"HURRY UP!!!!" Alice screams. "WE HAVE SCHOOL!!!!! AND YOU WILL GO WITHOUT BREAKFAST IF YOU ARE NOT HERE IN 5....4....-"
"Coming!" I say.
We eat breakfast, then we wait for Clair and Mitchell. When they come we walk in silence until I notice Clair's resemblance to the dark girl.
                                                                    *  *  *  *  *
While we are in class, I proceed to talk to Clair.
"Um, what's up?" I say.
"Nothing much," she replies. Silently she retreats to her work, acting like I don't exist. As always.
Clair is the quietest girl I've ever known. The exact opposite of Alice...and extremely similar to the dark girl. She never spoke in my dreams, Clair never speaks in reality. But when she does speak, I always feel happy. Serene. Calm. When she speaks, the birds outside, normally standing still, fly around, rejuvenated, trying to reach her. The flowers bloom and the sun shines. When she sings, the world seems reborn in her eyes, like she is waiting for the nightmare to end. Her song is what brings the bloom in the spring. Her song, rejuvenates everything around her. After her song ends, the gloom returns.
The dark girl has never sung. So how can I ever think that she is Clair?
I don't know. As Clair quietly sings her melody, I wipe all the dark thoughts from my mind. The sun rises and flowers bloom inside the class. I wish her melody lasts forever.
But no one else does. The darkness clouds them. They hate the melody of happiness and joy. Seeing this Clair stops. Everyone insults her, not caring that she can hear. She weeps silently, thinking that no one enjoys her song.
But I do . All I want is for this darkness to end. And that is what she does.
"Can I hear your song again, Clair?" I ask.
Her tears end, and she smiles. When she sings, the world smiles with her as the flowers bloom.

Go to the club
It some pie
Then laugh a lot
and die

Distracted

Giggle, giggle squeak
Poke, whisper, big laugh, old friends
Who care if they write?

November

Red-gold of the leaves
Butter yellow of the sun
Makes it seem less cold

Snot Rocket

There was a young girl who sneezed
And out of her nose flew peas
They were gross and green
With an olive-colored sheen
And she ate them again with some cheese

Interested in Submitting to a Writing Contest?

Want to step it up a notch? Give yourself a bit of a challenge? Try submitting your work!

Stone Soup is a magazine that is by and for kids. They're well-established and a big deal. Here are the submission guidelines: http://www.stonesoup.com/stone-soup-contributor-guideline/ 

Teen Ink is a another fantastic publication, an online magazine. They publish one story a month. Here's the link to the submission guidelines: http://www.teenink.com/Contests/FictionC.php

Scholastic has postings often for many different writing contest. Give it a shot! http://teacher.scholastic.com/writeit/fiction/publish/competition.htm

Here's a bunch of list for a whole host of contest at Pomegranate Words: http://www.pomegranatewords.com/magazine/teen_writing_contests.html

Be brave! And remember, for every writer, no matter how successful now, for every publication they have, they have a million rejections. Take the plunge and don't be afraid of failure!

I will happily read any work and help you prepare for submission.

There was a man. He went by the name Jason. He was nice to a lot of people but he always had mixed feelings about people. He lived in Park Slope. He skateboarded and he was a sneaker head. One day he was coming home from work when he saw a lady on her side screaming. He ran over and realized it was his wife Margret. She was about to give birth without any medical help. He drove over to the hospital. When he got there he yelled for a nurse to come and help him with his wife. Margret was in a state of terror. Just by the lights glint in her eyes you could tell that she was trying to hold her tongue so that she could stop screaming. The nurses rushed her to a room and she gave birth. But what came out wasn't a child. It was a baby saber-toothed tiger with fangs dripping with blood. Then the nurses realized that Margret was bleeding. When they examined her there was bite marks in her womb. It looked like the tiger bit Margret. The nurses told Jason that Margret probably wouldn't make it through the night. Jason sobbed onto the tigers shoulder. The nurses screamed in shock. Margret was giving birth again. Jason was in awe. Margret gave birth to a human this time. Margret died directly after giving birth. Jason named the children Jason Jr. and Margret Jr. Jason walked home carrying the children. He gave the children to his neighbor to his Mr. Bacon. Then he went home and hung himself. The priest came over to Jason's house the next day to set up a funeral for Margret. He knocked on the door three times so fast that he didn't realize that it was slightly open. He walked into the house and called out Jason's name. He walked into Jason's room and fainted. He woke up hours later and called the police. they came and took Jason away. The priest walked home. He never mentioned what happened to anyone.

THE END

By:Jon-Paul de Rushe

Red Roses

One day when a young women was driving her car she got a text. The text wrote, Red Roses, Red Roses I'm in your continent. She thought the person had sent it to the wrong person so she just ignored it.

 2 weeks later she got another text message, it said Red Roses, Red roses I'm in your country. Now she was starting to get a little freaked ou, she always kept her eye's open. A month later she got another text message saying, Red Roses, Red Roses I'm in your state. Now she slept with shivers under her covers.

 6 weeks later she got another text message now it wrote, Red Roses, Red Roses I'm in your city. Now she was really freaked out. Now she slept with a gun under her pillow, goosebumps were scattered all over, she shivered in her sleep, she feels she is going to die very, very soon. I think she wanted too.

3 weeks later she got another text message, now it said Red Roses, Red roses I'm in your neighborhood. Now she didn't leave her house ever. She just couldn't do it. A force was holding her back.

1 week later in her house at night she got another text message.  Red Roses, Red Roses I'm in your house. She quickly grabbed her gun from under her bed. She heard footsteps in her house  then she heard a door close. She looked out her window and saw a figure leaving. She quickly jumped back into bed.

 5 weeks later she was in her car again and got another text it said Red Roses, Red Roses I'm in your car. She quickly turned around and saw her grandfather with a bloody knife. She looked at her chest and saw a bloody hole, as her vision faded away she heard her grandfather whispering Red Roses, Red Roses.

"Trick or Treat!" Cathy, Elly, and Lavender chirruped.  As candies were scooped into their bags, the girls stared in awe at their treats.

"Ooh, you got a sour patch and- Elly stop stealing my reeses!" This year, the girls were determined to do as many houses as they could this year.  Their laughter was a tiny spark in an inky, drab world of ghosts and pirates and vampires.

Pretty soon, they had done every house on the block.  "Let's go home for pizza and we'll look at our booty." Cathy played around with the fake sword in her pirate costume.

"Not yet, there's still one more house. Right there." Lavender gestured towards the house at the end of the block.  It was made out of deep red bricks and had inky black shudders that blended into the night.  There were no lights.

"Puh-lease. The people in there would be bugged and call our parents if we came asking for CANDY." Elly said.

"C'mon, let's go," Lavender dragged along her two unwilling friends.  The chilled breeze gusted around a rocking chair, in which was a bowl of candy filled to the brim with all the girls' favorite treats: Almond joys, sour patches, Reeses cups, Pocky, hershey kisses, Twizzlers.... It certainly looked tempting.

"That looks good," Elly said.

"Won't they get mad at us if we take it?" Cathy looked around.

Lavender clucked her tongue. "Aah, always the Ms. goody-goody. Those folks probably left it out there because they were tired but wanted us to eat.  Come on."  She reached her hand into the bowl.....

And thought she would never stop screaming.

Thick, grotesque nails scratched at her wrists from a slimy, disgusting hand.  Its skin clung so tightly to its bones that some of it was ripped and decaying red flesh showed.  Though it looked so harmless and weak, Lavender pulled and tugged but couldn't get her hand out.  It was dragging her in and she tried to get out.  She was like a magnet. Finally, Cathy  and Elly who had been helping, snatched her and Lanvender tore away while Cathy smashed the arm with her fake sword and it retreated into the bowl, its candy illusions flickering away.  To reveal....

Bones. The bones of children.

Where I'm From

                                                I'm from the weeping willows that swished
                                                                outside my window,
                                                             to the soft breeze that
                                              tickled my face as I ran through the woods.

                                       I'm from the loud howl of the coyotes deep
                                                              in the woods,
                              To the occasional black widow spider building its web on my wall.
    
                                                      I'm from that huge wave of
                                                                  sorrow that
                                                     Washed over me when I realized it
                                                                 would all be gone,
                                                      to the aches in my face when we left.

                                                                   I am from California 
                                                     

Wants

To do what he can't do because of his missing knee and a arm.

Says

 He doesn't say or talk lot. He only talks rarely to his family.

Feels

All his friends can do a lot more than him. He is jealous.

Does

Almost nothing: watches TV,

Late

I'm late. I don't know what I'm late for but I know I'm late. It's too late to get there, wherever "there is", so I don't try like everyone else at the bus stop.
My coat's wet. It's snowing, but it's all melting fast. Winter symbolizes death.
My death.
The death of everyone here.

9:00             Early
I wake up. I don't waste any time pondering what I'm gonna do today. I make my breakfast, get all my stuff, and run to the bus stop.
All I do is hope I'm not late.
Late is not a simple concept in this world. I symbolizes existence. Earliness is the goal in this universe, because if you are not where you need to be by 12:00, you forfeit everything.
Everything

Here are my directions for the Dictionary Story!

https://docs.google.com/a/k051.org/presentation/d/1RslNqvZFDS2OQWXKeYHNdkoFE6QEK6M_XzhqwdMVX2U/edit#slide=id.p

Picture story:
My imagination

When I am bored in class I usually think about something else. Once in Ela, I thought about the mountains where water would fall from high up and splash down onto the ground. Down by the mountains was a forest with trees without any leaves and a field with cold white snow. All the landscape was in purple.

In math I imagined a weird thing-a blue lady with gold that would make m,e blind just thinking anout it all over her neck. Her body was hidden, all except her chest and the bottom of her sea blue face. She was smiling in a good and bad way.

In Social Studies, I imagined a soldier on a tall horse. He was wearing a hat with a black suit and pants. He and his horse were crossing bloody orange fire, it was roaring flames all around them.

In French I imagined the beautiful new arrowed white building, with a wide open space terrace. On it was a man and lady dancing,  the man was in black and red clothes and the lady in a smooth white dress.

In Drama I imagined something funny, two animals-a horse and a squirrel, the horse was holding an instrument and was dressed in a orange suite with a red tie. The squirrel was was wearing a blue dress.

In Science I imagined Barack Obama in, like always, a dark black suite and a grey  steady tie. Strangely enough, he was in a bus alone with nobody in it, he was looking out the window. I wondered what he was thinking of? The bus had green seats and the light were barely lighted even though you felt comfortable with them.

When walking home after school I imagined a forest with mountains covered with trees on both sides of it. Fog was everywhere and it was yellow, same as the trees and mountains. I guess the reason why it was yellow is because in real life the sun was shinning in my face. So I looked straight at the sun which made me close my eyes shut for ten seconds and when I opened them, I was in my room on my bed and just finished dreaming.
  

I'm in a boat on the ocean when I see a mountain crack in half. I'm not so surprised. It's been happening a lot lately. Mountains would crack, people would scream, and then they you run. But this is the first time I'm on a boat and it looks like the mountain is going to fall on top of me! I'm so scared but then I hear my alarm. I open my eyes and sigh in relief as I realize it's just a dream. I see the picture of a lady with the blue face and red lipstick. I think to myself,"Why did mom have to put up that picture in my room."  Then I saw the other picture of a man on a horse while there are burning flames next to him. I try to imagine myself to be him. Running away from flames and trying not to die. Coming back to reality I see the spiked curves on top of the building next to my house and I see and man and a women sharing a hug. Then they step away from each other and start dancing. I go downstairs and see my mom wearing a squirrel mask and my dad wearing a horse mask. My dad is playing the accordion and doesn't notice me but my mom does and puts her hands up in shock. She asks,"Why are you up so early." I respond,"Because you woke me up." I look outside the kitchen window and I see a man fighting a tiger. He puts his hands up in fear while the tiger bears his teeth at him. I call my parents over to look at the poor man. He hasn't been bitten yet but it looks like the tiger might bite him soon. I see him run away in fear while the tiger stays put. I then realize that the tiger has a collar on its neck and every time it moves past its lawn it gets an electric shock. I leave the house after I eat breakfast. When I'm outside I see a bus pass by and there's only one passenger. Then I realize its President Obama! He waves at me and I'm in shock. I realize later that Barack Obama just waved at me!ME! I keep walking and I see a bear hanging from a tree. I soon found out it was stuck in the tree. People were shooting tranquilizer darts at it from a tranquilizer. People were shooting it so that when it got down it wouldn't fight back. I cannot stand to see the sight of the bear being taken down from the tree. By the time I leave it had been 2 hours! I look into the forest and see that it is orange. It is orange because it is fall and the leaves are probably orange. I walk back home thinking that i just had a fun morning.

WHO WANTS TO GO SEE AN OPEN MIC? 

You don't need to read, of course, but it will be fun to go watch and get an idea of what it's like to read. Plus there's pie there. Here's the info:

Brooklyn Open

Monday, October 6, 2014 5:00 pm

Central Library, Dweck Center

The Brooklyn Open is a monthly open mic series for teens. It is a safe space for poets, spoken work artists, emcees, scholars and activists to share their powerful and important voices. These events are run by youth for youth, with youth DJs, youth hosts and a monthly featured poet.

Presented in partnership with Urban Word NYC.

Let me know in the comments if you want to go. If we have a crew of people, I'm happy to bring some folks. We could leave school at 430 and walk over or meet there.

The purple mountains
shine like diamonds
in the tinted gray clouds.
The ever so slight trees
sway in the wind of this
amazing mountain range.


These ruby red lips look 
like blood trickling away
from an open cut.
The dark, mysterious 
shades of blue skin
intrigue me more than the 
stars, moon and the sun.
The big golden chains dangling 
from her neck mesmerizes me.
Streaks of sterling silver makes marks
on the gold gently and softly.

One second

You never think anything will happen because you're just a regular person. 

But one second is all it takes to change everything.

 One second you're alive the next your not. 

One second your walking down the street the 

next your running from who knows what but all you know is you're alive a second longer.

the snow fell down the rocky

LANDSCAPE

trees crawled up the side of the mountain

like a  caterpillar crawling up a tree

snow kept on falling onto

the base of the mountain

it looked like the biggest softest blanket in the

WORLD!

Where I am from


People think I am from Brooklyn,

But no,

I am from my house my room my family.

I am from the fan blowing the cold breeze on my skin while sleeping.

From the dish washer that my mom would but on every night,

Where water would skim on the plates and splash in a cup.

From the loud snoring of my little brother during long night's.

I do live in Brooklyn,

But I don't come from Brooklyn.

I am from my house my room my family.

poem

I'm an only child but I am not lonely. I am the opposite of lonely,
I live a nice life,
I live a happy life

POEM

I'm from my world, my home, my room
I'm from a place only I know how to navigate
Without me they would be lost, lost in the deep nothingness of my world
I'm from a family with a brother and a mom and dad yet I am sad
Sad from being shouted for doing this and that
Sad from losing 10 years of my life
Wishing you could remember
I'm from my life mine and only mine

                                                    Where Im From

                                             Im from dirty dishes

                                                   staying up late 

                                             from listening to music
                                                 
                                              by:Leah Glazer 711

Where I’m From

by Amy Maslin

I'm from messy rooms

from piles of books and crumpled up papers

I am from dishes clanking water spilling and moaning brothers

from muddy cleats and "pick up your shoes"

I'm from airplane sounds and babies screaming

from cramped apartments and noisy computers

from loud brothers and "go away"

I'm from the yes's and no's

the sound of trucks screeching to a halt

from "stop it" to "I love you"

and the broken couch

I'm from rainy days

wet backpacks and too hot pasta

I'm from the people that love me and I'll never forget

My life

I'm from the healthy meals to the not so healthy desserts,

I'm from a Tae Kwon Do center where I am a 2nd degree black belt,

I work hard everyday doing so without getting hurt,

I work there by giving out the flyers I've dealt,

I'm from Brooklyn,

And that's the only place I want to be

LIFE

Life is like the sky

one day it is amazing and easy

the next day it is
DARK
and
STORMY

Life is like nature

a period of time 

the plants are fine

Life is like death

sometimes its short

sometimes its

LONG.

SNOW
Snow is a nice bed with a pillow an blanket
To some its the poison of blood
to some it is a free drink of water to stay hydrated
others is a way to find shelter
but in all in all
SNOW
is a
MYSTICAL THING

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