You can also view additional student submissions that appeared in our newsletter earlier this month here.
Ode to Strawberries
by Claire Conlin
A strawberry can always make you merry,
on a sweet day with so many it’s wary.
You sit outside having the perfect date,
of strawberries and cream sitting on your plate.
It’s so warm your skin is turning red,
just like the berries you imagine in your head.
Is this all a dream or is it real?
Maybe the red strawberry is in bed while you’re in their head.
You’re imagining a wonderful dream,
one so great you’ll want to redeem.
While a strawberry screams in a nightmare of being tossed on a plate for your
unnecessary date.
Bite marks cover their skin,
from the white teeth you dig in.
Brutally devoured you strawberry goes.
Not once thinking about its crying crows.
Afterlife
We all think about dying once or twice,
but what’s it like after our bodies are useless?
I think of it as a dream-ball of fantasy
As our corpse lies still as can be
our minds wander off into an unknown territory,
but have no fear to enter
We may gallup into a huge gate to heaven
or spend eternity fighting for it.
We may search for our enthralling new home
or for a tempting new adventure
Some want to search for the depths
looking for demons
thinking they don’t deserve ‘beautiful’
being ignorant individuals’
All I could imagine is seeing my dream
as the little lost gifts are running back to me
in an orderly fashion waiting to be torn into
I see miles of grass for me to lay upon
and a tree right in the middle so I won’t forget home
Afterlife is where all your carnival fish are
Swimming in an ocean of life
Entering a small tunnel with your favorite candy
I swear, being in a place like this
not only is it beautiful
but you get to have your whole journey
with God.
Ode to USMC
Why did God forget Parris Island this place of sand and stone, where all you hear is sounds of boots marching, the crack of M16s, and singing of “To the halls of Montezuma”. Where the DI screams, “Say aye sir!” or “In or out of your racks.” From the first week to the Crucible we are recruits until the twelfth week we earn the emblem and become United States Marines. Then it’s off to war to fight for god and country to preserve peace through strength. On every November 10th we all celebrate the birth of our Corps. We take the same steps that Marines did before to form America, or the Battalion of Marines that earned the title Devil Dog, and the five Marines that raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Our Corps has fought our country’s battles for over 200 years and we still haven’t even started, and it is even said that the raising of the flag on Mount Suribachi means a thousand more years of the Marine Corps. We are the nations best defense our nations greatest weapon and we are our nations best warriors, I mean why else would they trust Marines with the president? So all you Devil Dogs, Jarheads, and Leathernecks take off your hat and let out a defiant yell SEMPER FI! Till the day you die. But keep in mind Marines don’t die but go to infernus and regroup.
Ode to Jeans
I see you everywhere,
On kid’s legs you hang,
As they play in puddles,
You cling to their legs,
Like you are afraid of the water
You hang loosely at the hips of teens,
As they skate with friends,
You help them when they fall
On the average worker you are worn,
Splattered with paint and stain,
Like you were once part of a large mural,
And you slipped away to see the real world
All day we pull and tug,
And when we get home,
We leave you for something more comfy,
We toss you wherever
Without a care to where you land,
Maybe you explore the dark depths of our closet,
Or strike up a conversation with the bunnies under our beds
Every day we can on you,
To help us weed the garden or walk the dog,
Then to the wash we throw you,
To drown in the soapy water with the other pants,
And then die in the heat of the machine,
Like a mass murdering
Why do we love you so much yet treat you so badly,
Every day you suffer,
Yet you do not shed a single tear for yourself.
