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Personal musings, treasured dreams

By NANCY GREEN
Published December 18, 2006

This month, bay area students were free to send in any work of their choice - and what a wonderful outpouring of emotion, nostalgia, hopes, dreams and fantasies we received. To see your best work in Xpressions, follow the directions on this page.

HOMESCHOOLED

Dream

Life is a cage of reality,

Where I am imprisoned.

Sometimes, I let myself go . . .

To a world of happiness,

Where there is no war,

And everyone believes . . .

There, I am no longer myself,

I am disconnected,

Yet I am content . . .

You live in this cage,

Where there is no such thing as hope,

But I am free . . .

Because I dream.

Kelsi Collins, 11, fifth grade, Tarpon Springs

GULF HIGH SCHOOL

Your Lemonade

The sun shines on my hair,

gliding off my thoughts.

Sending my pencil to write,

of dreams unheard of yet.

I watch the river slowly wrinkle by,

reminding me that time stops for no one.

But when I said "I love you,"

my heart had never felt so content.

And as I sit here thinking life's full of lemons,

I remember you came along and handed me lemonade.

Ashley Todd, 16, 11th grade, New Port Richey

St. Paul's School, Clearwater

Summer Recollections

Tree forts in your back yard,

Cold lemonade at 3 o'clock,

Savoring peach pie.

Sleep with the window open,

Run around 'til you drop,

Lie on your back and stare at the passing clouds.

Hide-and-go-seek,

And no fair peeking!

Campouts and ghost stories,

Running inside when you get too scared.

Seeing your friends,

Then wave goodbye when you hear "Supper!"

Listen to the birds laugh,

Watch the clouds playing tag across the wild blue yonder.

Short sleeves and long days,

Time to race your shadow.

When the sun kisses the moon goodnight,

You can hear the crickets conducting their starlight concert,

They play lullabies until you walk through dreamland.

You wake up in the morning to birdsong,

And can't wait to walk out the door again,

Into the summer's warm embrace.

Tristain Armil, 13, seventh grade

School Daze

A2+B2 = C2

Algebraic equations and

Quadratic formulas are haunting me

Verbs waiting to be conjugated and

Teachers waiting for me to spit out the

Entire periodic table; Expecting me to know

The atomic weight of molybdenum

Cramming in the entire story of American history and

Memorizing "el Libro de Espanol" when

A voice out of nowhere echoes

"You're eighth graders now!!!"

Then why do I feel like a kindergartener?

Xiani Jovel, 13, eighth grade

Today?

There's a day,

Where everyone can make a difference,

A day where no one feels left out or excluded,

A day, some day,

There might even be flying cars,

Or maybe anyone could go to Mars,

A day when something miraculous happens,

A day when history is made,

Maybe people will notice this day,

Maybe they won't,

How will we know?

Is today the day?

Megan Porter, 12, seventh grade

The Ballerina

Her long lean muscles

Move like thick cream or fine silk

On the stage with grace.

Olivia Stinnette, 12, seventh grade

My name, Jasmine, is white and purple, very pure and elegant. It is like the number 3. It is the taste of strawberries and cream. It is a place of music, beautiful gardens, statues and fountains, like the outside of a palace or a castle. It sounds like a high-pitched xylophone playing a tranquil song.

Jasmine Naik, 12, seventh grade

My Treasure, My Brother

My treasure is a flag football playing, video game playing, golf-loving brother. He has helped me through so many hard times; I can't even count them all. He is 12 years older than I am, and he doesn't pick on me that much. He always plays football with me and helps me with homework when he is home. He has graduated from college and has a house he is sharing with his fraternity brothers. He is always cracking jokes with the whole family. He helps me out when someone is picking on me by telling me to ignore them and get on with life. He helps me get to sleep at night, and stays up with me until I go to bed. Then he goes to bed when he wants to. He is the best brother I know of, and I love him very much. My brother is my treasure.

Andy Fullerton, 11, sixth grade

Countryside High school

The Reflection in the Mirror

When cruising through life with no destination, every road is the wrong road.

Goals are my maps, showing me where "X marks the spot!"

My future.

I was born independent.

When I want something done, I do it myself.

Self motivation.

When I am stuck in a hole, my goal becomes my rope, and my only rescuer.

I climb.

I achieve.

Competition is in my blood, it consumes my everyday existence.

Grades, clothes, races, games.

I do it for me.

I win or I lose.

But I learn.

My future lies in the best hands possible . . . my own.

What I get by achieving my goals is not as important as what I learned along the way.

Life lessons taught in between desires.

Things take on new meanings when I become motivated.

Pure dedication.

Failure is not an option.

Quitting is not an outlet.

I stay as strong as a rock; I fight my own battles.

Success is what I strive to achieve.

It is my complete understanding of the universe.

My strength lies solely in my persistence.

Taylor Wilson, 18, 12th grade, Clearwater

FIFTH-GRADERS AT PALM HARBOR ELEMENTARY

The winter days and nights

Snow balls

soar above.

Igloos on

the hills.

Deep, heavy

moose tracks

over and

over in

thick snow.

Come nightfall

moms call

kids inside.

They take

off their

wet, soggy

snow clothes

and drape

them over

the heater

as the

Chicago temperature

outside drops.

They do

this in

the winter

days and nights.

Pilar Chase, 11

Seeing Snow

If only I could see snow! I'm 10 years old and still have never seen it. I was born in sunny Florida. The closest I got to snow was the frost in my yard and the ice cubes in my freezer. I am sure the kids up North would love to see the sand and surf. If only I could trade my sandcastle for a snowman.

On a cold winter day in Florida, I can see my breath in the air. It's freezing, and I bundle up to go outside. I daydream of white-covered hills, making snowmen, snow angels, sledding, and snowball fights. But then the sun comes out and the temperature starts to climb. I take off my jacket. After all, it is sunny Florida, and a cold day never lasts. No snow today.

Sara Tavoularis, 10

St. Paul's School in Clearwater

Sitting on my living room couch

Watching Bay News 9

With my mom

Hurricane Katrina "Has hit New Orleans!"

I couldn't believe my eyes

Wind

Rain

Flooding

People on house tops

Nowhere to go

No one to help

The babies

The elderly

The sick

And the rain did not stop

I was

Dry

Warm

Safe

And I couldn't help

Or stop all the suffering I saw on the victims' faces

All I could do was cry

And pray for the people

Alicia Baly, 14, eighth grade

School Daze

Help

I am trapped in a world

With chemiluminescence

And microsporocytes

I'm feeling like I'm spinning in

a pasticcio of notes I have never heard of

and sentences with prepositional phrases are

popping out of me as I'm running from all the

distributive properties calling my name

and then a voice out of nowhere echoes around me

"You're eighth graders now!"

Then why do I feel as puzzled as ever?

Laura Holloway, 13, eighth grade

In France

In France I learned . . .

How to roll in the white, silky sand

And pretend I was on an island

Building sand castles, so fierce and grand

That seagulls had just nowhere to land

In France I learned . . .

How to pick a mother chicken's egg

Without her pecking at my right leg

One time she did and she had to beg

For me not to rub her with nutmeg

In France I learned . . .

How to climb atop a high peak

A long, hard, tiring walk of a week

Where, above the cloud line as you peek

The stars seem so close that you can't speak

In France I learned . . .

How to ride unreal 10-foot high waves

Along with the heroes and the brave

How to have much fun and be amazed

As the sunset fired the world ablaze

Margot Samson, 12, seventh grade

THWACK! That clean single into center

That's where I got my name

ROAR! The crowd's exuberant cheer that explodes

just after the ball clears the fence

That's where I got my name

AWW! That groan from the home crowd just after a

home run is robbed from their team

That's where I got my name

A great man as well as one of my personal heroes

That's where I got my name

My name came from Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett

of the Minnesota Twins

Thanks for the awesome name, Kirby.

It's truly an honor.

Kirby Wilson, 12, sixth grade

FIFTH-GRADERS AT PALM HARBOR ELEMENTARY

Ball pythons

Ball pythons make great pets if you pick the right one. Some good advice: See if it is docile and doesn't move a lot. It may seem unfriendly, but it will warm up to you. A secret to make it a non-biter is to keep feeding it a lot. But never mess with a snake when you see its eyes are cloudy: that means it is going to shed. And especially never mess with it during the day when its eyes are cloudy: It might bite. It doesn't mean to hurt you - it just can't see you. Snakes are good, despite what some people think.

Sean Wonderly, 11

[Last modified December 17, 2006, 21:06:17]