January 17

It Hurts When You’re Not Smiling

For my spoken word poem, I decided to write about something that I felt was very important to me, which is smiling. But I found that with all the stress and homework that comes with high school, it was really hard to do this. So I decided to write about how smiling is a beautiful gift and we mustn’t forget to do it, as a little reminder to myself; because it hurts when you’re not smiling. 🙂 

~~~

Remember when you were little, like baby little?

How you would always have a smile on your bright shining face.

No matter what you were doing, you were always smiling;

showing your two front teeth.

Oh how excited you were when those teeth fell out.

You just couldn’t wait to put it under your bed

and wake up the next morning,

finding a gold coin instead.

The joy it brought,

feeling a gold coin in the palm of your hands,

it just made you so content.

But day by day,

the older you got,

the more your smile chipped away.

What happened my dear friend?

Did you forget how to smile?

Because it hurts when you’re not smiling.

Oh how you were born with such a gift God could ever give,

and you just throw it away like this.

A smile is a gift we all get

and you must use it to your full extent.

So what made you stop smiling all these years my dear friend?

Was it the monster under your bed,

who put fears into your head?

Or the tiger and the shark rocking the arch?

Oh how it hurts not seeing you smile.

When there’s so much joy the world brings.

The parties and the piñatas.

Don’t you recall such a thing?

Is there stress running through your body?

Or an anxiety attack or two?

I promise all this will be over,

if you just share a smile or two.

It hurts when you’re not smiling.

Don’t you want to smile and live a long life?

Or maybe even save someone’s with the big smile you grew.

Would a chocolate bar help you smile?

Or a dozen bucks or two.

What can I do to make you smile?

Please I’m begging you.

Won’t you start smiling again my dear friend?

Like the days before you grew old.

Isn’t your life missing something you wish you didn’t misplace?

The baby teeth made you smile,

even on those dark stormy nights.

Oh how I wish you didn’t lose the little grin.

Because money cannot replace such a thing.

Wake up from your old misery my dear friend.

Everything will be better,

you don’t have to pretend.

It’s the tough time like these

where a smile can put those days to an end.

Put all your worries behind my friend.

Because the world loves you,

and it hurts when you’re not smiling.

Video:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hqxcie7vhjjltqf/It%20Hurts%20When%20You%27re%20Not%20Smiling.mp4?dl=0ideo:

Photo Credits:

http://media4.popsugar-assets.com/files/2014/01/02/804/n/24155406/578a1afcd0742d96_tooth-fairy-main.jpg.xxxlarge/i/Tooth-Fairy-Gift-Ideas.jpg

Category: Andrew, Gr 10 CW, Poems | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 16

What I Know to Be True…

We are birthed from our mothers womb.

Innocent,

yet once we consume ourselves into the world,

we become different creatures.

Life is a forever cycle,

death is ongoing,

and birth is common.

It is up to us to stop and look,

to stop and wonder,

to stop and realize

what life has made of us

before we get consumed…

we fail, we fall, we stumble, we face pain

but that is not what matters.

what matters is how hard we are able to get hit, and still get back up,

to either be pushed back down or rise sky high to prove what your really worth.

After all success is not determined by skill or talent…

it is determined by character.

Your ability to overcome those obstacles and think beyond them.

Your drive is what matters.

Your passion.

Your motivation.

Your inspiration.

For in the end we are all going to meet in the same place once again.

We are buried into the soft brown soil, and covered with green grass as a blanket laid upon us to silence.

We remain forever banished underground.

Surrounded by nothing but darkness.

~~~ Group: Manvir, Alisha, Andrew, Ziyana, Gavin~~~

Category: Manvir, Poems | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 16

Forced Sleep

You slide my eyelids shut

and braid my lashes tight

into silent, sleek ropes

of prison.

You pour liquid shadows

into the pupils of

my softening eyes,

so it hurts to see the light,

so that sharp glares spin themselves with

pain into the sleep-twisted

caverns of my mind, like

hard, unchewed food as it

slides down throats: scraping and

stinging and striking my

soft flesh.

You play lyrical lullabies on my

harpsichord-key teeth and

whisper to me tuneful fantasies of sleep

soft beds with smooth sheets.

You numb the throb and stab of a

fraying awareness… yet

you also sooth the demons-

who touch and flirt with my

insides until they seep blood.

You make me forget:

suffering does not equal serenity.

Sleep does not equal rest.

You play my heartstrings like

a harp,

you coax my frantic lungs

into slowing their pace.

Your teeth are pens seeping

ink into my bloodstream like a sedative,

You course through me faster

than adrenaline, but

just slower than panic,

seducing me into your

tyrannical embrace.

You hum sweet cradle songs

to the tide of my blood,

you match my breath to the

flutter of eyelids whose

tenants see worlds made

of fantasy gone wrong.night

And when my eyes do close-

you braid my lashes tight

into silent, sleek ropes

of prison darker than night.

 

 This poem is an expression of sleep’s oppressive nature. Perhaps few of us realize it, but sleep has become increasingly forceful in our lives, to the point where many of can barely function because sleep has a sharp hold on our minds. We covet sleep constantly, yet what we are really looking for is rest. Nevertheless, sleep clings to us all day everyday, and slowly seduces us into succumbing to its tyrannical and deceptively soft nature. 

 

 

Citations:

“Sleep Tight.” By Frankief on DeviantArt. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://frankief.deviantart.com/art/Sleep-Tight-324800884>.

“Is Seven Hours A Night The Optimal Amount Of Sleep?” Fast Company. 22 July 2014. Web. 6 Dec. 2015. <http://www.fastcompany.com/3033373/work-smart/is-seven-hours-a-night-the-optimal-amount-of-sleep>.

 

 

Category: Gr 10 CW, Poems, Ziyana | LEAVE A COMMENT
January 16

What I Want

I am a glutton

Filled with cold hearted greed,

For the things I lust after;

For the things that I need.

Would you spare me your engine?

Your most crucial part?

To warm up my insides,

I desire a heart.

On top of that, please,

Include just for me:

The warmth of another,

To answer my plea.

And when I grow weary,

From this world’s pain,

Would you spare me a shoulder?

Your loss is my gain.

Though shoulders grow tired,

As does my will.

Share me your embrace,

To stop this lonely chill.

And in your arms,

Perhaps I would find,

Whatever we call safety;

The illusion of the mind.

The most important of all,

And definitely most rare,

Is to split the lost treasure;

Your love, if you dare.

Written by Lucas, on behalf of team Cayleigh, Ziyana, Ryan, Masooma, Rajneet

Category: Lucas, Poems | LEAVE A COMMENT
December 14

I Have Learned….

 

 

I have learned,

to find beauty in the ugly,

to find a flower in the ashes,

to search around,

 

In cracks,

for something,

that pulses with vibrance

that radiates the world around it.

 

I have learned to find the seed,

of love, in my hate filled heart,

to nourish the seed,

when the poison takes over,

to coax the seed,

when it is scared to bloom,

the forbidden truth.

 

I have learned

to wipe the tears away,

to let the sarcasm falter,

to feel what is numbed,

when you are around,

your words,

sliced until,

I was drowning in my own blood,

the scars were fresh,

on my skin,

but the blood is drained,

and the scars have faded,

easier to conceal,

easier to forget.

 

I have learned,

to leave my mark,

to paint my words,

smear my tears,

over my smile,

to let you know,

why my heart throbs,

why my hands tremble,

without moving my lips.

 

I have learned,

to drape the cloak,

heavy with smiles,

weighted with laughs,

across my slumped shoulders,

so I can cry,

under my hood,

heavy with laughs,

weighted with smiles.

Category: Aemon, Gr 10 CW, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT
December 14

10 things I once had

What did I once have,

but have no longer?

What do I need back,

that is being held away?

 

My vibrant little shirt,

The most important thing of my childhood,

Shipped off to my cousin,

along with my free luxuries.

 

I used to be so certain

in the honesty of men,

in the trustworthiness of them.

All are gone, my innocence the tax.

 

As my brother moved out,

so did my free time.

School life took all,

…even my gym shirt.

 

If I could please,

just have one thing back,

I beg here on my knees.

My love for all humanity, I need it,

 

Fast.

Category: Areeb, Gr 10 CW, Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 17

The Book and The Cup of Tea

Dear my little cup of tea,

You’re full of hot burning passion that stains my pages,

that keeps a little part of you with me

every single day.

A warm little kiss

that leaves me wanting more.

You make me hazy with your powerful aroma; a blissful state.

The only thought that crosses my pages

are words that I write but will never be read.

As I lie back, merely a first draft,

all the words that define me, soon to be scrapped.

Leaving me with nothing

but the simple idea of you.

Even if you leave me for the biscuit,

you can always fall back on me.

Let me be your spine.

As my plot continues on,

and your taste begins to fade

maybe, just maybe,

we can reach the conclusion

together… someday.

// A poem by Areeb, Arsal, Ayat, Faith, and Dania

 

Category: Poems | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 17

The Winter Soldier

Dedicated to my favorite Marvel Character, James ‘Buchanan’ Barnes, The Winter Soldier. 

The Winter Soldier

We were once best friends

running down the streets of young Manhattan.

We were once wild

getting into impractical fights.

We were once soldiers

fighting for our country.

We were once brawling

in the war that claimed the lives

of millions of our own

and would soon take yours.

We were once hanging

on by a thin thread

that would break

and send you sprawling into

the blanket of winters snow.

I was once grieving

for the man who promised,

until the end of the line.

I was once alone

several decades later

wondering where the world

had gone.

We were once united

under improbable conditions.

You were once human

but you’re now part machine.

You were once my friend

but now you are the enemy

fighting for the wrong side of the war.

You were once a person

now you’re a ghost

that doesn’t want to be found.

You were once able to recollect

all our memories

all our adventures.

but now you forgot everything

including myself.

We were once best friends,

now I’m your mission.

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Category: Aya, Gr 10 CW | LEAVE A COMMENT
September 30

i am the sky — metaphor for me (claire b.)

I will always be here, even if you do not acknowledge me. I will watch over you and exist over you with my effervescent love, even if you are not aware of me. I am bright at times, and stormy at others, but I cannot be in control of this at all times. I can wreck and destroy and tear apart those below me but please forgive me if I do so. I may do this, but I am truly filled with bright clouds of dreams and hopes that can be blown down and away with the smallest of winds.

These clouds, that move and shift and never stay the same, make up who I am. There is a cloud that represents love, a cloud for hate, for curiosity, for generosity – every part of what makes up me is found in the clouds floating above with seemingly no cares at all. A shift in this cloud cover can change the entire mood of the day – from blight blue skies of happiness to stormy and angry grey hues. It is said that every cloud has a silver lining – for me, every one of my clouds, with their unique variations and configurations have a particular silver lining.

Love will blossom in to appreciation, hate will be overcome by passion, curiosity introduced to knowledge, generosity would breed compassion – and these clouds would lose their shape and become something entirely new.

If you look up to me, I will always be looking back at you. There are moments in our lives where we may feel utterly alone – but we can look up to the sky, and see it there, and just know that it will still be there tomorrow. People can look to me for advice, for comfort, for reassurance that the world is still turning, you are still living, and I am still here for you. That is the most important thing about the sky – it’s flowing presence that occupies the minds and souls of those it encounters daily.

I am the sky, I am ever-changing, but I will always be here with you.

claire b.

pic credit: jimenez

Category: Claire, Gr. 11 CW | LEAVE A COMMENT