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Young Writers Conference, 2011–The Salmon Group

link to cover pageKarena Hunt, leader
Jasmine Eltawely, Como
Diamante Hayes, Central
Dominique Tomlinson, Harding
Zane Young, Como

 

writingBlank Cries
by Jasmine Elfawely
Como Park Senior High School

Seen and heard everyday, but never thought of in a way that I understood.
Confusion in my eyes when my happiness is mistaken and understood as cries.
Nobody really wants to know,
or they just haven’t been able to show
that they care.
I can feel it in their speech and the lack of an outstretched hand to me.
Seen in a way,
but I have nothing to say in return.
My true identity is lost and has gone away within a distant fog that I can’t even see.
The cover of my true insides has yet to have been revealed.
The exuberant colors of my tears have long ago fallen into a deep pool
that no one has longed to look for.
The meaning for everything I have hasn’t been able to shine through the restraints
that I have been forced to be encaptured within.
A past that to some just may be so intriguing because
they see only what they want and they want only what they see.
I’m being seen through a superficial microscope that I just can’t escape from.
My thoughts have just been intertwined into any ordinary blob
that no one has wanted to unravel.
Many days have been spent passing by
eyes that were never truly interpreting what they saw in me,
and now my identity
has been concreted through these views.

 

Blank Cries Author’s Statement:
This poem is written about a photograph that I saw by Wing Huie. It was of an Indian woman holding a chalkboard that said “We are all the same.” I wanted this poem to express how she felt towards people’s perceptions of her and I wanted it to evoke emotion in the reader.

 

 

HE
by Diamante Hayes
Central Senior High School

writingAgain, I see him. He stands in front of me. I’m not moving. He’s not moving. All alone now, no one to blame for all of the mistakes I’ve made. He is the one who is standing in front of my goals and dreams now. The only thing he’s doing is staring, and I’m staring right back, quiet, no sounds from me, like a deaf person. Every minute no, second, I look at him, he makes it seem like a good idea to not go for any of my dreams or even to have dreams at all. He knows me too well, like memorized song lyrics, plus he knows what I’m thinking and have to say. I’m still looking and wondering, should I take the easy road out now, and pay later for all my consequences like I’m in debt, or should I continue on the road I’ve been on with bruises and cuts here and there - almost to reach my goals on the path I’ve been on? He stands there knowing what I’m thinking about, and I knowing what he’s thinking: how to keep me down and out to keep me from trying to reach my goals.

 

Author’s Statement:
As you know my name is Diamante Hayes. I got this inspiration from the saying, “You are your worst enemy,” so there it is.

 

 

There's always Art
by Dominique Tomlinson
Harding Park Senior High School

writing

 

Inspiration
by Zane Young
Como Park Senior High School

writingInspiration
the lights that blind me
I'm gonna let my shine
others say it’s blinding my eternal artwork
the emotions that tie me
give me meaning
like the light that’s inside me.
If I were to shine, the light would be mine
I would shine so bright
with sunglasses you would be blind.
If I had the time
I would stop
and soak it up like a sponge
because I have had one hell of a time.
In the darkest places, who would have thought
I've got the light in my mind not in my hands
No. It’s a shame cuz in the end we’ve got to let it all go
live fast just to die slow
wisdom comes in time, so let my mind grow.
Horizons broader than the eye can see
It’s amazing what you can achieve with a little bit of elbow grease
with some humility
I mean working on your hands and knees
It’s funny cuz in time
I'm gonna be on my feet.

 

Inspiration Author’s Statement:
My name is Zane and I have many interests and writing is one of them. This piece expresses me.