My frustration expands,
and expands,
as I sit in the lab,
to type on the keyboards,
as long as I can.

It won’t last long,
it never really does,
So my frustrations,
Expand.

Sometimes these failures,
are not just what annoys me,
but the quality of some machines,
like some overheads or broken light bulb.

These broken light bulbs,
put in my head, crack because
of the lack of new knowledge.

My annoyance and frustrations,
will only continue,
But now with this grant,
the lights will flicker on,
and my intlligence will expand.

With new electronices,
we will learn twice as much,
and hopefully these problems,
will be gone with my frustrations,
and yours.

I push the shovel to the ground,
and walk forward.

The shovel is full,
of the fallen clouds.

I throw it on the hard,
but fluffy,
snow pile.

Underneath what I just shoveled,
is ice,
solid ice,
that I hope I won’t have to  shovel,
but sprinkle salt on.

I’ve finally reached,
the end of the driveway,
the snow is harder,
but there is very little.
The rest is ice,
that i usually have to shovel,
but this time I’m going to put salt on it.

I have to shovel the ice,
at the end of the  drive way,
because the salt won’t melt it all.

It was back breaking,
but I  did it,
I shoveled the ice,
at the end of the driveway.
-Gage B.

My grandma means a lot to me.
She didn’t live
that far away.
In the summer
my brother
and I would ride
our bikes
over to her house.
We would
watch the Cubs game,
play board games ,
and go on walks
with her.
We can still go and
visit her,
but we can only talk
and walk around
inside the
nursing home.
It is not as much
fun anymore
because we can not
do as much,
but I am
glad
that she is still here today.

Shannon S.

I sit down on the chair.
I turn my head.
My sister smacked me across my face.
I push her back.
She punched me in my face like
Muhammad Ali.
She grabs me and picks me up.
She slams me to the floor.

I think she is okay some times.
She beats me up
But I don’t care
I’m used to it.

I got hurt when she kicked me.
She’s mean, my sister of mine.
I don’t know why she punched me in the facerwell I did read her diary….
I know why she’s mad.
But why does she fight ?

-Alfred

It’s loud and obnoxious
my name is called
then look away.

Turning my ipod on
and listen;
it’s soothing and relaxing.

In the corner of my eye
I see people out the window.
A family picnic-
and more people having fun.

So I whisper to myself
“When I get home,
I’m going to relax.”

~Austen P.

A loud clang
interrupts me from my sleep.
But I feel too drowsy
to simply flick a switch
to see
the problem.
I ease back into unconsciousness.

I wake up from light
glaring at me,
straight in the eye.
I jerk my head
away from the sun’s gaze.
As I do so, I see
my air vent
by my bedside table.

I see a helpless, clay bunny
with beads for eyes
staring at me.

I pick it up blindly
because of the stars in my eyes.
But as I feel the shape
I immediately look down
to make sure
my immagination isn’t on the loose.

The little rabbit looks up at me
with two, sad eyes,
sniffs me with
one, gray nose,
feels me with
four, furry paws,
listens to my
quick breathing with
. . . one ear?

I stumble down
onto my floor,
search the ground,
scratching my palms,
the metal of the air vent
burrowing into my skin.
I give up.

I grab my flashlight,
but when the light echoes itself,
down the hole,
The ear is nowhere to be found.

-Karalee S.

I watch as the Water Drips
from the Icicles as they slowly Melt.

they Hang from the roof like Frozen Stalagmites.
when I open the Door,
they fall and Shatter like Glass.

the water Drips into the Snow as it Melts.
it leaves Holes in the Snow that looks like a Beehive.

They get Bigger as it gets Colder
and Smaller as it gets Warmer.

some are Sharp and Pointy,
some are Short and Stubby,
but Each is a like a Work of Art

-Dalton H.

I wait to get picked up
in a carriage,
to go
to my fairytale land.
To ride
the majestic mares,
to sit high
above everything
in a blanket of hay.

I get this vision,
then snap back
to the real world.
Back in Belle Plaine
riding the horses,
being in the barn
with my two best friends.

And I know,
that’s what
true
happiness
means to me.
-Kayla G.

I am in a crazy place
family,
friends,
life,
who I like,
school,
and animals too.

I always think
two things at once;
am I angry,
depressed,
or excited?
Is anything true around here?
I don’t know
Maybe that’s natural.

It’s my mind,
What could happen?

April O

I reach over,
shut my alarm clock off.
I ask myself,
“What day is it?”

I wake up after
I fall asleep again.
I ask myself,
“Do I have to get up?”

I drag myself out of bed
and get ready.
I ask myself,
“How much longer
until night comes,
again?”

When I’m
ready to go
I ask myself,
“Do other people
do this every morning,
too?”

- Molly V.

The heat runs by
I know its that time of year
because the mosquitos bite.
I walk outside,
get blinded by the summer sun.
I can’t stand the heat;
that’s when I get knocked off my feet
by everything that rolls by.
Then I just lie there
with the sun in my eyes.
I get splashed by the summer water.
After that I get quench of thirst
I go get the lemonade
I like to dream of.
The next thing you know
clod comes back up my spine

-Katie E.

While I sit
and watch my dog play
I wonder what I would feel
if I was a dog

I would feel the wind on my face
while I ride in the car
or have my heart race faster and faster
while I chase a ball through the park

But yet, I’m still human
maybe I will feel that some day
when I die and am reborn
into something else…

-Cassi W.

As I lay on bed,
I close my eyes.
I drain all the thoughts of today,
all the hustle of the world.
Not wanting to think
of the future,
so I listen
to the radio.

I am back
angry and alone.
The yells still echo in my head.
I wish I could escape
to a world of silence.
I listen
to the soft din of the radio.

-Maddi W.

Fuzzy and soft
and black as the
midnight sky.
is my black cat.

I love her in many
ways. she can be nice
or mean, but no matter
what I love her.

I know one day she’ll
have to go
what nature has
in store. but she’ll always
be right here with me.
-Cierra B.

I walk through the red and yellow tent.
I see funny clowns,
wearing green and yellow
paisley jumpsuits
with red puffball buttons
like big snow balls,
and pink frilled up sashes,
with white makeup and red noses.

Soon I smell the air,
so fresh caramel corn that I can almost taste it
and cotton candy.

I see flame throwers,
and people juggling eggs.
There’s tight rope walkers,
and elephants,
magic shows,
and fortune tellers.
I smell corndogs,
and caramel apples.

But my favorite thing of all
is being here with you.

-Joslyn M.

I feel the need for speed
as the sharp wend hits my face.
The motorcycle swerves
at every corner.

I look down
and see the road
as if it’s about to touch my helmet.
As we ride a little longer,
I see the evening sky turn red.

Then Dad finds the city
we were looking for.

“What should we eat?”Dad asked.
And I reply,”Anything you want!”

-Tatyana F.

Watching you walk away
from all the memories
we made.
Watching you
walk down the school hall
like nothing happened

hurts so bad
to see you not care.
Then the bell rings
school’s out
as all the kids come out of the doors,
as you stand there,
turning around
and coming up to me
to say those last words

I’m running,
running away
because I can’t bear the pain
that’s in my heart
that’s stabbing it
now I’m at a dead end.

-Shanna O.

As I sit here
at the bottom of this bag
I feel
abused.
With these dents,
scratches,
dirty stickers

It’s not how I look,
it’s how I perform
If Austin is unharmed
I am doing
my job.

-Austin Mc.

I hear the ball bounce
on the court.
Swish!
The crowd goes crazy.
I look up at the scoreboard.
We are winning!
We win the game!
Now it’s time to
go to the finals.
I hear the crowd go wild.
-Brad K.

I think to myself,
as I get off the bus,
what happened to those girls
to make such a big commotion?
I go to visit Dad
and talk for a while.
When we’re done
we hop in the truck
and head home.

I head inside the house.
Clark and I grab a bite,
head into my room,
play video games ,
sleep,
repeat.

- Nate L.