by Hannah Puelle
Age 6

When my brother looked like a monster in the water,
When a cat starts to talk,
A fish starts to dance,
When a ceiling board jumped,
When a slide banged itself,
When I jumped without even trying to jump,
When hair jumped on my head,
When clothes came out of my dresser like magic,
When a shoe jumped out of the closet,
When the shirt danced,
A chair jumped,
And a box covered my face,
When a pen danced,
When a bracelet jumped out of an earring,
A table with books and pens on it moved side to side,
When a book jumped up and down,
A bird flew into a deserted house,
A phone ordered what we wanted itself,
A leaf jumped off its tree when the wind wasn’t even blowing,
When I flew in the air and I grew wings,
When the light jumped off the ceiling.

by Mary Blas

Why does the IRS question your largess?
Julia from Wichita. Audited again.
Your second floor boarders attest to your goodness.
Why does the IRS question your largess?
Like benevolent ghosts we whisper your kindness,
That their jade-studded hearts should be touched by your pain.
Your judges shall know that you are a true Witness,
Julia from Wichita. Audited again.

by Flower White, Age 16

No one suspected that underneath her blonde curls
and dimpled smile
she was hurt, fed up with all the dirt
from the wigs to underneath her skirt,
she was dyin inside
trying to fit in, and tryin to hide
but underneath all that she was the biggest surprise.
She was slick, smooth, and basically wise
She was full of deceit, incredible lies
You could tell she was different from the look in her eyes
She was full of her game but
she had something so different it just wasn’t the same
From her face to her walk
Even down to her name
To her fam, the act was a sin,
They felt true beauty came deeper than skin
And it even shocked me so I’m goin in.
Every dude on the block said, “Shorty a ten,”
But the whole thing was a scam
Everyone tried to but could not understand
All along underneath, yo—
This girl was a man.

by Mishal Awan

If I would fly,
I would fly high
into the sky,
Soaring, soaring
High up
Flying
I may even feel the glittering moon
I’ll be free from everything
I won’t be in a tight ring,
Flying,
soaring into the sky
Why, why, why can’t I breathe
Mom’s calling me home.