Elements

Earth, fire, water, and wind. Each element provides humanity with something amazing but holds the power to conjure unwieldy disasters. Earth, with its aesthetic landscapes and array of color and textures, could collapse at any given moment, causing worldwide adversity.

Fire, an element of power and agility, its welcoming warmth and flames that dance upon coals, manifests itself into something beautifully destructive. In an instant, it can turn a cherished family gathering around the fireplace, or a simple electric light, into your greatest fiend, its beauty laced with perjury, causing chaos. It leaves a tempest that has no mercy for those lucky enough to survive its vile rage.

Water, cleansing and refreshing, cool and inviting, has the alluring supremacy of having us repose upon its warm, sandy shores. Its beauty and meditative rhythms are like no other, yet when angered water holds the ability to engulf and envelope everything in its wake.

Wind, fickle and everlasting, provides a cool and calming sense to those in its path. In the same hand, a simple breeze has the capacity to swallow everything in its sight, providing us with a whirlwind of terror.

These elements provide us the necessary good and evil that comes with everything else in the world, allowing us to set a middle ground in which we can live in harmony among one another. There is always half a glass, whether you see it as full or empty.

 

Marissa Wenglicki is 14 years old and currently attends PA Cyber Charter School. She is from Feasterville, PA.

Pray for the People in Camden

With pale blue eyes and cropped red hair,
She is a fixture in these parts.
72 pounds and no way to gain,
Heavy blankets of despair
Drape over her frail body,
Swallowing her,
She has no hope.

Her name is Mary,
But so few know.
They don’t care.
Her pain.
Never realizing,
They are practically the same,
Lost in their own struggles
Amongst several others
In this big city.

The sun begins to set,
But she has nowhere to go.
So many directions,
But none seem right.
A cool breeze,
The leaves change.
Most would be happy; fall is here.
But to her,
This only means
Winter is ahead.
Cold brisk wind
Sends a chill.
All alone.

A woman in her forties,
With a blanket over her shoulders
And a tear in her eye
Because
There is only so much
Warmth
That she can get from her pockets,
And there is only so much
A plastic bag can hold.

A man in his fifties,
With a cross around his neck
And an extra dollar in his pocket,
His chin held high.
A proud smile
That hides his secrets
And his shame.

Two worlds collide,
Never to be the same again.
He hands her a five-dollar bill
With a card on top.
It’s the size of her palm,
A little crumpled in the corner,
A tear at the top,
With a few unforgettable lines:
A prayer

 

 

Ali Binder is a 10th-grade student at Haverford High School. She is in the school orchestra and loves being a part of the color guard with the competition marching band. She is passionate about service and is an active member at her church. This is her first piece to be published.

The Tearful Alligator

The tearful alligator
traveled as the breeze blew
in Siberia.

The alligator is happy when
the sun comes out
and goes in the lake.

The alligator is sad when
it rains, and his friends
don’t play with him.

One day,
he went to his friends’
home to ask them to play.

They said yes, and
they played tag.
The alligator was feeling good!

 

 

Jordan J. was a Mighty Writer in the 2nd grade and is remembered for her smile and meticulous attention to detail. She’s now in 5th or 6th grade but left this poem in the Mighty Writer’s archives. She attended the program daily when she lived in South Philadelphia and is now believed to be in a ‘writer at large’ in Germantown.

Memorized

It’s glued inside forever
told
Real and natural
It’s hard to forget, I won’t
that’s for sure because great
memories are obviously pure.

 

Juwaireyah Dorsey is a 4th grader at Universal Institute Charter School. She is also a student at Mighty Writers.

Boy

Boy
reflector
17, 1950
could fly like
tsunami like
California breeze high school
with gusto, but blend in
weird / different / unique
bullied, smaller
reads comics
part chameleon and rich, but
doesn’t like dressing rich, and
yellow / blue eyes like
cuban russian danish
invisiblend
gray black and silver suit like spider man
has to protect just his friend / girlfriend so
he grows eagle wings

 

 

Azariah Collins is in the 4th grade and likes to write at Mighty Writers. She also likes cheerleading and lives with her three brothers, one sister, and her parents. Azariah is proud of her Greek, Indian, and African American heritage.

Daddy

Nurse, musician
guiding, loving , laughing
best dad in the universe
Father.

 

Maggie MacLean is 7 years old. Her favorite things to do are reading, crafting, and playing with make-up. She loves to eat lunch meat, tacos, burgers, and anything sweet.

Praying Mantis Pod

Brown, dry, crinkly
Camouflaged like a spy in dark glasses and a trench coat
300 babies in a teeny tiny space
They will drop out with no sound, leaving behind an empty pod
I hope I get to see just one
Because finding a praying mantis is cool
Nature is magical
Everywhere I look I find clues
To the secret world that lives all around me

 

Connor Simpkins, age 7, is a 1st grader at Penn Wynne Elementary School. He enjoys being outside in nature, reading, rhyming words, and building Legos.

Us Overload

We’re comin’ through ur speaker

Runnin’ through ur town

We’re pourin’ through ur headphones

And ur eyes are turnin’ brown.

We’re pumping up the volume

And we can’t be stopped!

Ur brain is leakin’ out ur ears

Ur head’s about to pop.

This is on Us!

An Us Overload.

And u better run for cover

‘Cuz we’re about to explode

Said it’s on Us!

An Us Overload.

And ur mother’s gonna shudder

When us writers hit the road.

The pressure’s buildin’ up now

And we’re about to burst out!

Rockin’ stadiums, gymnasiums,

If ur feelin’ us, shout!

Yes, it’s an Us!

An Us Overload.

And u ain’t been this

covered since the last time it snowed.

Spongmay Khan is in the sixth grade and loves to write raps. He really wants to be a rapper when he grows up (or even right now)!

Hands Up, Don’t Shoot

      Hands up, don’t shoot

Stop the unnecessary violence

Plain innocent people getting shot

By the cops,

And I thought they were supposed to protect us.

Hands up, don’t shoot

May 16th, 2010

A little girl is lying in her house

The cops come in looking for someone else

They see her and pow!

Hands up, don’t shoot

I’m walking down the street with my all-

black hoodie, just got back from the store

I turn around and pow!

I get shot and killed, and he gets away free.

Hands up, don’t shoot

It’s sad to say we live in a generation

Where a cop can go out and shoot an innocent person

And get away like nothing happened

Hands up, dont shoot

Oh wait, it’s too late…

Azariah Collins attends Girard Academic Music Academy in South Philadelphia. She is in the fifth grade and is a dancer, actress, and published poet. She has been with Mighty Writers for four years.

Time

Time, time is the key

Time is something you can stop

Time is a part of our life

Time is what we waste or spend

Time is order

Time is like a force in a jar that can’t be held

Time is you

Time is something that your mind won’t understand

So what is time itself?

Time is the answer…

 

 

Caleb Bryant is a fifth grade student at Universal Institute Charter School in South Philly. This is his first year with Mighty Writers and he is a budding philosopher, poet and painter. He expects to play for the NBA after finishing college.