I’ll make a deal with you

I’ll make a deal with you
By Grace Polito

I came to show

Not to the ones who know

But to the ones who need

A bit of a deed

Done in their favor

Like I’m their savior

 

What is it, you may ask

Oh, just a small task

I will help you out

And, no doubt

It will aid you

A lifetime breakthru

 

My deeds come with a small price

If you misjudge, I’ll roll the dice

And trust me, you young lad

They won’t be your comrade

 

It is all a package deal

Wrapped up and with a seal

I will spill the contents

And Grace now presents:

 

Buy one get one deed for free

The insides you may not see

But trust me they will impact

Your living in your dream act

 

One day will come

Do not run

I know what’s too little

And I know what’s too brittle

 

A spark will overcome your body

Side effects, your thoughts become shoddy

But when you wake up from your trance

This will be your final chance

Undo the misdoings you have done

Finally you will have won

 

Just remember what I said

There will be no, “you plead”

That small price

Would be your demise


Grace Polito lives with her mom, dad, and little brother in Center City Philadelphia. Life is hectic in the city, but Grace still finds time to draw, write and read. She is in the seventh grade at the Julia Reynolds Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School.

The Sun Came Out

The Sun Came Out

By Said Ibrahim

The sun came out and

Rooster crowed usually

Chilly Wednesday


Said Ibrahim is a fifth-grader at Mighty Writers West.

Wishing for the Past

Wishing for the Past

By Lydia Hessel-Robinson

Summer sighed when her mother told her that she’d make spaghetti for dinner. Summer knew that “making spaghetti” really meant pressing a button on the Meal-O-Matic, and that annoyed her. The 16-year-old girl had been born before the big changes had been made and missed all of her mother’s special cooking, which had been much better than spaghetti from a machine. Her mother, however, was thrilled with these new inventions and prefered the Meal-O-Matic to her homemade meals.

“Mom could you, like, actually make the spaghetti dough like you used to?” Summer begged, even though she already knew what the answer would be.

Her brother William mouthed their mother’s response even as she spoke, “No, Summer. This is much easier and quicker. Would you stop asking?” The Meal-O-Matic beeped. Summer’s mom procured three bowls from the kitchen cabinet and spooned out the noodles. Summer sighed again, sadly. It seemed as if she’d been sighing a lot recently.

“Mom, you say the same thing every time I ask you to make something. I bet Dad would really cook, but he’s not getting back today.,” Summer did everything she could to make her mom feel bad for using the Meal-O-Matic.

William pitched in, “Dad would probably even make Spanakopita for us!” Summer’s mouth watered at the thought of the delicious spinach pastry. Her father was away, cooking for the crew on the newest spaceship mission to Andromeda Galaxy. He would return in three weeks. “Yeah, mom. From scratch.”

This time it was their mother’s turn to sigh. “Children, drop it.”

Summer stayed up late reading her favorite book, Little House on the Prairie. She longed to be Laura and have no clue about what would happen to the world, to be away from her mother who begged Summer to discard her bookcases and get an e-library (a device that extruded books you wanted and sucked them in when you were done). Summer, however, liked the books in her bedroom. She took out her smartphone to check the time. It was 11:30 p.m., June 24, 2079. If only it could be the 1890’s! Summer tiredly rested her head on a silky beige pillow, wishing to be far into the past…like Laura.  


 

Picture ‘Perfect’ Land

Picture ‘Perfect’ Land

By Cate Haines

 

I board the plane with rocks in my chest

Which I’m surprised the metal detector didn’t sense

But my mom says everything will be just fine

Because way too soon we’ll cross the borderline

 

We’ll be leaving behind the people I need

To go to a picture ‘perfect’ land that I’ve never seen

Aside from the pictures and films on TV

Where the only moral seems that everyone’s free

 

The sadness and loneliness has filled up my aura

As I feel my family just wants to leave behind that era

When we’re where we fit in and with the people to which we belong

As if they haven’t tried enough to tell us that leaving our homeland would be wrong

 

And the ghosts will never leave me

Of the friendships that will be left across the sea

And my mom tells me as she grabs more tissues

“We’re gonna make a new life and leave our ‘outdated issues’”


Cate Haines has been writing poetry for about a year, and loves musical arts and hanging out with her friends.

Leaving

Leaving

By Alexandra Will
Crashing waves, groaning wood

Gaunt faces searching for shore

Home is no longer home

Invaders, marauders, have taken everything

Except our memories

Of rolling green hills and endless blue skies

Desperate, fleeing, exhausted

Hunger gnaws at our bones

Eating us from the inside out

Father is just across the sea

Pray for us

On this rickety ship

Looking for America-

A better life

A safer place

A familiar face

To tide us through

I know it’s close

Only an ocean away


Alexandra Will is in seventh grade and loves to read.  She additionally enjoys playing soccer, and lives with her parents and three brothers in Ambler, PA.  When she was younger, Alexandra spent a year living in Guam with her family for her father’s business trip.

What are the best starter pets for new pet owners: cats, dogs or hamsters?

What are the best starter pets for new pet owners: cats, dogs or hamsters?

By Said Ibrahim

Are you thinking of getting a new pet? If you are, pets like cats and dogs are not good starters. Hamsters are better, and I’ll tell you why!

Hamsters don’t poop in the house, unlike cats and dogs. Dogs need two months of house-training, and cats need even more! Hamsters don’t need multiple shots each year, or lots of expensive visits to the vet, and they don’t need to be trained.

Hamsters actually save their food! They store extra food in their cheek pouches. Dogs and cats will just eat their food, and then ask for more. Hamsters can store half their body weight in their cheeks, which would be impossible for a human, and they can pull it out when they really need it.

Some might say that a hamster’s short life span of two years is a reason to get a cat or dog instead. But I think, because you don’t have to take care of them for that long, and if you’re lucky they’ll have six pups, their short life is no downside.

A hamster is definitely cheaper but not as affectionate as a cat or dog. And when your hamster lives out its lifespan, you can always move up to a harder to take care of pet—maybe even a cat or dog. But that’s for next time.


Said Ibrahim is a fifth grader at Mighty Writers West.

The Wild House

The Wild House

By Monyria Harvey

 

My brother is a dragon, my mom’s a teddy bear.

I’m a shaggy sheep dog with a ton of tangled hair.

 

My father is a monkey, he likes to make us laugh.

Especially my sister, she’s a tall giraffe.

 

We are a busy family with many things to do.

Our home is always happy, but sometimes it’s a zoo.

 

Me, I’m as quick as a cheetah,

My ears can hear like a rabbit,

Just like my teacher I am smart,

And everything comes from my heart.

 

My heart is as big as an elephant,

My nose can smell like a bear.

A warning to all who enter our zoo,

You will become an animal, too!


Monyria Harvey attends Mighty Writers Penrose. She is 12 years old in 6th grade at Paul Lawrence Dunbar Promise Academy in North Philadelphia. Monyria enjoys sports, music, and taking care of her family.

Mighty Stars

Mighty Stars

By Shiylah Ayres

 

Gazing at the stars, they feel too far.

And I need bars.

For real, don’t kill the zone just to feel the pain burning in ya soul.

Make space

For the ones that don’t fit,

And let the haters feel the shame.

They will grow like mud in a meadow.

They break the laws like they break windows. BOOM! CRASH!

But whatever, the haters got nothin’ on us.

We are Mighty Stars.  

We don’t always shine bright but we love to help – big or small

People find their ways.

Find their ways so they can stop feeling shame.

So they can be in the circle of love again.

For real, don’t kill the zone, and you will feel the love that’s burning in ya soul.


Shiylah Ayres is a Mighty Writer.

Surroundings

Surroundings

By Evan Croy

Staring at the satisfying blue sky, watching squirrels running about

Attractive roses galore next to the long stretch of sunshine.

Stepping on the bus, driving down that peaceful road…

Tossing toxic chemicals into the air
Spreading throughout the sky like Febreze particles

Tearing apart our atmosphere.

Air is becoming the polluted ocean.

If we don’t change, the air will be trash floating up.
Wondering what it was like 100 years ago;

The stars shone in all their glory at night,

People were free to see and breathe without worry.

Now, some have to breathe through face masks.
Let’s reverse this process and get the air clean,

Bring the carbon monoxide down that’s shattering the ozone layer.

Looking through the window of the bus,

Thinking about making the world a better place.


Evan Croy is in 7th grade in the Perkiomen Valley School District. He enjoys listening to music, playing the saxophone, cooking, and being on the swim team. He lives with his parents, little brother and two guinea pigs. He cares about our environment and hopes others will too.

The Horrors of Humanity

The Horrors of Humanity

by Grace Morrison-Wesley

Silence, eerie silence. Everything seemed still on this cool, foggy, autumn night. I could hear my heartbeat and footsteps practically echoing through the forest, traveling through the brisk air. My ears were tightly tucked back from the cold, pressed against my head. My long, silver hair was flowing behind me, tail swishing in the wind. The sky was oddly clear, other than the low fog that obstructed my vision. It was always raining or cloudy in this part of the forest.

I saw a bright flash of light run past me, narrowly avoiding my tail. Hearing their footsteps approach, I ran faster. I couldn’t let them catch me. I had to warn the rest of my kind. We were strong, brave, and courageous but the monsters caught us by surprise. They had strength in numbers. Billions of them roamed the earth, however, they were rather small and weak. They took their time, tearing each other down instead of working together and that stopped them from being any sort of threat for millenniums. They have proved that times are changing or that they simply grew tired of their peers’ blood.

They had come to my village, at least a hundred of them, sealing all the exits and burning it down. Only about two dozen of us escaped. We had moved out of our primitive ways and settled into small towns eons ago and became peaceful creatures, still capable of fighting, yet we chose not to.

I escaped with my older brother before they caught him and killed him, forcing me to watch him die in my arms. He was coughing up blood while telling me to run from them. “Warn the others. Tell them to be prepared to fight back.”

I howled in anguish, remembering his death as I heard the footsteps getting louder. I had to run faster. I had to warn the others. I had been running for weeks on end without rest, and it was starting to take its toll on me. My stamina, as high as it was, was quickly disappearing. I was tired, hungry, and I desperately needed a rest. It was almost as if my soul was leaving my body. I was thrown into a coughing fit, trying to get enough air into my lungs.

The footsteps were getting louder as they slowly closed the space between us. I couldn’t run any farther, collapsing from exhaustion. I heard a voice.

“Looks like we found her, haven’t we boys.”

“No! Please… No. I haven’t done anything. We haven’t done anything,” I coughed out, tears pouring from my eyes. “Please, I don’t want to die.”

“Lookie Lookie What do we have here,” a monster said. “An idiotic werewolf trying to run. You can’t run forever, you have to pay.”

“For what?” I croaked. “What have and the rest of us done for this massacre of our kind?”

“What have you done?” The monster looked as if he was confused about what I didn’t understand. “Why you exist, of course! We humans have gotten bored of deer, we now hunt werewolves,” he told me before giving me a most sinister grin that would scare the Vampire King himself. “However, I have now said too much. Are you ready to die?”

“Please just let me say my last words. If you must kill me, just leave my kind alone. We have done nothing. NOTHING! –To you or your kind,” I pleaded. “Let the last words of Destiny Howls touch your souls.”

“Well Destiny,” the monster growled. “Those are powerful last words to waste on deaf ears.”

I let out one last howl. One that shook the heavens, hell, and the earth itself. A warning to the supernatural spirits and demons of this world, werewolves and vampires alike. A warning to fight the ones we thought were harmless, for the humans were cruel and would stop at nothing to kill us and wipe us off the earth. Fight back, for a war against the humans had begun. And with that, the humans shot me several times through the heart, killing me.

As the world went dark, I smiled, for I would be avenged.


Grace Morrison-Wesley is 12 years old and in the 7th grade. She goes to J.R Masterman and her favorite subject is art. Grace spends most her free time drawing and reading. Her favorite book series include Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Heroes of Olympus, and The Hunger Games. When she grows up Grace wants to be a veterinarian or an artist.