Chi-Gems Scholarship

Poetry written by Students   

“You Gave Me Wings”   They were haggard things, yes, and second-hand, patched up in places, frayed at the edges. The pure white feathers were ruffled, stained, a little worn, but they were everything you had to give to me.   They were not wrapped in bright, noisy ribbons and bows; they were not presented like the other gifts, in sparkly paper and announced with trumpets. Instead, they were wrapped up carefully in the rough, warm cup of your hands, your gentle fingers. You gave them quietly with just a whisper in my ear and when you breathed on them they fluttered.   All those other gifts, that glittered and shimmered and sang, lost their shine, over the years, and found homes in boxes and in closets and underneath beds. But every day, I took out those wings— I loved them, admired them. Every day, I brought them out with me into the warm sun and every day, they grew a little bigger a little stronger filled with my hope, my love, my memories.   One night, I left them at the window to soak up the starlight and when I awoke they were shimmering and I was strong.   All I hope is that someday you will be walking— perhaps standing on your driveway going out to get the mail, or in your garden pulling up weeds— and a shadow will flash across the sun and you will look up, finally able to see what I’ve done with the wings you gave me.   written by Danielle Myers

1: Sand burns scratches in the sky and I lie on my roof, head in my hands, eyes on the night. Light years away a rebel heart pulses while revolutions are born in the chest of a star. 2: Sometimes he flicks his tongue to the roof of his mouth and rolls the R when he says my name. I doubt he notices that tiny twist but I like his version of me. written by Heather-Marie Larsen ************************ Everyone else had a paper in their hands: A resume, a summation I wielded a large shovel Rusted, grim, splintering On the tip of my shovel Was an enormous mound of shit Gruesome beetles and insects Took turns swimming through the feces Hoards of overgrown flies Buzzed around Inhaling its nauseating aroma Everyone placed their papers upon the dean’s desk I turned my shovel top-down and let shit slide off Plummeting towards polished wood The blast radius was magnificent Cities of books and papers Devoured by the stains of my filth I shot that master of enrollment a guilty glance And then took my seat   Written by Josh Drilling

Stop! Right now. Don’t move, don’t think, and don’t feel. Just listen. Open you’re clogged ears, get a q-tip, and listen…to me. That’s the problem these days, Everyone’s running around in a clouded haze. I’ll tell you right now, we’ve only got one planet, damnit. Let’s not waste it on politicians, beauticians, and superstitions.   Children suffer from world hunger, and we’re not getting any younger. What’s with this Botox, blonde curly locks, looking like a fox…that was hit by a car Rap, crap, frap…achino. Seven dollars for a coffee at Starbucks?! What the- trucks! Polluting the Earth. Crude oil, turmoil, wasted soil. We’ve only got one planet, damnit.   I’m so sick of the Bushes and the Clintons; I just want a candidate I can believe in. What does democracy look like? THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE! What does democracy sound like? THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY SOUNDS LIKE! Let’s just end this war, I don’t want people to hurt anymore.  Because we’ve only got one planet, damnit.   It seems to me like everyone’s falling into that big black hole, The one filled with sex, drugs & rock and roll. The youth is going crazy and their parents are just so lazy.. Babies at seventeen, oh I wish you could have seen, All the chaos, massive loss, you’re not the boss, Of me, her, him. No one’s going to win. But we’ve only got one planet, damnit.   Look out that window of opportunity; tell me, what do you see?   written by Kaitie O'Hare