Badgerblog

The cutting board that never lost its smell
The cast iron pans that gave my world flavor
Those rough hands that made my eggs so perfect

My dog days and scraped knees
My mud pies and dirty feet
My broken legs or future fears
She sat me down with open ears

Jared, eleventh grade, Del Valle High School

I walk the darkened streets
only to meet vagrants and beggars
who I take pity on, when few
will take pity on myself.

Though ACL booms loud,
Congress, well-lit after the twilight hour,
still has its crowd;
with electricals coursing

____and bringing power
to small coffee shops, I wander
about the smell of Java and fresh cigarettes
in the air, while I wonder
why this town is so wonderful.

____And it hits me:
Because this is the domain
in which creativity isn’t squandered
but fostered in the darker rooms,
the shadowed theaters where writers loom.

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Sitting in the
sky, waiting for
nightfall when
all the bright
stars are out
you can see
me hanging with
them in the
cool night air
you can feel
my glow isn’t
it comforting to
know I’m always
watching over you
when you least
expect it isn’t
it comforting to
know I’m always
watching making
sure you have
everything you need
I make sure
the waves you
surf are nice
and high
so you don’t
have to sit
and cry while
I soothe your
soul even after
you go inside.

Jory, tenth grade, Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Anything
red
forbidden fruit
tears
the inside of a womb.

Nitra, eleventh grade, Del Valle Opportunity Center

Photo © fedgrafo.

Ur legs that look
like they belong 2 a
chicken. Ur legs that
need more meat
on ya’ bones. Ur
short but long legs
that don’t have no
kind of hair on them.
Ur I need 2 join the
track team legs. Ur
thighs as skinny as
tooth picks. Ur dark
black-looking legs.
Ur legs that don’t
really take up that
much space in the
car legs, you know,
the same ones that
will stand up for your
older sisters when
we’re injured legs.

Amber, seventh grade, Del Valle Middle School

“Soon, my darling,” the pumpkin whispered
as a candle flickered within it, “Soon.”

Fall leaves whirled with the flow of music
like fish in a pond or birds in a flock.

The October vines
keep me trapped like spider webs.

How the color orange covers
the pumpkin is how the feeling covered
my body
like scarecrows covered by black-winged birds.

Tell me, how will I look at you
when morning comes?

Collaborative poem from Del Valle Opportunity Center

* * *

Every fall and spring, Badgerdog solicits and publishes occasional poems from its students. This poem by the students at Del Valle Opportunity Center was one of our Halloween favorites. Congratulations!

Stay tuned for the winning poem on Friday.

It looks like a metal snake I had to tame. It
hissed electric guitar chords, and I liked how
it sounded so I didn’t stop. It had a sour
smell and tasted poisonous. I got the feeling
it was telling me to stop but I was
testing it to see how far I could push before
this venomous reptile would bite me. I was
scared and excited at the same time, kind of
like listening for the lottery numbers late at
night, scared you might lose but excited
there’s a possibility you might win.
When I was done I heard cheering, as if
I’d won a staring contest with death, looking
him dead in the eye, his cold black eyes.

Angel, eighth grade, Del Valle Middle School

I remember the church bell at six
When my dog howled on cue, and
I remember that big old dog and the big old witch
Who changed my life forever.
The little thugs in the pharmacy
Who pelted me with water balloons.
They even used a cannon.
The fountain of Lauma with strange magical powers,
The deep secrets of the jungle,
Where relaxation and desperation are the same.
The poor streets of Lurigancho, where
You wouldn’t go after 8 unless
You wanted to get jumped by ex-cons.
I remember “Negros y Cholos”
(don’t freak out: it was a restaurant).
The President of the Republica de Peru (actually Japan)
Who was the reason for me being there.
Professors Carlos y Gladys,
The only teachers who broke me.
The mountains of El Altiplano
Where even an eagle gets air-sickness
(don’t laugh: it’s so cold up there, you can’t even pee).
I remember the day great-grandma died,
The only time I actually cried.
I remember the challenges I face today,
And every time I face them, I remember
All these memories and laugh
(please remind me of these the day I get married).

Jhon, eleventh grade, Del Valle High School

I am a wall.

I am sandy goat wandering on a beach lying on my back. I am a wall that closes in on everyone’s secrets. I am a toad on a rod and a road on a boat. I am a wild roadrunner hidden in the bushes while the sandy goat is flat on his back.

Viki, high school, TSBVI

And so a storm rolls in,
in the sky
and in my mind,
where I find
even God cries
for the unhappiness
of a wayward son.

Vaughan, eleventh grade, St. Michael’s Catholic Academy