Poetry

"Times We Had" by Jack Dunlap

Sleep becomes restless as I lie awake

Dreaming of the day we could escape

To hang out with friends on the daily

Circles my head lately

Stores are closed

And yet to open

Time has slowed

And clocks are frozen

Boredom has become my worst enemy

There's no way to fight it Independently

Reminiscing about the times

When we were free

Looking for a sign to our safety

To walk the halls will be missed

Still our friendships will long exist

Staying inside is all I can do

Waiting for the day I can hang out with you

I named my poem “Times we had” because it tells a statement that we are missing the times we used to have when nothing was difficult. A time when we could just sit around and have fun. However, now we are trapped in our houses looking forward to the day when we are released from quarantine and can hang out with friends as well as everything opening up again. My poem relates to the pandemic because speaking on behalf of many people, I can say that we are all missing when we could hang out daily. I chose to do a poem because I feel a poem really expresses many emotions and deeper meanings. The line, “Dreaming of a day we could escape” shows a meaning of the want people are experiencing during this time in that we all share a common dream of “escaping” our houses and going outside without any precautions. You may not understand this line just from looking at it but with a topic of this pandemic and being in quarantine you will understand what I am trying to escape. One inspiration I have is from a song called “Times we had” by Barlito that came out in April. It may not have the same message as my poem but I took this line and created my own meaning of it. Another inspiration I took to write this poem was how it is relatable with others which is also what I hope the audience will get out of this. Overall, I hope others can relate to this poem and find others who are feeling the same emotions as others and relate to each other. This is why I wrote the poem “Times we had.”

"Isolation" by Lib Domingo

I lay by myself on my couch

Like a prisoner in a cell

I’ve lost all motivation to accomplish anything

I have become a robot

The motions are muscle memory by now

I live the exact same day, everyday

I am stuck inside a time-loop and cannot escape

My mind has been gone for too long

Human interaction is now a figment of my imagination

Ah how I long see other people

I look forward to the day sunlight hits the surface of my face

The day that I can see my friends

When these quarantine shackles are released

And I will truly be free

This poem is the pure incarnation of my emotions and feelings being put into words. These are raw and unfiltered emotions being put into this poem. I hope this poem is very relatable to many others experiencing the same thing as me. The amount of boredom and feelings of isolation have been very rampant, especially recently. Many of my other friends would very much agree.

"Waiting for my Sunshine" by Hailey Stutzman

Everything stopped in the world,

Its like all the lights went out,

Everything silent, all colors gone, just shades of gray,

It was like music was suddenly turned off,

Families together, friends apart,

Everyone went inside, and on that, I went further in,

The days void of color, of music, of light,

Little by little, it felt like my oxygen was taken away,

My freedom, which I never realized gone,

All the small things that added up to the definition of me - and what fed me everyday,

The hallway chats, the lunch room jokes, the classroom banter,

Being seen, being felt. Being surrounded by friends,

Dutch bro walks, lunches dates with friends, sleepovers, shopping,

All the little things, taken away,

I slept walked through days, weeks, then months waiting for the reopenings,

It felt lonely, sad, empty, angry,

The reopening took time, like tiny sprinkles of rain trickling in, teasing at a larger storm,

Then it came,

In small tiny doses,

The lights starting to come back on, the music quiet, but turning up,

It felt like sunshine seeing my friends, going places, even just around the block,

Seeing my friends in color, revived me,

Seeing the laugh line and dimples on Ellie, hearing in person Sophie’s laugh, feeling the warmth of Maddie.

The color started to brighten.

The me, reopening too.

I named my poem "Waiting for the Sunshine" because of the comparison I made to seeing my friends and the light of the sun. My piece is connected to the pandemic because it shows my deep thoughts and emotions on how I was feeling being alone. I chose to write a poem because I feel poems are more powerful than a paragraph. Poems are words that are put together to tell a story but also leave a reader thinking. My inspiration for my poem was all my emotions, I felt my words are powerful and would make a good poem. I would want my audience to see how important my friends are to me, me comparing my friends to my light in my life shows how important they are to me.

"Disease" by Anonymous

When crocodiles gather it’s known as a congregation

As if their meetings resemble those of sunday churchgoers,

With vultures it's an unkindness, like they were somehow kind in solitude.

But crows assemble for nothing short of a murder.

Death stalks here;

the tarring killings of enough congregations and unkindnesses to become the death of a god.

Lonely crows, their stitched beaks and glass eyes… Unsettling.

Those beaks, stuffed with nonsense,

for the sweet smell of flora and pockets full of posies would not keep them from all falling down.

Their cloaks of thin plumage,

paranoia says they should bathe in wax

(perhaps the deathly disease could not reach them through the lustrous so thick they suffocate.)

They are so beautifully unaware of the black already crawling over the flesh beneath their feathers.

This poem is supposed to represent the Coronavirus, obviously. It's called the Black Death, honoring the plague which I am comparing to the Coronavirus. With the many deaths, the mass spread, and the fear of the pandemic was reminding me of the same pandemic in England in 1348. I love poetry and though I may not be the best at it, I chose to write a poem to portray what I really thought about the pandemic; a poem felt more intimate. I hope the audience looks at this and is reminded about how devastating the plague was and how the Coronavirus could possibly get worse. From this, I mean, I just want people to grasp that this is serious and we should be careful.

"A poem for essential health care workers" by Robbie Canoy

My grandmother's experience with essential health care workers. A fireman arrives at my grandmother's house dressed in a white hazmat suit. My grandma says to him oh boy your cute. We rolled her out in a wheelchair. To transfer her into their care. The ambulance worker transfers her on the gurney. She then begins her journey. She then arrives at the emergency room. Where she spots a flower in bloom. The nurse then takes her back for the exam. Ma’am we need to run some tests so just lay here and rest. She then is admitted into the hospital. Where she will be monitored by the amazing staff that is on call. They then decide to send her home under the care of home health. They work to build up herself but unfortunately hospice is called to help. My loving grandmother decided to end her journey. By going home to our heavenly kingdom. My grandmother passed away on a Wednesday under the amazing care of essential health workers. I will forever be grateful for the care they provided.

I chose this title because these are people helping individuals on the front lines. It relates to the pandemic because the essential health workers are putting their lives in danger by helping people treat the virus. I thought it would be fun and it's helping me try something out of my comfort zone. My own grandma was fighting cancer during this pandemic and many health care workers helped her. I hope my audience understands how important the health workers are and the sacrifices they make.

"Bored" by Ryan Young

Bored

Boredom is a vibrant red

It taste like chalk

It sounds like the silent clamor of a crowd

And smells like sweet and chips

I named it Bored because I’m bored. In this pandemic almost everything is either shut down or has an uncomfortable silence to it, which is boring to watch people who looks so sad all the time. I got this idea from staring at the ceiling and thinking of how boring it seemed. I hope the people that read this will know how boring the world is right or at least for now anyways.

"Everyday" by Austin Wolfe

Everyday I wake up in gloom

Knowing that it's another day spent in my room

I look out my window seeing people doing tasks

When all I see are masks

I always have a time where I miss baseball

Which is not fun at all

I look at a screen everyday with work like this

But I know I can't miss

Why is it that one person had to bring what we did not want

Which means I wont see my aunt

I hope that one day I will see my school

And will act like a fool

I hope that One Day I will see my teammates

And go lift some weights

I hope that One Day we will see the good again

And I will see happy men and women

I hope that one day I will wake up knowing that this is Everyday

"Just a Dream" by Rhys Roberts

I had been locked inside all day and all night. For the past 2 months, I went to bed hoping that somewhere someone could hear me. I wanted it to end. I craved the life I once had, stolen from me like candy from a baby.

I imagined all of the fun things I could do. Outside of the cage I was locked in. Why did this happen to me? Me? Was it all just a dream? Maybe I had been here before. Maybe I have been here the whole time.

These are just thoughts, right? Hopes. Things that had been pushed inside my brain like some sort of sick mind control. I had never truly experienced anything in my life, and now I may never have that chance.

It all just felt like a dream. I tried to sleep so hard. Tried to get these thoughts out of my head but they never left. Was this the plan all along? How did it start? How will it end?

Am I dreaming?

I named the poem the way I did because this whole experience, with the pandemic, feels like one big dream. It’s just hard to even know what’s happening anymore, news moves so fast. I chose to submit this response because I wanted to capture my thoughts about the pandemic in an artistic and dramatic way. I wanted to show the doubts and questions one might have during the pandemic. My inspiration for this poem was some of my thoughts and dreams, and what’s going on currently with the pandemic. I hope my audience will get a poem that shows them that it’s okay to doubt, to have strange thoughts, and to question yourself. I didn’t want to directly mention the pandemic so that it could relate to a wider variety of events.

"Pandemic" by Kailas McDonald

Isolation, so many dealing with this frustration.

Missing our friends, waiting for this pandemic to come to an end.

The new normal, staying home,but knowing in all this chaos we are not alone.

Everyone dealing, trying to sort through all the feelings.

We are ready for brighter days, time to be rid of this pandemic haze.

I decided to write a poem for my Pandemic time capsule creative expression project. The title of my poem is Pandemic, I felt there was no better title for what it was about. I named it Pandemic because that is exactly what we are going through. My piece is directly related to the pandemic because it is what we are all experiencing globally. I chose a poem because I feel like it is direct and explains the situation without going into long details. My inspiration was my mom, she loves to write and poetry is one of her favorites, so I thought I would give it a shot. My hopes are that my audience will feel directly connected to the words and they can relate and understand that we are all in this together.

"The Absence of Normality" by Lola Henrie

Wind howling through the empty cities,

questions of the future looming over heads

Tears fall to cope, to cry, to vent,

worldwide we all share one thing; loss.

Of future, of company, of health of happiness

Fear rises and crashes in waves

As the world becomes a battlefield of words

United in a beautiful, scary way

I named it the absence of Normality because that is how I truly felt at the time when I first wrote this. Everything that I was looking forward to was taken from me and there was so much fear and uncertainty worldwide. My piece connects to the pandemic because I tried to illustrate how I see the world right now. I wanted to show the worldwide feel and try to make the reader aware of how strange and eire today's world feels. I chose to submit this response because I feel like it’s different from the other responses I wrote, I feel like I expressed myself the most. I also like using description and imagery in my writing and I felt this was a good way to do it. My inspiration was really how I personally was feeling. I was also trying to channel what I think everyone was thinking and feeling especially in the beginning. I want my audience to really feel how we all were feeling from the beginning. I want them to feel how different the world was and how scared we all were. I want them to feel the absence of normality and comfort.

"Corona" by Riley Wilson

Can the word go back to normal after this?

Our schools are shut down.

Ruining everything

Often wearing masks.

No more hanging out with friends.

Are we ever gonna go back to normal?

"A day in the life of a nurse" by Megan Nguyen

Help patients in need

Working day shift or night shift

In a hospital

A code being called

Running to the room to help

The patient is fine

Noise down from the hall

Family come to visit

The patient is happy

The shift is over

Telling the nurse the update

Leave my work behind

Coming back to work

Getting the new updates

Seeing my patient

"Then, Now, Later" by Cody Johnson

Long Nights Keep me Awake

Waiting for an End to this Quarantined Break

Boredom is not a friend but foe

But yet it seeks and still it grows

Everyday we have to join zoom calls

Reminiscing about the time we walked the school halls

Can't wait for summer to begin

For 3 months of celebration

When I can relax with friends

Until summer's end

Then hopefully we'll be back in school

Where we'll think it's boring and cruel

I called it Then Now, Later because it's about how I'm feeling about the quarantine, and how I felt before the quarantine and the future. This connects to the pandemic because it's about the quarantine and how it affected my life and it's making me rethink the school year. I chose this type of response because I feel like poems go further then stories do. They are more fun to read and just look at. I also chose it because I enjoy making poems and I always like to see how the ryhmes turn out. My inspiration was my friend who also was writing a poem. And he inspired me, he looked so intrigued and it really wanted me to follow what he had done. I hope my audience will get joy out of reading this poem, but also get out a story. That they can connect to and relate too.

"Dream" by Brian Johnson

Not everything turns out to be what you seem, you always told to do the right things, but sometimes it goes against your dream

Stay home, stay inside, too many people are getting the virus and dying.

My dream isn't to be at home, my dream is to be on the field, playing with my family.

I was told never to take advantage, but what about my goals and dreams, shouldn't I take advantage of every opportunity?

The virus might be big, but my dreams are bigger. I must take every opportunity during this virus to make myself better

One step ahead, one cut above, in the end, winning comes at a cost

A sacrifice must be made, to achieve dreams, it's what you let go which helps determine how high you fly

Is it worth it, are sacrifices worth the great reward? Selfishness is an often word called when trying to achieve dreams

You might be so caught up, you try to see only what you want to see. People see you as the person who only cares about themselves. For their own benefits.

Is there a way to a dream without getting someone hurt? Or is it a testament you sign. Once you go for your dreams, it always will come at a cost.

I guess in order to succeed, you must learn personal sacrifice, to realize how to accomplish your goals.

Be realistic, they say. Find something that you can actually reach. If it means that I have to reach for the stars, Then you'd best know that I will shoot for the stars.

What if the thing I dream, is to inspire others to be big and bold.

People always look up to others they say “I want to be like you” I want to be the first me, not the next you

Picture your dream, resting in the palm of your hand. Keep it safe, and let your heart take command

Your life is like a ladder as your reach for your dream, there is only one direction to go and that's up, up to the top.

I’ve noticed that if you are not willing to do the work, your dreams will not work.

You can lose a million times, but you will still be better than the ones who quit.

Dedication and hard work is the only thing you need to be successful. If you have those two things, anything is possible.

Messi rose to the top, not because of his lucky ability, but because of his dedication

After practice would end. Messi would stay on the field, to keep practicing. While the rest of his team went home and began relaxing

Many things will try to slow you down, and to stop your ability to succeed.

Messi was diagnosed with a growing disability at the age of 11, he’s now 32 years old and destroys people and he's only 5’7’’.

Anything is possible, and everyone can succeed, but it all starts with just a dream.

I named my little poem “Dream” because after quarantine began, I really thought of how I was not taking advantage of my full potential and that if I want to accomplish my dream. I actually have to fight harder than the rest. I never took advantage of the time with my friends and team where I would put in work to get better and ever since quarantine. I've been thinking more and wanting to do more than I have previously done, if I want to achieve my goal, I have to work hard. I guess using a poem could express what I feel better than things like a letter or a short story. I'm known for being one of the small kids on my soccer team and Messi inspires me and teaches me that even if you are smaller, that doesn't mean anything and that you can still accomplish your goals. If you are given opportunities, make sure you take them and reach for your goals.

"Isolation" by Sofia Montero

Isolation by Sofia Montero

"Overall everything is different" by Hannah Wold

Overall everything is different

People have changed

The Us has changed

The world has changed

I’ve changed, and I’m sure you have too.

For good and worse we are all different now

We’ve lost things and gained things.

People

Environment

Brains

People are wanting out

The Environment is blooming

And our brains our failing.

"A Small World" by David Oh

Silence, only the buzz of bees and the chirping of birds

Closed from society, stuck in a place called home.

Clock dings at 10, everybody comes down for breakfast

The blue sky overhead as the sun starts to rise chasing the moon away

Clock dings at 3, they rush down like a march, like its a routine

Sun high above, shines down only to see there’s nobody to give a shadow

Clock dings at 7, sun sets on the house

Doors open, footsteps heard and everybody ready to eat

Only to return to their own rooms, waiting till tomorrow

Waitng and waiting, until when?

The title is “A Small World”. I named it the way I did because the poem below portrays a family that doesn’t go outside at all, almost trapped in the house as if that house is their small “world”. My piece connects to the pandemic because most people are isolated in their homes and unable to go outside as the law enforces us to make limited to no connection/contact with others. I chose to make a poem because I thought it would be better for me as I made poems last year for creative writing. My inspiration was my notebook that I put all of my poems in. I hope the audience can get a glimpse of what a family can go through in this pandemic, a lonely and boring life.

"My time in quarantine" by Tyler Berg

The three months have been boring.

There has been lots of sleeping and snoring.

I haven't been able to leave home.

And that means that I can't roam.

I have spent most of my time on video games.

My mom claims that I am on it too much but I disagree.

Throughout the months I have leveled up 87 times.

I have played video games since I was in my prime.

I miss my friends.

That is the main reason that I want quarantine to end.

I love my family but I like to be able to go outside and see people.

I miss going to a restaurant.

And being able to get a croissant.

I miss being outside.

Everything is shut down.

Quarantine hit everywhere worldwide.

I think everyone is ready to move on with their lives.

Business owners have had a struggle.

But I think we will be able to build everything back to the way it was once quarantine is over.

"Quarantine Days" by Ali Montz

The beginning of a new day spent at home

We are locked inside with only family

Any trip to the store brings worry of sickness

I wonder how they are doing, all the friends

I can’t see because of social distancing

Lives on hold on account of the pandemic

It’s causing too much havoc, this pandemic

Some disregard the threat, and don’t stay at home

Many jobs become harder while distancing

But parents still provide for their family

We miss being able to be with our friends

Tensions are high with news about more sickness

I hope we escape the danger of sickness

Nothing lasts forever, not the pandemic

Nor the fear, not even the absence of friends

Hope can still be found, even while staying home

Through it all, we are always a family

Who will tough it out no matter the distance

We’re told to stay inside and social distance

Anxiety threatens with thoughts of sickness

There is no way to protect my family

Who will remain after the pandemic?

I am protecting myself by staying home

But are the people I care about? My friends?

I battle boredom by talking with my friends

But it doesn’t always work with the distance

In between us. I’ve done everything at home

Netflix is addicting, like its own sickness

Sherlock has been my show of the pandemic

I’ve watched twice, now again with my family

Days spent playing board games with my family

Laughing about little things with old friends

I’ve reconnected with in the pandemic

Fewer awkward exchanges when distancing

We see humanity endure through sickness

And stay positive with threats so close to home

We stay home in a house filled with family

The threat of sickness makes it hard to talk to friends

Social distancing is life in pandemic

For my creative piece, I chose to write a sestina poem. A sestina consists of six stanzas each with six lines and a final stanza, called and envoi, with three lines. Each line has to end with one of six chosen words, which follows a formula to rotate them. For this project, I knew I wanted to do some form of writing. Poetry has never been my strong-suit, but the feel of poetry seems to fit the times. It has the ability to shift from uplifting to melancholy in just a few short lines. There are multiple sides to news about the pandemic, some parts are positive and others can bring worry or fear. We have to learn to take the good with the bad, and I think poetry has the ability to reflect that. I named my piece Quarantine Days. To give myself a direction, I decided on sub-topics for each stanza: my feelings on the situation, how others are reacting, hope, fear, being bored, and what brings joy. For each section, I brainstormed what could fit into it, then how to phrase it using one of the words. What I described in my poem are feelings that anyone could have on a daily basis. I hope anyone that reads this will see my range of emotions, and find similarities between their thoughts and mine. Quarantine is physically keeping people apart, but humanity has the ability to become closer than ever, and it all starts with empathising with, and understanding each other.

"Our New Reality" by Natalie Namdar

March 11, 2020 it was announced there was a National Pandemic called the Novel Coronavirus,

It was a disease that affected all of us.

Schools were cancelled and we wouldn't return,

Earning a pass or incomplete online is how we would learn.

Social distancing from each other became the new way,

People wearing masks and gloves were here to stay.

First no large groups then no gatherings of 10 or more,

Panic to buy essentials (especially toilet paper) was seen in every store.

Wash your hands a minimum of 20 seconds and don’t touch your face,

Tape on store floors to remind people that 6ft from each other is the recommended space.

No graduation, wedding, vacation or any other event,

Quarantine at home doing puzzles and playing with my dog is what that meant.

Front line workers became heroes to us,

Especially since the virus was very contagious.

Non-essential businesses and stores were closed for some time,

Working from home and using Zoom to communicate would be just fine.

Restaurants could only provide orders to go,

How many would remain open we wouldn’t know.

How quickly our world became so strange,

Time to reflect how precious family is during this change.

The title that I gave my poem was “Our New Reality” I named my poem this because everything I wrote about in the poem are things that we have been experiencing and living through the past couple months. My poem connects to the pandemic because it explains how the pandemic is affecting us and what changes we have had to make in our daily lives. I chose to submit this type of response because I thought it was a great way to show how our lives have changed and by doing a poem, I could include facts about the pandemic to reflect on what we have been going through. My inspiration throughout writing this poem was to show others that our world has changed drastically and I did this by thinking about what has changed in my life and looking up facts such as washing your hands a minimum of 20 seconds and not touching your face. I hope that after reading my poem, the audience will realize that you shouldn’t take anything for granted because your reality could change in the blink of an eye and some things that you took for granted in your life are things that you’re missing right now.

"OUR VOICE" by Anna Kim

Another black man down

From the white supremacy crown

Protestors fill the street

When will black and white peacefully meet

Centuries have gone by

Still nothing but the people's cry

Who is the good who is the bad

The fact that we can longer tell is really quite sad

Police officers, we trusted to uphold the law

Again and again, black blood in their hands is all we ever saw

Black people live in fear

Constantly from the whites in gear

Children being pepper-sprayed

Covid-19 being nothing but first aid

I pray to the Lord

Protect us from the devil’s unwavering sword

Bring love to one another

Become each other’s sisters and brother

Until we learn to accept diversity and difference

People of the world will not stay in silence

Trump thinks tear gas and rubber bullets will make protestors scatter

But that doesn’t matter, for we are all in this together

BLACK LIVES MATTER!

The title of my poem is, OUR VOICE because with everything happening in the world and society, the voices of citizens still aren’t being heard. Instead, it’s being ignored and the government is resulting in violence to the PEACEFUL protests. Society is led by example, and the example the people of the law are showing is that it’s okay if a black man dies in the hands of a white police officer. The police officers aren’t receiving punishment or justice. Now all of a sudden the worst punishment is being fired. ANOTHER person of color lost their lives from the ignorance of accepting diversity into the selfish lives of others. And other officers in the scene of the crime did nothing but stay in silence. Silence will do nothing but encourage the bad behavior to continue. I chose to choose this topic of protesting and black lives matter because I am a Christian and therefore help those who need it. If I can help in any way, then what’s stopping me from doing it? I am choosing not to be a bystander to all this violence and hatred. But to bring the importance of black lives. Yes, all lives do matter, but the lives that are struggling the most, day to day living in fear, anger, sadness, is black people. Something I hope people would get out of reading my poem is to not stay silent and to share their voices on this matter. Together we can overcome all things as people who are united and loyal to each other. Color and race shouldn’t be living with different circumstances or chances but should be valued and given the same opportunities to those who are not of color. We need to learn about diversity, and culture because it’s beautiful and vibrant.

"+Outside" by Khadijah Wright

Overwhelmed by the same thing every morning,

Under my blankets, I lay with these

Thinned out memories of what's beyond the box.

Sleep, wake up, eat, sleep, wake up, eat, and then sleep again.

Idle,

Divided.

Endlessly waiting for our next visit Outside…

I named my piece ‘OUTSIDE’ because it was the word I used to make this poem. My piece connects to the pandemic by capturing the feeling we have when we stay inside for too long, and the feeling of waiting for an eternity. I believe I’ve made about 4-5 other poem drafts and I liked this one the most out of the drafts I’ve written. The style made it easy for me to express my thoughts. Half of the inspiration was pulled from the song “Our Summer” by TXT, and the other half of the inspiration came from how I felt at the moment. When others read this poem I hope they feel some kind of connection to it like I did or feel something different and more personal. Everyone experiences things differently and that should be the right state of mind when seeing my poem.

"Slump" by Jenna Jung

Same day Same night

Everything repeating over and over

An uneasy life that we live

They say everything is possible when young

But why is it so hard now

I see a bridge in front of me

So far to see the end

I walk and I run

I see a long way to go but to only remain in the same place

Is this a puzzle that I have to solve

The tomorrow that we are waiting for

Becomes the name of today

Today becomes yesterday and yesterday becomes our past

Life isn’t about living along but to live through

Because someday it will also become the past

We wish for a better tomorrow but what’s the point when no one listens

I chose to name my poem Slump because I thought it would be a perfect name to explain the poem in one word. This piece of poem connects to the pandemic because there are many kids out there struggling to find a pathway for their future. During their struggles, they will end up in a slump and have a hard time getting out. I got this idea from my parents because they were having some difficulties with their work. Due to the coronavirus, everyone had to stay home to avoid interactions that are not beneficial to restaurants and cafes. This has had a significant amount of damage to our family business financially, which has caused my parents to struggle. Also, my grandpa in Korea is not very healthy right now and we’re not able to visit him because of the coronavirus. When reading this poem, I want the audience to think that it is best to get out of the slump quickly and wake up. Staying in a slump for a long time won’t help your future and from what I know expecting someone to help you is not going to work but to rely on yourself. I hope the audience that reads this will know the message of this poem.

"The Dream" by Anonymous

I have a dream

I have a dream i'll stand up on a stage

I have a dream one day my words and music will have a positive impact on people

I had a dream to stand on stage and change peoples lives

That dream go crushed

Peoples words broke me down

They said i'd never get there

I have the best dream in the world but it will never be reality

This dream is so bold and happy thrilling

But it'll never happen

My own family's words breaking me down every second

I just wanna perform

I wanna change lives

Effect young people in a positive way like my music has done me

My dream is that I'll perform on stage in front of millions of people. I want to have a effect on others like the artist that I listen to do on me. I wanna save a life. I wanna make a kid realize they don't have to cut and self harm. Make them feel safe like they have a family. To every kid who felt like an outcast or a loser unloved or replaced. I wanna do that for people cuz thats what my music did for me. It made me realize I wasn't alone and I made a family out of the people who liked the music. I went to concerts, made friends, created a loving family. That's what my dream is. It always will be and always has been and no one's going to change that.

"The Quiet" by Jason Boswell

I walk by the park

The playground stays quiet and still

How much longer I thought

I wrote a haiku called The Quiet. I named it this way because when I did actually walk by the playground, it was the quiet that stood out to me. My piece connects to the pandemic because one of the first things states did was shut down playgrounds and the six feet apart policy. The area I live in has a very high number of children, and the playgrounds are never empty. Me, having three younger siblings, can't wait for my brothers to be able to go out again. I chose haiku because I know that I am not good at writing long meaningful pieces of literature, so I wanted to write something short that still carried a lot of meaning. I instinctively knew a haiku was the way to do it. Something that I got into the habit of doing was taking a walk everyday for a while. One day I wasn’t listening to music as I usually do and I realised that it was silent. Not even the wind blew. And the one thing that stood out the most was that the playground was silent. Which at the time I didn't think about much. I hope that the audience will read this and maybe experience that moment of quiet that I had while remembering this moment, ask themselves about the reality of this situation as well.

"Quaran(teen)" by Blake Reinholtz

Quarantine as a teenagers blows

The struggle everyone knows

No friends in sight

I stay up till 3 am every night

No sports here or there

I can’t even cut my own hair

Everyday on zoom

Man, I miss the school lunchroom

Corona has us in fear

But so what, summer is near

Remember stay 6 feet away

Unless you want Corona to stay

Minorities suffering with police brutality

2020 feels like an alternate reality

Fly high George Floyd

Riots in his name causing buildings to be destroyed

Stress and anxiety fills my mind

Hopefully this is not the end of mankind

Being in quarantine making me feel scared and alone

Mostly because the future of 2020 is unknown

I titled my poem quaren(teen) because it shows how a teen/myself is going through quarantine. My poem connects to the pandemic because it shows what's happening right now and what we're missing out on in the world. It touched on the current event of “black lives matter.” I chose to do a poem because it’s the best way in my opinion to show what's happening right now and show my emotions. My inspiration is feelings and thoughts going through my mind during this pandemic. I hope my audience will see the similarities between the poem and their own life right now.

"Caged" by Kaia Miller

Been trapped inside like a caged animal

Struggling to breathe, no fresh air insight

Suffocating, I’m not adaptable

Up late, not even realizing it’s night

Masks but not to hide who they truly are

They are hiding from what’s in between us

Can’t hug our loved ones, only talk from afar

Stay inside there is nothing to discuss

That is what quarantine is all about

The whole world just waiting to be let out

I titled my poem Caged because this isolation has made me both mentally and physically feel like this. Not being able to leave my house has been stressful and has been harmful to not be able to see people and interact the way we all used to. I chose to submit a poem because I believed that it would express my feelings and thoughts the clearest this way. My inspiration was mostly how I feel and observing my friends and family to see how they are reacting to being home all day. I hope that the audience will get out how lonely quarantine has been and how much this has affected all of us both mentally and physically.

"I Liked Normal Before It Was Cool" by Holden Phillips

Covid-19

Extensive, Lame

Restricting, Spreading, Hard going

Online School, Regular School

Easy Going, living, Exceeding

Free, Awesome

Normal

I named it “I liked Normal Before it was Cool,” because most people didn’t like “Normal” before Covid, “Normal” being what we did before Covid. Like going to school or like having to go places you didn’t want to go to or stuff like that. Now that Covid is here, everyone likes “Normal,” and wishes for “Normal” to be the new normal. But as of right now the normal is Covid. I liked “Normal” when it was normal. “I liked Normal Before it was Cool.” My poem is about how almost everyone wanted Normal to not be normal. And they got their wish. But it actually made it harder and worse. And now people are wishing for the Normal back, remembering how much better it was compared to Covid. I chose to do a poem, because I feel like I could really express how I feel about all this in just a few words (compared to writing a paragraph or two). I also didn’t feel like writing a whole paragraph, but that’s besides the point. Another reason I chose to do a poem is because I’m not very artistic, so I decided that this was the best path for me to go down. My inspiration to write what I did, was through how I feel and think about this and how others do as well. I hope that the audience will recognize that a lot of people wished for a new normal and got it. So what I’m trying to say is that we need to stop wishing so much and be more grateful for what we got. And if we want something, we gotta work for it.

"Untitled" by TJ Wu

I wake up knowing my day will be a struggle

Because i am constantly getting in trouble

I’m wishing i could go outside

But COVID is the downside

I want to hangout with friend

But that could potentially put our lives to an end

I want to at least have good times

So i'm learning video game design

This pandemic has been one hell of a time

Can't wait for the lockdown to end it will be sublime

"Life of a Teenager During A Pandemic" by Gabriel Ochoa

It started off so far away,

Like something we didn’t have to fear.

It was a joke, a meme,

We didn’t have to worry about it here.

Then it happened, it was in the states,

It seemed so close to home.

We still felt safe, we didn’t worry,

No one knew how far it would roam.

When it reached our city, it didn’t seem real,

Like a scene of a movie.

Everyone was scared, everyone was fearful,

But our parents told us we didn’t have to worry.

Then they cancelled school,

At first it wasn’t a big deal.

It was a quick break, nothing major,

We weren’t sure how to feel.

But as time went on everything changed,

Boredom set in and we started to get lonely.

The days go longer with nothing to do,

Time seemed to move so slowly.

We started to miss our friends, our parents were scared,

Distance learning had us all overwhelmed.

Everything seemed so foreign,

Like we were in an alternate realm.

Things are slowly getting back to normal,

Things are much less depressing.

It seems like we’re moving forward,

Instead of regressing.

We lived through a pandemic,

Not a lot of people can say that.

Hopefully soon,

We will get our lives back.

I wrote a poem for my written expression for my Pandemic Time Capsule and I gave it the name, Life of a Teenager During the Pandemic because this poem not only represents how I feel about this pandemic but how most of my peers feel about this current situation in the world. My piece connects to the pandemic in multiple ways referencing many subjects and problems the pandemic brought to families and citizens today. I chose to submit this type of response because it was an easy thing to do since poems are simple and I had a lot to talkabout for the pandemic. My inspiration came from the news telling everyone that we are slowly going to open back up Oregon. What I want people to pull from my poem is that whatever your going through currently is what everyone else is going so you aren’t alone.

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