Student Poetry 

Poems by Leo Peiken

“Why Must?”

Why must the sky,

Be this dusky gray?

Why must it dawn,

This silver cloak,

That sends the earth,

Into a fray,

With its foggy smoke?

Why must you sob,

And flood the streets,

With your somber tears?

Why must you drape,

A blanket on,

All the good that peers,

Through the sunny windows,

On curtains which you donn?

Is it true,

That you enjoy,

The misery,

Of others?

Or is it that,

You help the plants,

And their aching thirst?

But I think not,

I believe you know,

That with the storm,

Will come the rainbow.

“Stones”

I have seen stones,

That once had jagged sides,

With flawed edges,

And rough corners,

That now rest in the riverbed, 

With smooth sides, 

Flawless edges,

And rounded corners.

The rushing water,

Molds them,

Without consent,

Into what it has been taught to believe,

Is acceptable.

The stones that once shouted,

“I am imperfect

And I am beautiful because of it!”

Now sit in an obedient silence,

Mirroring the looks of every stone around them.

I have seen,

Too many smooth sides,

Flawless edges,

And rounded corners.

Coming from the multitude,

Of perfect stones,

I swear I hear,

A faint,

“Save me!”

But what can I do,

To help them?

Every day,

I am pelted by the river too,

But,

I will be,

Even if I am by my lonesome,

 A survivor,

An example perhaps,

With jagged sides,

 With flawed edges,

With rough corners.

And I am beautiful.

“Dove”

I do not call,

To the dove,

Because I think,

It can hear me.

I call to the dove,

Because someone listens,

For want of a peaceful word.

I do not ask for help,

Building a nest,

Because I think,

It can help me.

I ask for help,

Because someone needs,

All they can get.

I do not climb,

Up to its home,

Because I think,

It will teach me.

I climb up the tree,

Because someone thought,

It might have the answer.

So I call,

And I ask for help,

And I climb,

Because my doing so,

Puts hope in someone else.