YASiERA GOWDY
10TH GRADE
THIS PLACE
There is this place where you feel everything goes by so fast. You blink once, and you
miss everything. The sun and the moon, they both seem to fade away. Then, you hear
a mother telling her kids to go and play. There are stars. They twinkle one by one, and
you try to count them all but before you’ve finished, you think, That’s enough. There are
some hugs and kisses and a couple of goodbyes. Others say hello, and the airplanes that
fly overhead seem to make pictures in the clouds. Do you ever look up and say, Wow?
Trucks that honk and cars that beep and buses that drive on these smooth sheets that
we call streets. Sure, there’s crying and whining and faces that look upset. The things
you see can be overwhelming, but there is nothing better than looking out your very
own window.
HPAC YOUNG WRITERS REVIEW
VILMA FERMIN
12TH GRADE
sheltering them from the streets
“Let us pick up our pencils and books.
They are our most powerful weapon.”
IF THERE IS A WORLD
open the doors of opportunity for
all those willing to walk through
If there is a world, let me be in it
Hold them tenderly in your arms,
tell them to never stop dreaming
let the sun illuminate the sky,
bringing new hope to a lost world
If there is a world, let
soldiers come home,
If there is a world, let equality scream
from the highest mountain
let all races of human life live in peace
Let us welcome one and all
relieve them of a lifetime of sacrifices
Take your brother’s hand and say,
break the chains that have bound them
to the chaotic ruins of broken cities
This is your home,
This is my home,
let tyrants die in the hands of justice
It is our home
free their people to fly like
they are part of the wind
A nation built on immigration
open your arms to catch them
bring honor to those who have fallen
Your huddled masses yearning
to breathe free.”
If there is a world, let
education be universal
If there is a world, let us open our
eyes to the horrors of the world,
let young boys and girls attend school,
Reminding ourselves freedom is for all
“Give me your tired, your poor,
6 TRAIN VOLUME III: 2014–2015 | 35