8th Grade

Welcome Back to Saint Joseph Parish School

Moonlight
(Credit goes to Vicky for helping.)

The moonlight is glistening
in the sky.

The clouds are leaving 
like they’re saying “good-bye,”

The stars are glowing bright
while the wind is blowing
hard against me.

Mother Nature’s ocean is reflecting
the illuminating moon.

The waves of the ocean from afar
are coming sooner than you think.

The rain is coming in 
like a waterfall.

The camilla flowers in the garden
are filled with rainfall.

The sunlight will rise 
in the morning.

It makes the moonlight 
more adorning.

Camilla Y.
February 2002

One By One

One after the other 
creates one more,
the rattling of dominoes 
as they fall
against each other

on a windy day,
on a windy night,
the moon, my light,
the clouds, my sky.

I ride the wind
and topple the sky
with my rattling 
dominoes
as they fall 
one by one 
against each other.

Mahnoor "Moonlight"
February 2022



Make Us Stronger

Bridges are what
keeps us together.
They hold us
from breaking
and falling into
a dark endless void.
They make our 
connections stronger.
They let us walk into
what has not yet
to be seen.
Bridges make us
stronger.

Rohanjeet M.
January 28, 2022



Bridges

A link
over rivers,
a connection
that connects,
it combines, 
it creates,
and elevates
to change
and reform 
to make,
not to break,
over a river
or a lake.
It is a bridge
that holds you up,
It is a bridge
that holds us up.

Mahnoor “Moonlight"
January 28, 2022

Uses of Bridges

Bridges come in many shapes.
You can drive on them or walk on them.
Bridges are useful to everything.
They help us pass from one side to another.
Engineers must build them strong,
or we will fall.
Bridges are usually built over water.
There can be big bridges like 
the Golden State Bridge,
or there can be small bridges
over a small river.
Bridges are unique in every way
they can be.
People may not think of how helpful
bridges are when
they Cross over them,
but if you think about it,
THEY ARE!

Julianna
January 28, 2022



Footsteps Engrave

A white winter,
glistening snow,
the icy sky
  that glimmers and glows,

frosted snowflakes
  blanket the window 
and footsteps engrave 
  in the wintery white snow,

knees submerge in the snow
  as frostbite tingles up my fingers,
I wish this snow day never goes,
  meadows of leafless trees 
coat themselves in snow,

narrow branches all around,
  the whistling wind is the only sound
as I walk on this wintery white snow 
  that drowns the ground.

  Mahnoor “Moonlight”
January 2022



  Hope in the New Year

I hope homework gets easier.
I hope one day Covid is over.
I hope I can be successful in the future.
I hope that I will soon be in Technology Flex.
I hope that I will one day be able to visit around the 
  world.
I hope to make new friends and make people happy.
I hope that possibility spreads throughout the world and 
  everyone is nice to one another.
I hope to achieve the dreams of the dreamers and the hopes of 
  the wishers.
I hope one day everyone will be nice to one another and 
  have self-respect as well as respect towards each other.
I hope that everyone strives to become impeccable with the 
  words they think and speak and write and so on.

Flex Poetry Club
January 24, 2022


Just for Them

Unbreakable friendship of
a King and Queen so strong
that even their enemies 
can’t break it,

They decide to build
their bridge to their own
secret kingdom-
to their own secret land,
just for them and
only them,

Their bridge to Terabithia is
where they sneak away
from the serpents outside
their magical kingdom
awaiting their return.

Should I make my own
Terabithia with someone
in class???

Ashlynn Elizabeth
September 21, 2021

How Do I Love Thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee like a slice of cheese.
I love thee like a bag of goodies.
I love thee like beautiful bright flowers.
I love thee as I have never loved before.
I love thee like a night without homework.
I love thee like my whole family and friends. 
I love thee as I love everything in the universe.
I love thee like a pizza night without homework.
I love thee as if my whole heart was given to you.
I love thee as one loves water after a six mile hike.
I love thee like when the water has the best waves.
I love thee as much as a warm batch of cookies
  next to a cold glass of milk.
I love thee like pineapple soda on a pizza night
  without homework.

Grade 7
February 2022

 

We Are All a Family
(A Poem in Honor of Reverend King)

He is he, 
he helped all people be free,
he spoke up for freedom
because everyone needs some.

He is he,
we are we,
people didn’t always see
that we are all a family.

We are all different
in some way, shape, or form,
he fought for no discrimination 
whether race or generation.

He helped us all,
without him our country would fall
with riot and fight.

We could give our nation might
not caring whether
black  or white,
short or tall
skinny or fat.

He is he,
who is he,
don’t you see?

Benjamin Z.
Grade 7
January 14, 2022
 

Family Love

Having a favorite object
  that reminds you of a relationship
with a loved one like a grandparent 
  and makes you feel warm inside
is amazing.

Family is the type of love that 
  makes you stronger. We need 
to love ourselves and our family 
  because one day it can all go away 
and apparently, we are suppose to 
  move on and forget because I mean, 
there’s nothing you can do about it, 
  but mourn and be mature realizing 
that they’re gone. We tend to become 
  stronger when we have a loss.

The Impact of a Book on Me

A book that I read and that 
impacted me the most was Wonder.
It’s a realistic fiction story.
I was forced to read it, but then 
I fell in love with that book.

On Halloween Day, he wore
an astronaut costume, I believe,
so he can hide his face.

Joana
Grade 7
September 28, 2021
 

Sometimes I Wish and Wish and Wish

Sometimes I wish that life and everything was easier.
Sometimes I wish I had the power to go back in time.
Sometimes I wish I had studied more before a test or a quiz.
Sometimes I wish the world could go back to the way it used to be.
Sometimes I wish we could liberate children’s “sometimes” into many
  more times.
Sometimes I wish that the weekend would come quicker so I can relax 
  and play video games.
Sometimes I wish that I was a puppeteer with my own show and had all 
  of the fabrics I need
Sometimes I wish I could see my cousin more often face to face than just 
  calling her when my mom is at the gym.
Sometimes I wish I was grown and rich with little to no problems living 
  in New York City in a nice big penthouse made out of 
  windows.
Sometimes I wish I could teleport to places so then I could go somewhere 
  without paying or just to get out of something or to do 
  something fun.
Sometimes I wish I could teleport to places because my sister doesn’t 
  really go anywhere because it’s covid and I would want to 
  make her happy.

Grade 7
September 24, 2021

We Wish

We wish upon the stars that beam
so bright,

We wish upon the stars that light
up the night,

We wish upon the stars that inspire 
us to write,

We wish upon the star that keeps
us up tonight,

We wish upon the stars that make
our engines ignite,

We wish upon the stars that maybe, 
just maybe, we will be alright.

Christina V.
January 26, 2022

Just a Connection

A bridge is
the Bible,
the Quran,
an icy floor,
school,
a job,
a Giving Tree,
a letter,
a toy,
a team.

A bridge is
lunch,
a dusty road,
refuge,
a terminal,
a death,
a mutual union,
colossal,
a set of doors,
a hatch.

A bridge is
cleansing,
an opportunity.
a plant,
your life,
a success,
a failure,
a paper,
an article.

A bridge is just
a connection.

Abdullah S.
January 28, 2022

A Bridge is a Hershey Bar

A bridge
is a support system,
a helping hand,
a Hershey bar cut into halves
and shared between
two love birds
on Valentine’s Day,

A bridge is a transportation guide
that you’re afraid
to cross over, but pray
that everything is going
to be alright,

A bridge is an exchange
of thank you’s,
you might even get a response
which is good-bye,
A bridge is man’s best friend.

Kayla N,
January 28, 2022

Rambling Over Bridges

Bridges are 
a change like when you prefer pencil more than pen,
Nine inches of snow after a disappointing 
outcome of winter,
Rambling until something you write makes sense,
A disappointment when what you want to do is full.

A bridge is the future you will cross when you reach it,
A metaphor because every single thing you see 
is one nowadays,
A word you don’t know how it was made because it makes no sense.

A bridge is a language because they all have similarities,
Avoiding writing on a mark on a paper because you don’t want it 
to overlap,

A bridge is the world because I want it to go back to what it should be.
The world is the world and a bridge is a bridge.
I am going to stop rambling soon.

A bridge is a game of chess when your opponent doesn’t know 
what castling is,
When everything seems to be profound and always has 
some deeper meaning,
When you need to continue because you accidently put in a comma 
instead of period.
When you are bored and just write and ramble to be busy.

I don’t like metaphors because they do not have enough closure, 
or at least that is what I think the reason is.

Matthew S.
January 28, 2022

A Bridge is a Mystical Creature

A bridge is our way
of being led into the future.
A bridge is oddly necessary
and it reminds me of
a mystical creature.
A bridge is a book
with endless pages
to catch an unexpected 
reader.
A bridge is like a link
between two different worlds 
that are ruled by the same leader.
A bridge is our emotions interacting 
with one another.
A bridge is abstract and concrete, 
one or the other.
A bridge is one of our only ways 
to connect, link, interact, bond, 
associate, join, or couple with.

Amrit S.
January 28, 2022

Two Straws

A bridge is 
a shared popcorn 
at the movies,
two straws 
in a strawberry 
and mango smoothie,
a make-up 
after a disagreement,
a rival game of chess,
laughter with family,
a family dinner,
going on a road trip
over a bridge.

Keira T.
January 28, 2022

         My Makeshift Classroom

I’m sitting at a dark brown wooden table with matching chairs. 
It has binders, notebooks for school, and school books.
It has books and notebooks for my freetime writing and reading.
It has a water bottle, a cookie (I had it for breakfast), cough drops, and 
tissues. 
There’s a blanket in the chair next to me for if I feel cold, 
and a little fake plant keeping me company as room decor.
There’s another table next to me with the couch and loveseat.
It’s located next to the two big windows taking up most of the wall. 
It’s near the TV, which is on top of the matching dark brown stand.
One of Rafa's toys is up here, too, next to the staircase.
The staircase has a baby gate to keep Rafa (and a one-year-old baby) safe 
from a fall. 
There is a ledge so we can see downstairs into the living room down there 
(this is one too).
I can hear the Lion King playing as Rafa lays with his dad (my brother, 
Kuya RJ) on the alphabet mat downstairs.
There’s a tan carpet covering the floor as I sit here typing about the room 
around me,  
Typing about the world I can see, hear, and feel. 
Typing about the environment around me.
Typing about the room I am learning in at the moment.
My temporary classroom until we’re back in person.
It’s not just a living room where I played video games with my brother.
It is a shapeshifter.
It shapeshifted into a makeshift classroom, for when we can’t be in our 
comforting school I know so well.
I know this room, too, but this room is makeshift.
Still, we’ve got to work with what we got.I’ll work with what I’ve got. 
After all, a classroom is anywhere you learn. 
This is where I temporarily have to learn. 

Victoria Copp
January 4, 2022

*Makeshift is an adjective. It means serving as a temporary substitute;
  something that is significant for the time being.

The Golden Dream

Dreams are like clouds.
Seemingly simple and light,
But full of depth and weight.
Like the shining stars of night.

I had a dream once, too.
A dream that filled all of my soul.
A dream that felt so close, I could taste it.
And it tasted like the feeling of being whole.

I have lived my dream, 
Eleven times.
But I’ve found I’m wanting more.
I don’t like telling anyone my dream,
Because the only response I get is:
“What for?”

But once in a while, 

I let slip,
My heart’s one true desire,
It fills me with such warmth as if
I just sipped 
From a cup of fire.

I know what I want in life,
And I’ve never asked or cared
When people tell me what they think
Of the height of my shoes, 
Or the length of my hair.

I’ll tell you a secret, right here and now,
And see if you catch my meaning. 
I’ll give you a glimpse of my golden world,
Perfect with the surface gleaming.

My world is filled with lights and stars,
And with the people of a city.
A place where you can be who you are,
It’ll be hard to start, 
But I don’t need anyone’s pity. 

I’ll be happy, 
Cramped in a tiny apartment, 
In New York City,
I’ll be content.
And that is all I need.

Sidney R. / Grade 8 /  January 2022

(Untitled)

I would do the summer over again

  if I had the choice
  to be, once again, given the chance to listen to your voice.
I’ve forgotten what you sound like, I can’t clearly remember your face.
  I don’t remember anything except you and me at the place.
It’s been an eternity since we talked eating funnel cake.
  It’s been forever since together we played a softball game.
You’re better at me than everything, but with that I am fine,
  I never feel like I’m not enough with this older sister of mine.

Sidney
October 2021

Princess Goddess Mermaid
With all the castles 
  and crowns she has had
How can a princess goddess 
  mermaid be so sad?
We have yet to see her be 
  waited on foot and hand
and she has yet to demand 
  a man,
All she wants to do
  is take a walk on land
and although a magic carpet 
is grand
No one has felt the sadness 
  she has felt firsthand.

Christina
Sometime 2021