Rachel Buhler

Put on your new dress
Meet your date by the front door
No curfew tonight!

She was standing on the sidewalk
And saw the car turn onto her street.
An image flashed to her mind,
“An accident will happen,”
She heard a voice say.
The car was coming
Faster and faster, closer and closer.
A ball rolled into the street
And a small boy followed after.
The caveat-
The image in her head;
This was it!
Without a thought,
No pause at all,
She ran for the boy,

Gratifying Work

By Rachel Buhler
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

Sun's up!
Rooster squawks
Time to get to work.

Can't delay
need to work hard
Need to make a living
got to do your job.

Make breakfast
eat it fast!

Out to the barn
as quick as a flash.

Feed the goats,
horses and sows.
Collect the eggs
and milk the cows.

Time for the field.
Get the tractor out!
Plant the seeds
and water the rows.
Soon it will grow green,
bountiful and hearty.
And then you can pick it...
but don't be tardy!

A long day's work
seems to linger on.

Always be grateful for time to sleep
rest aching muscles
rejuvenate your strength.

Tomorrow's another day
and will be just like this one.

Brace yourself.
You may be disappointed
but you,
you farmer
may be relieved.

Sun's up!
Rooster squawks.
Time to get to work.

Can't delay-
need to work hard.
Need to make a living,
got to do your job.

Make breakfast;
eat it fast!

Out to the barn
as quick as a flash:

Feed the goats,
horses, and sows.
Collect the eggs
and milk the cows.

Time for the field.
Get the tractor out!
Plant the seeds
and water the rows.
Soon it will grow green,

What is mud?
Just dirt and water.
Mud (yuck!) Mud

“This is the last time I will ever…”
Live through this exact month of this year.
Live through this exact day.
Live through this exact hour
Of this exact day.
Live through this exact minute that’s quickly passing by.
Live through this exact second.

The time will pass by.

And then
All I have left are the memories
From this exact month, day, hour, minute, and second

Deal out the cards
And slip in the extra ace.
Going for a royal flush.
Must win
For “eternal glory”.
Play the cards.
Win big.
Cheat.
Glory.

She walks to the field
All bundled up.
The snow goes “crunch”
Under her boots.
It’s almost time for the sun to set.
She finds her spot and looks up
Nothing but a big white ocean is there.
Gracefully, she falls backwards,
Her arms reached out to her sides
And her feet stretched down.
Slowly, she moves her hands up to her head.
And slowly brings them down to her waist.

In the spring I stomp in the mud.
In the summer I run through the sprinklers.
In the fall I rake the leaves.
In the winter I go sledding.
This is what goes on in my backyard.

Mistakes happen
But here’s a little note
In a quote
That I wrote:
“What’s done is done
And can’t be replaced
But it’s all over now so just
WAIT!
Don’t act in haste.
It’s time to embrace
The reason it had to occur.

This may sound absurd, but it will help.
What’s done is done;
Now try and have some fun.
And now you’ll know how to react,
-Yes that’s what I said-

Snow is falling
Outside of the window.
But no time to look now-
In a hurry and
Must grab a pair of shoes,
Close the closet door,
And run.

Drip, Drop
Clang, CLASH!
Tick, tock
POP, crack…
Onomatopoeia…
Snap
Whoosh
Drip.
Drop.
Drop.
Drop.
SPLAT!

My house has three large windows
In the very front
That let in three different views
Of sunlight, snow and rain.

From the outside, the world can see in-
But from the inside, the ‘in’ can see the world.

To me,
The number three
Means those windows.
The inside and the out.

This young boy-
forced to work.
To keep himself alive
at such a young age.

Had to keep working.
No stopping.
No breaks.
Hard work.

For a small pay-
if any-
which meant the world.

Which meant life.

No good times.
Only work.
Hard
tedious
work.

Snow covers the ground
Winter time is now around
It will bury all.

The clock is ticking
Tick
Tick
Tick
The time’s almost up
Have to hand in the test
The test
Which took hours to study for
And yet
Don’t know any of the answers
Tick
Tick
Tick
Time’s up
Hand in the papers
Too much work
Too little time
Unfair
Now to wait for the grade
Hope for the best!

Under the spotlight, I almost go insane. What makes me the most nervous before going onstage is the clapping coming from the audience for the act before mine. Just the idea of saying a single word, or performing a single step, can influence the mental drama the mind creates. It’s tough to perform, but it’s tougher to think, memorize, and do.

Escape

By Rachel Buhler
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

The leaves rustle
and the deer takes note
Looking all around
To see
Who’s near.
A trigger is pulled
And a shot is fired
But the deer
Ran.
Away.
And survived a terrible fate
Escaped.

There was a beautiful house in the most precious location of its village. The inhabitants were a lovely elderly couple- a man and a woman. Together they would sit in rocking chairs on their porch and admire their land. One week, the woman left for three days on a trip and the man stayed home. On the second day that the woman was gone, her husband peacefully died in his sleep.

If I could fly high
from awesome superpowers
I would save the world

Up in an attic
A box of many wonders
A treasure is found

I expect myself to achieve
and do what I think is right

I expect myself to do good
to stay away from what’s wrong

And I expect myself to be me

no one else

just me

and that’s what other people expect

of me

as well.