Richmond MIddle School

What is Life? —

Life is love.
Life is hope.
Life is peace.
Life is greatness.
Life is a chance to experience.
Life is cool.
Life is strong.
Life is everything.
Life brings people together.
Life is believing.
Life is just simply life.
Nothing else; It’s simply is
Life!

What is Life?

By Bizzy Gow
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

Life is love.
Life is hope.
Life is peace.
Life is greatness.
Life is a chance to experience.
Life is cool.
Life is strong.
Life is everything.
Life brings people together.
Life is believing.
Life is just simply life.
Nothing else; it simply is
Life!

The Board

By Sawyer Brooks
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

I was on the beach
Having a good old time
With the water all around me
Splashing everywhere
I was here
When it happened
They were all digging
Digging a hole
A big hole
I thought nothing of it
Paid it no attention
I went swimming
I got out
When I went over to look at the hole
It was done
The kids had laid a board across it
They were walking across it
Having fun
I asked of I could try it
They said that I could
So I went up to it
Got on the board
I was half way
At the deepest point
When it happened
The board began to wobble
It shook
I was loosing my balance
I fell
Everything slowed down
My leg scraped along the rough
Edge of the board.
My leg,
Cut from the edge of the board
Was gushing blood
From my hip
To just below my knee,
It hurt.
I cried out in pain
I washed it out in the salty water
Of the sea
In which
I had been playing in not even ten minutes
Before.
But it happened

The four seasons

By Riley Westling
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

Spring is loud; all you hear are birds
The squish-squashing of boots in mud
The wind blowing in the trees
Children laughing as they look for Easter eggs.
But what I love most of all are the plants
The little green buds sprouting out of branches
Tulips and daffodils jumping out of the ground
Little blades of green grass
cutting through the snow
as the snow melts
creating mud
fun for the children and disaster for adults.
What fun!
Summer is my favorite season.
The warm sun beating down on you
the river bubbling down the hill
the splashing of the pond
flowers and vegetables galore
and no school!
Autumn is very brown
the leaves are turning colors
the air is getting cooler.
You can start to smell that warm smell of smoke
from the chimneys of the houses, see
children dressing up and saying “trick or treat!”
warm squash soup fresh from the garden
harvest moon.
Winter is exciting!

Trees

By Cora Sloan
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

like strong hands
holding the world together
strong roots
reaching down
into the damp soil
leaves
swaying gently.
All you need
is a little courage
and you can climb
to the very top.

Accident

The car, was going fast,
and the driver was tired.
Too tired.
So tired he was asleep.
They were both asleep,
and neither of them knew,
What was about to happen.
The car skidded.
More like flew, across the road,
The flying piece of iron,
Hit a tree, and the tree was big,
Too big.
The sound was loud.
The crashing of metal,
The crack of wood.
Sparks were flying, the fire had started,
Sirens and flashing lights,
Swarmed onto the scene, trying.
Trying to save two loved ones,
that were about to be lost.
But it was late.
Too late.
Two people died that day.
An uncle, brother, son, and soon to be father,
A grandfather, a dad, a husband, a loved one.
Although we are still recovering,
Things are better.
We will live through

Bad Dream

By Addison LaRock
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

The dense clouds
Black as the night sky
Rumbling
Like a washing machine.
Then, through the wind
Out of nowhere a witch,
Ugly as a rat
Came and started to chase me and shouted
“Come here, my pretty!”
By that time I had already started to run for my life!
Too bad this wasn’t the 100m because I was sprinting
As fast as Justin Gaitlin, the Olympian!
Then,
KABOOM!
My heart was pounding as hard as my brother’s fist!
“I have woken up,” I told myself!

Hope

By Rowan Dunfey
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

Like a fallen star from the sky of elsewhere
He arrived
In a new place
A new country
A new home in a new sky
The person who was going to meet him
Wasn’t there
And he wondered if anyone was wishing
On him, the lone shining star
Standing alone in a train station

TELEVISIONMAN

By Rowan Dunfey
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

And then,
as if a switch had flipped in his mind,
It dawned on him -
crashed down on him
like the world upon Atlas -
That he is just that man,
That television man
That bluesuithaircut television man
Who says what the teleprompter tells him to say
And feels what the teleprompter tells him to feel
That things are bad, but then again
He doesn't know bad like they do –
Only knows
It’s a lot worse
Than his bad –
But who knows?
When the world drops
off of the shoulders that have held it for so long
Will it be him that gets
Shaken off?

And then,
as if a switch had flipped in his mind,
It dawned on him –
crashed down on him
like the world upon Atlas –
That he is just that man,
That television man,
That bluesuithaircut television man
Who says what the teleprompter tells him to say
And feels what the teleprompter tells him to feel,
That things are bad, but then again
He doesn't know bad like they do –
Only knows
It’s a lot worse
Than his bad –
But who knows?
When the world drops
off of the shoulders that have held it for so long,
Will it be him that gets
Shaken off?

Anger

By Cora Sloan
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

crept into the back of my mind
setting my eyes and my mouth
on fire
its eyes
making me clench my fists
its hands
making my mouth utter sharp words
stinging those
around me.

Dots

By Carter LaCrosse
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

Dots.
The best thing in the world.
I love
that luscious smell
that chewy goo
and that scrumptious taste.

When I eat a Dot
I savor every moment
that the sweet taste
mixes with the liquids
of my mouth.

Dots
are my favorite candy
and they always will
be.

Our Real Mother

By Melanie Subbiah
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

At age three,
I won the toddler marathon
and could outrun
a blowing leaf.
But no matter how fast
my chubby, young legs
could carry me
I could not escape
my fate.

The doctor said
my condition was unstable;
I would have to be
hospitalized for life.
My mother,
having six other children
to look after
and not wanting
a sick youngster around
when her friends
came to visit,
readily agreed.

The whitewashed walls
and shiny linoleum
covered by beeping machinery
are my home now,
but mostly my prison.
True, it is where
my heart lies
hooked up to a monitor
but it is not
where my spirit rests.

For only four days
every year
(one in every season)
I return to my family’s home,
which is no longer mine as well.
My mother
avoids me
and my siblings
cling to her
as though
I am a hideous beast.
Only nature
decorates itself for me
celebrating
my day of freedom.

In winter
crystalline confetti
tumbles
from the sky
and the hibernating world
is covered
in a soft downy blanket.
But the wind
is there
to cheer me on
with whoops and howls
as I breathe
the fresh air.

In spring
bright green blades
tickle
my feet
and delicate drops
bathe me
as I slosh
through Earth’s
new coat of skin
while birds
sing to me
of happiness.

In Summer,
nature’s great eye
gazes down at me
brilliant and glinting
from the sky
watching over me.
The only relief
from its piercing stare
is to plunge
into a cool pond
spray dancing
above me
as I splash
through the surface.

In Fall
sparks fall
from the trees
lighting the whole world
on fire
and warming
the frosty air
with vibrant
colors.
As I glide through the shadows
the wind embraces me
and I
feel safe.

Such beauty
as I see outdoors
I believe to be
the accomplishment
of a superhuman being
so powerful
when its wrath ensues
that it can destroy
whole cities.

The Marshmallow Moon

By Morgan Danna
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

The Marshmallow Moon
Is my gift to the sky
My dreams
Glitter and shimmer
Like stars
Outside the night ice shines,
Bright winter fluff
Gleams
Like angel's wings
Shedding a soft glow
Over each perfectly shaped flake
as it falls from the darkness,
From the Marshmallow Moon
And the glittering stars

By Gig Ashton
Richmond Middle School, Grade 7

“Gig! Gig! Come here, quick!” Deb yelled from the bottom of the stairs. I scrambled out of bed, where I had been sprawled, contemplating whether or not to get out of bed on this rainy spring day. I shook off my morning sluggishness, and was soon leaping down the stairs two steps at a time, making the old broken grandfather clock ding from my vigorous dives.