Poultney High School

“A lie is only effective, if you don’t get caught.”

You can live a life, not knowing the truth. But at the same time, you think you know everything, and all is fine but really you are just clueless. Some people could argue that a lie is only a lie and it is no big deal. Then there are others, who once they have been lied to, will have a hard time trusting people ever again.
“A lie is only effective, if you don’t get caught.”

Lies, similar to bullets. A mouth, similar to a gun barrel. A bullet can be shot out of the barrel, so quickly and without thought. And before you know it, you’ve been hit. Forever will you have the bullet buried deep in your heart, no matter how hard to try and how far you dig; you will never get it out.
“A lie is only effective, if you don’t get caught.”

This year has come to an end
Like so many before
Only this time
We final walk out these doors

So eager to get out
Forgetting it’s the end
This could be the last time
We see each other
Ever again.

But we will always remember
The times we’ve shared
And when we go to a class reunion
It will remind us how much we all cared

We will always be friends
Deep in our hearts
Even though we could be a thousand miles
Apart

I stand here today
Thinking of everything we’ve done
And giggle when I think about
All the fun

I still can’t believe its here
This thing we’ve been counting down to
For all these years

So when we leave today
Promise not to forget
All these times we’ve shared
Even the ones we probably should regret

This year has come to an end
Like so many before
Only this time
We finally walk out the doors

As children, we are shelterd from the outside world. War, death, pain, none of it is real to us. But as we get older, we learn that we do not live in a perfict world and that bad things do happen, and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

An Acrid Taste

By Amberly Ondria
Poultney High School, Grade 11

Bitterness: having a harsh, disagreeably acrid taste. All I have to do is look at you and that taste rushes through my body. Bitterness working away like a deadly disease, killing me from the inside out. A poison released only to certain people. I ask myself, “What did I do wrong?” “Are my sins truly in need of this much animus?” I turn my head and look the other way. My eyes start to burn, my skin starts to melt away at the acidy tears. The thing I have feared for so long is now right in front of my face. Seeing each smile I remember how things used to be. Late night parties, staying out till dawn. Every memory stays with me now like a picture book with a young child. There is nothing more I can do now but just turn and walk away. Because of you I feel the bitterness, and with every tear that falls down the acrid taste that covers my body just becomes more and more washed away.

Risking everything
I look upon everything
I take down the love letters from the bookshelf.

My eyes were blind
I believed you.

Whatever he said I did.

I am not I.

Today
Like every other day I wake up
Empty.

Someone spoke to me last night
Told me the truth.

It was all so clear to me this morning.

The one
To which I belong to

I can’t miss.

They had nothing to say to each other, both dumbfounded on what had happened. Neither of them believing the truth that slid off his lips. Now both, standing in silence, tears fall from her eyes as she drops to the ground he towers over her like a statue. Kneels down beside he grabs her arm, pulling her back to her feet, he stairs into her eyes. So much is said with out words. Seconds become minuets; minuets become hours, the silence never being broken between them. When he turns to walk away she opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. They had nothing to say to each other both dumb founded on what had happened, it wasn’t until he was gone would she say; “why?”

Abby whips open the door and throws herself through the frame, leaping onto the patio side walk. She walks to the street with haste, and then takes a sharp left and cuts onto the town sidewalk, “And don’t you come back you sorry ho.” Her mother’s voice floats through the air like a prayer to the heavens.
Dusk is near; the street lamps are starting to spark on; Abby has no where to go. Unsure about what to do, she heads for the local park in hope to find a place to sleep. With every few steps she stumbles on the cracks and uprooted cement. The words of her mother still playing though her head: “Don’t you come back.” The thought of those words just made her cringe, she now dose no not have a home to go back to. With night falling she worries that her crippled beaten body, with all its bruises will not make it to the park.

My Dearest Competitor:

I am just going to tell you the truth.

Don’t bother entering this ring
It’s not worth the humiliation.

What you think you can do
Will not be done.

We are the best here today
And we are going to show our stuff.

You’re horse may cost thousands
He might have the fancy blood lines
You’re trainer may work with you hours on end.

But
You can not beet my equitation
Skills
Spirit
And partner.

That flashy horse of yours
With his sparkling coat that shines in the sun
Can not keep up with mine.

Yours might ride with a low frame
And slow stride

But when it comes to that extention
As much as you try
There is no way you will be able to catch us.

My horse might be a little stronger than yours
He might not be able to stop on a dime
But when you try to pass us
I will slow down
Only to let you catch a glimpse of what it’s like
To ride with the best.

Then
No sooner that I slow down
I will let my horse go
Leaving you in the dust

The crowd will cheer
As I circle the ring.

Jaws will drop
And people will talk.

So I’m just going to warn you Hun
Don’t bother entering this ring
And don’t let this horse fool you
Because he is the one
Who will be showing you up!

Mom

By Amberly Ondria
Poultney High School, Grade 11

Mom, you always hold your head up high.
You never let me see you cry.

The one who’s always there for me
And soon you’ll have to let me be free.

Just one more year and things will quiet down.
Coming home, there won’t be a sound.

But don’t fret mom, because I will always call.
And I’ll never forget all those times you caught my fall.

The girl’s nights we had.
Some of those movies were really bad.

Those dinners we cooked when dad wasn’t around.
Surprisingly they didn’t turn our stomachs upside down.

Along with all the good times there were the bad.
The moments that I never thought I’d come out of being sad.

Because of the boys who broke my heart.
You were the one who had to watch me fall apart.

In your arms I’d lay there and stay
Whether I had a good or bad day.

Mom, you’re always there for me.
And soon you’ll have to let me be free.

But when that time comes,

When you try your hardest for something, and still don’t get it, it’s a reflex just to try harder. My name is Amberly Ondria and that is what I did.
In the spring of 2006 I applied to represent Vermont at the Eastern States Exposition with my horse. Unfortunately I did not get accepted, that fallowing summer I worked even harder and it paid off. This past spring of 2007 I applied again to go to Eastern States and I succeed. I have been riding for about nine years and I own my own horse “SPOTSIVNOTGOT” aka “Nebraska” that I board at Pond Hill Stables in Castleton Vermont.
On September 19, 2007 I packed up Nebraska and my friend Kayleigh McDonnell’s horse and we headed out for the three hour drive down to Springfield Massachusetts for the Eastern States Exposition. Eastern States, also known as “The Big E” is a fair held in Springfield MA, Participants come from ME, NH, VT, CT, MA, and RI. It is a fair that focuses on all the New England States, and part of that is every spring all 4-H’s from New England who are 14 and over can apply to go down with their horse. The application is based on your 4-H participation, your show records, an interview. So basically it is the best of the best that get to go down and compete.
When I arrived I did not know what to expect. The fair was so big and there was so much going on. Eventually after the trailer was all unloaded, the horses settled into, their stalls, all the exhibitors that had had arrived were brought to our dorms where we would stay for the next five days.

Hopes and Dreams

By Heather MacLachlan
Poultney High School, Grade 7

I am Heather.
I wonder if hope is real,
I hear the fairies whispering to me,
I see the trolls in the morning grass,
I want to be on American Idol,
I am Heather.

I wonder if true love is real,
I hear the cries in the distance,
I see the people begging for peace,
I want to be helpful,