Category Archives: Poetry

Run

Run

By Chris Cooper, author and poet, New Jersey.

The scariest thing about life is that there is no finish line,
so you never really know where or how far you have to go.
Living out each day, assessing the past and present while eyeing the future,
we choose directions based on impulse and prudence, decisions that guide the run.

And it starts out like a sprint with fast-twitch ambition and energized strides,
until fatigue sets in, forcing a recalculation,
an adjustment to the race; a realization that it’s actually a marathon,
requiring both stamina and endurance, a steadier pace.

And subconsciously, we’re convinced tomorrow is expected,
assuming there’s always another day, more time to catch up.
But you never really know if there’s a lifetime ahead,
another mile to go, or if you’re experiencing your last conscious breaths,
and maybe that’s the beauty of it all.

—Chris Cooper is the author of the 2024 debut novel Crazy by Conscious from Anxiety Press. He writes, “I created this poem to convey different aspects of the human condition with varying linguistic elements. I hope to one day be content without feeling the existential need to constantly create.”

My Mom’s Frying Pan

My Mom’s Frying Pan

By Aadya Agarwal, grade 8, New Jersey.

They asked my mom, “What inspires you, Ms. Anne?”
Pat came her reply, “It sure is my frying pan.”
Her crisp reply left them confounded.
After all, she clearly left the Sun and the Moon grounded.

My mom was sure of her inspiration.
And this is what she offered as her explanation.

“Frying pan might look like a plain Jane tool.
But look! how, its emptiness itself makes it useful.
It tells me that nothing really belongs to you.
You are just a medium to pass things through.
You must clean yourself of the smallest residue.
So that you are ready to receive something new.”

“Frying pan has taught me to choose to be humble.
Go through and show up after every rough and tumble.
Seasoning through slow and high heating.
Strengthening through scratches and beating.
And not to suffer from any self-pity.
Be assured that you are where you are meant to be.”

Mom further said, “For me, frying pan is an unsung beauty,
That creates complex dishes through its simplicity,
And keeps my family fed by doing its duty.”

By Aadya Agarwal, grade 8, Princeton Day School, Princeton, New Jersey.

Resources for GAZA Issue

More About the Contributors

The following organizations and cultural projects are mentioned in this collection. We encourage you to check them out and offer support where your heart is inclined.

Meera Center for Skills Development in Cairo offers learning and enrichment activities for Gazan refugees.   From 2011-23, Wejdan Diab directed the award-winning Meera Kindergarten in Gaza City. She now offers a nurturing space in Cairo, where children can learn, play and heal from the trauma of the war. Donate here to support Meera Center.

Palestine Charity Team (PCT) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization providing humanitarian aid to families in Rafah, Gaza. PCT sponsored Sing to Live in Peace, a children’s music program, and the Gaza Heartbeat, a creative writing workshop for older youth. Currently, PCT is focusing on getting food aid into southern Gaza and setting up portable classrooms and activities for children. Donate to PCT. More original music by Bakr Khader is available on YouTube.

Sobhi Qouta, from Gaza City, is an art teacher for students of all ages. IDF airstrikes destroyed his studio and all its art, including the student paintings featured in this issue. To help Sobhi rebuild his studio, please contact Fred Rogers.

Abraham’s Land, a musical play, by guest editor Lauren Goldman Marshall, is set in Israel and Gaza during the First Intifada. A video of the 2021 professional production was shown by PCT in Gaza and is available on YouTube.

You can read the Special Issue on Palestine and Israel, published online by Skipping Stones.

Additional Resources

There is a wealth of charitable organizations serving Palestinians. Here are some of our favorite organizations you may not have heard of:

A Land for All envisions a binational solution (two states, one homeland) with Jewish majority and Palestinian majority regions, freedom of movement and right of return for all.

The Humanity Project:The Maal Foundation serves a wide variety of needs of Gazan refugees in Cairo, including financial support, medical care, psychological and educational support.

The Leonard Education Organization ( LE.O) supports under-resourced Palestinian students with higher educational opportunities. Donate to LE.O or to the special fund for Gazan medical students in Egypt, or the In the Wings scholarship for a student from Gaza to study in the arts.

Middle East Children’s Alliance protects the health, lives, and rights of kids in the Middle East.

Interlink Publishing offers a wide selection of books on Palestine.

International Board on Books for Young People – Palestine Section and Gaza Libraries project

Tomorrow’s Women empowers Palestinian and Israeli women to make peaceful change.

Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT) – Palestine supports Palestinian-led, nonviolent, grassroots resistance against the Israeli occupation.

ANAR is an important project for traumatized children living in the West Bank. 

The Liberation Syllabus for Educators by the progressive Jewish organization If Not Now lists books, poetry, films, art, and music for students of all ages to engage with the reality of the occupation.

Standing Together is a progressive grassroots movement mobilizing Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel against the occupation for peace, equality and social justice.

Coral Remembrance

Coral Remembrance 

By Rachel Agyeman, age 17, Maryland

Spring
Small fluorescent animals join together
Into sprawling colonies, growing across millenniums
An undersea civilization emerges
Pillars grow into branching skylines
Soft-bodied leaves, flowers, and mushrooms cover the floor
Young polyps ride currents with their finned neighbors
Weaving through thin, colorful trees and stinging whips
Before settling into extended colonies
A season passes, and warmth arrives to the city

Summer
The surface brightens, the city quiets
Gleaming, branching skyscrapers dim
Vibrant mushrooms and flowering plants fade
Into the returning memories of ivory reefs long lost
Generations of colonies once teeming with life
Now frail and shriveled beneath the waves
The sun a soul-sucking beam, draining all the reef’s radiance
Algae and mucus escape to the surface, clouding the scattered sunlight
A season passes, and the dark city begins to cool

Autumn
As sunlight penetrates the waves slower, the blazing heat seems to weaken
The city’s remaining colors endure, each polyp retains its strength
The skyscrapers continue to stand tall, the plants remain in bloom
Memories of the passing heat reach future generations
Strengthening each one more, prolonging their lives
Preserving the civilization’s vibrancy
The polyps and fish swim freely once again
Through now illuminated paths
Color returns to the bustling city

By Rachel Agyeman, age 17, Maryland. She writes:
“I was born in Maryland and have always lived there, but my parents grew up in Ghana and immigrated to the United States in the early 2000s. I’ve only visited Ghana once during my winter break this year, so I’m not fluent in the native language, which is Twi. I only speak and write English, though I can understand a little bit of the Twi my parents speak to each other. I hope to continue visiting Ghana in the future to stay connected to my family and culture. Drawing and writing are very important passions for me. Having the opportunity to create, either as a comfort outlet or a long-term project, is something I will always value. I will soon be going to college to study psychology and explore some art programs, hopefully finding a way to combine my passion for creating with my desire to understand and help others through my studies. I created this piece for my creative writing class and was inspired by an article I saw during my research about coral having the ability to ‘remember’ past bleaching events. The concept of coral being able to ‘remember’ anything despite not having a brain made me want to write a poem that combined scientific facts about coral with an emotional, personified perspective on the lives of coral reefs.”

A Mother’s Destiny

A Mother’s Destiny

By Anzhi “Angie” Feng, age 9, from Vancouver/Toronto, Canada.

On the day you were born
At that misty cold hour
I saw your pink little toes
And your skin as pale as flour

I cradled you in my arms
As I slowly weep
Your soft dark hair touched my arms
As you fell asleep

From that day on
I watched you grow
From six o’clock to nine
And as you drifted off in bed
I realized the destiny of mine

Years pass in the blink of an eye
You are now seven
Your thick black hair comes to your waist
Just wait till you’re eleven

I cry in bed every night
Each day as you get older
Soon for a present
Instead of a doll
You’ll want a computer

That day comes way too soon
Time to say goodbye
You’re going off into the world
To find your new life

As you drive off into the night
I know that I’ve done well
And all the time we’ve had together
Is just another story to tell

By Anzhi “Angie” Feng, age 9, from Vancouver/Toronto, Canada.

Unfinished Exit

Unfinished Exit

I keep thinking
about the time in high school
when you drew
me
a map of the city,
I still have it somewhere.
It was so easy
to get lost
in a place where all the trees
look the same.
And now
every time I see
a missing person’s poster
stapled to a pole,
all I can think is
that could have been me.
Missing,
disappeared.

But there are no
posters for people
who just never came back
from vacation, from college,
from life.
You haven’t killed yourself
because you’d have to commit to a
single exit.
What you wouldn’t give to be your cousin Catherine,
who you watched
twice in one weekend get strangled nude
in a bathtub onstage
by the actor who once
filled your mouth with quarters at
your mother’s funeral.
The curtains closed and opened again.
We applauded until
our hands were sore.

But you couldn’t shake the image of
her lifeless body,
the way she hung there like a
marionette with cut strings.
And now every time you try to write a poem,
it feels like a
eulogy.
A desperate attempt to
capture something that’s already
gone.
But maybe that’s why we keep writing,
keep searching for
the right words,
because in this world where everything is
temporary,
poetry is our only chance at
immortality.

So even though you haven’t
found the perfect ending yet,
you keep writing.
For Catherine, for yourself, for all the lost
souls
who never got their own
missing person’s poster.
Because as long as there are words on a page,
there is still hope for an unfinished exit
to find its proper
ending.

About the Poet:
Claudia Wysocky is a Polish poet based in New York, celebrated for her evocative creations that capture life’s essence through emotional depth and rich imagery. With over five years of experience in fiction writing, her poetry has appeared in various local newspapers and literary magazines. Wysocky believes in the transformative power of art and views writing as a vital force that inspires her daily. Her works blend personal reflections with universal themes, making them relatable to a broad audience. Actively engaging with her community on social media, she fosters a shared passion for poetry and creative expression.

 

a castle of words

a castle of words

By Kevin Zhang, age 16, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China.

I shall gather your
words into a castle
of shards

and walk (barefoot
into it
like a king

into his final
breath) and
I shall blow life

into them and
watch as they
flutter between

me and you
like dancing
elephants

By Kevin Zhang, age 16, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China. Kevin is a junior at BASIS International School PLH. He is an Honorary Junior Fellow of the John Locke Institute and serves on the PLATO Student Advisory Council. Kevin enjoys boating, collecting rocks, and learning about other cultures.

The Song of Saccidānanda

The Song of Saccidānanda

By Kevin Zhang, age 16, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China.

I sing the song of forever.

I sing the gentle winds
as they brush against the cliff
of endless time.

I sing the tireless birds
as they crowd the windswept plain
of limitless space.

I sing the hushed darkness
as it dreams the Rudra Tandava*
of boundless life.

I sing myself,
I sing the song of Saccidānanda.**

Notes: * Rudra Tandav: A divine dance of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction and transformation, with vigorus, brisk movements.

** Saccidānanda: In Hindu philosophy, the direct experience and bliss of absolute, unchanging reality.

By Kevin Zhang, age 16, Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China. Kevin is a junior at BASIS International School PLH. He is an Honorary Junior Fellow of the John Locke Institute and serves on the PLATO Student Advisory Council. Kevin enjoys boating, collecting rocks, and learning about other cultures.

“half, whole”

“half, whole”

By Alyson Henderson, age 16, Connecticut.
 
 
i have always been

two halves stitched together
half this, half that,
never wholly me
always half in, half out
not belonging to either
instead, i am two parts,
conflicting, like puzzle pieces
that don’t match,
forced together anyways
not one whole,
just bad stitching
the parts that don’t fit
hide under the paint,
cracked and chipped
not hiding much at all

they like to ask
if i am this half or that half,
but i say and, not or
and maybe they won’t understand
but i am always this half
and that half,
these halves are just me,
whole

By Alyson Henderson, age 16, high school junior, Connecticut. She adds: “I have been reading and writing for as long as I can remember, and it’s through reading and writing that I learned about other people’s cultures and identities as well as my own. My dad is white and American, and my mom is Korean and immigrated when she was young. For a long time, I’ve been exploring my own identity through writing, particularly my identity as a biracial person. I often feel like I have to choose between being Asian and being white, and I can’t identify as both. However, by ignoring either part of my identity, I am ignoring so much of my life. The way I see it, choosing one half of my identity is being dishonest with myself about who I am. My poem, “half, whole” explores the struggle of never feeling fully accepted as either “half” of myself, and how I have accepted that I don’t have to be put in one box and discard parts of myself for others’ comfort.”

Still A Student?

Still A Student?

By Emra Woldearegay, originally from Ethiopia, now teaching in Missouri.

Here I am, still a student.
Oh, why, after so many decades?
Aren’t you tired? They ask
What’s the point, they ask.
You better start earning tons
because time’s running out.
But for whom? I ask.
How could time run out when
I’ve so much to learn
about things & skills that make me more adept.
Why should that matter
When what I love is asking questions,
I am curious, like the cat.
They jump on me, snarling like an angry cat
And declare-gleefully: “Curiosity killed the cat.”
I would rather be like the cat killed for curiosity
after living nine lives, learning, and relearning eight times.
NINE lives!
What a way to go; it is the best way.

By Emra Woldearegay, originally from Ethiopia, did her graduate studies at the University of Oregon. She is now teaching journalism in Missouri.