We read the magnificent “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde. Worries big and small collide with equal weight all the while nobody does anything about it! During this year’s Taft residency we’ve focused a great deal on identity, and this poem is a powerful way to get at another thing that defines us: our concerns. I so greatly admire the 7th & 8th graders for their candor and generosity in sharing these brave poems with us.
Ms. Taylor
8th Grade
Untitled
Patrick B.
Worries that overwhelm me
plumet me down to the ground
I try to get help
Everybody stands aside
The car accident
Thank God she didn’t die
She means a lot to me
I ask people to help
Everybody stands aside
Again I try to talk
of course no one listens
I’m getting pushed away
Sickness goes on me
If I’m willing to help
Everybody Stands aside
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Sahra A.
I am thirteen
and my friends have betrayed me
the secrets whispered
between them
silently
how come they cannot
forgive each other
what if I never find out
what happens
and my house is always
empty
I have learned from my mistakes
in time to switch schools
my house is to small for me
suppose they forget me
and they say, “Who was she?”
but finally
understand I was invisible
there is nothing I can do
and my house is always
empty
Daily
Rachel D.
I am fourteen
And the girl I used to know
Is now popular
And hasn’t spoken to me for six months
I don’t understand
Why everything has to be even
Why I can’t continue without it being just right
The girl used to tease me
For having skin so pale
That my veins showed through like highways
And my finger smears the words I write
Everything I say is true
But I don’t believe it
Why I can’t continue without it being
just right
The last dance I went to
I vowed never to go to another
why does my best friend
hate herself
Every week I sit in a room
Play a game while someone tries to
read me like a book
I don’t know why
reading a book feels like running a marathon
when it used to be my favorite thing
And I don’t understand
Why I can’t continue without it being
just right
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Allyson L.
I am happy, at least I pretend to be,
But worried about my life,
The future and the past,
My clothes, hair, and nails,
But my sister is still more important than me
High school and my grades,
Friends and boys,
I don’t want to leave,
And at the same time I do,
By my sister is still more important than me
There won’t be enough money for me to go to college,
And I can’t go out of state,
But the rest of my family could,
Because my sister is still more important than me.
Ms. Asvos
7th Grade
Betrayed
Michelle S.
Her skin wasnt clear
She wasn’t the prettiest
She wasn’t the skinniest
She wasn’t the smartest
And worst of all, her friends didn’t care.
She wasn’t popular
She wasn’t noticed
She definitely wasn’t cool
She didn’t have curly hair
Her smile was crooked and weird
And worst of all, her friends didn’t care.
She didn’t have a lot of friends
People would call her names
And those people she called her friends, would talk behind her back.
The alarm clocked buzzed too early
Nobody listened to what she had to say
And worst of all, her friends didn’t care.
The Struggling of Life
Alexis O.
Too many of my problems
Are hanging by a thread.
My skin for one,
Has not been very nice to me.
I have dreams of my later life.
All of the problems I will face,
As I progress in life.
And my dog is just sleeping
On the couch, and snoring.
I feel my room, is just
Not the right place for me.
I am growing quickly,
And my room is just too small.
There is just too much work,
That I must do.
The homework I get kills me,
Slowly and painfully with stress.
And my dog is just sleeping
On the couch, and snoring.
All of the arguments that I go through,
I cannot remember anything about them.
As much as I try to remember the anger I had,
It really troubles and kills me to.
There is no time
To just relax and calm down.
I am slowly dying on the inside,
Slowly and painfully with stress.
And my dog is just sleeping
On the couch, and snoring
Smile
Alexandra Z.
Untitled
Kaarina J.
I haven’t seen my dad in months, but
I could lose my memories of him tomorrow
and I have so many shows I want to watch,
but I could forget everything about it next week,
But All Time Low is playing for me.
I haven’t seen this guy in weeks, but
I could lose my memories with him next month and
there are so many books I need to read,
but I could forget everything about them next year, but
All Time Low is still playing for me.
I haven’t seen my best friend in days, but
I could lose my memories of her next year and
I have so many championship meets I need to swim,
but I could forget everything about my life for the next decade, but
All Time Low is always there for me.
I am myself and I hate that, but sometimes I’m
all I have and I love myself for that.
Ms. Foley
8th Grade
Hanging Fire
Victoria K.
I’m almost fourteen,
20 days of waiting
and I’m at a growing age
where I”m supposed to
exercise, but I won’t
And there isn’t enough
food in the fridge.
And some days
it is too rainy
and I never want
to do my homework
Math is such a
chore
And there isn’t enough
food in the fridge.
And the computer
bleeps, mocking me
And friends are hard to find
and even harder to keep
And of course,
there isn’t enough
food in the fridge.
Hanging Fire
Gabriel S.
I’m fourteen
and the house is dividing
I’ve forgotten my homework occasionally
and my friends are through the internet
I’m slowly falling apart,
each binding falling apart,
I hate leaving the house
and being a teenager
and my friends are through the internet
I feel like a strange hermit
Isolated from the world
By choice and not circumstance,
This people I know I hate
Everything is collapsing around
And my friends are through the internet
Hanging Fire
Gus K.
What if I become poor
And don’t grow past 6′
What if I get killed by a gunman
And my XBox party chat doesn’t work
And a black hole approaches our planet
What if I drop out of high school
And someone steals my phone
What if Ben Affleck sucks at Batman
And I don’t make it into
The SC ensemble
And a black hole approaches our planet
What if I go to jail
For a crime I didn’t commit
What if I die alone
In a penthouse
And black hole approaches our planet
Under Water
Ilyssa R.
One thing you should know about me
I am fourteen
and I’m really short
I feel overweight
and I wait for someone to help
and the world is carrying on
People tell me I look fine
I’m going to high school soon
Who knows, I might get
bullied again
and the world is carrying on
I’m a swimmer and a rower
and I fell in love water
but I have to watch out
because one day I could drown
Not like it would matter
Because the world is carrying on
Hanging Fire
Bart B.
I am fourteen
and I have a missing assignment
instilling panic and
flooding my mind with guilt
my crush is kind but neutral
always leaving me wondering
and dad’s at work
I ponder, is this my best?
No prizes shall be awarded
I don’t expect any gratitude
my dreams seldom come true
as is to be expected
and dad’s at work
