Click on title to see poem
Pride
June 17, 2021
Dias De Escola
May 21, 2021
The Impact of Social Media on Body Image
May 21, 2021
Blue Skies -Free Verse Poem
May 21, 2021
The Loneliest Girl
April 28, 2021
Persephone, a sonnet
April 28, 2021
The Girl With Misty Eyes
April 28, 2021
The Remaining Hope
April 28, 2021
Join The Line
February 26, 2021
Sheer Cold
January 15, 2021
Where I'm From (Bee Kim)
December 16, 2020
Where I'm From (V. De Caria)
December 16, 2020
Unreal
December 16, 2020
Blue Jeans
November 18, 2020
Loved
November 18, 2020
Smarter Than That
October 15, 2020
PRIDE
By: Anna C-J
They have done inspections on our connections
And they claimed that their objection is for our protection
They beat us in the street
Condemn what we do in the sheets
They put us in cells
And tell us we are going to hell
They terrify and vilify
Because of how we identify
They kick and shove
Because of who we love
They try to make us disappear
…
Yet we are still here
Our love has been denied
Our pride has been tried
Told we should hide
In many places, our existence is yet to be dignified
And yet every year
We are still here
Our existence
Is resistance
Our pride
Is wide
Our story
Is glory
Our heart
Is a work of art
We are here.
And proud to be queer.
DIAS DE ESCOLA
May 21, 2021
By: Natasha Mazerolle
My feet drag
And my eyes are heavy
In my chair I tend to sag
But consciousness I must levy
A thought plagues my mind
That work must be done
But there is no unfinished work to find
And my workload is none
Alas there will be more work soon
There will be more until June
The days seem to go by fast
And yet time stills feels so vast
An eternity occurs between morning and noon
Taking a break seems a hard thing to do
When you expect to be busy every second
It’s a routine you get used to
Sometimes motivation has to be beckoned
It’s not fun but at least there are those who care
Answering questions, providing help where they can
It feels better that they are there
THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON BODY IMAGE
May 21, 2021
By: Natalie, Grade 12
They say to believe in yourself,
But society makes it so hard for us not to,
The constant posts, videos, and advertisements we see,
Invade our lives every day,
They try to make us change ourselves constantly,
They think it’s for the better
But it’s doing much more harm than us to good,
Teenagers are supposed to enjoy their lives,
They are supposed to feel good about themselves
How can they do that when society tells us continuously to change our body
We are not supposed to obsess over how we look,
these numbers, the stupid scale they are supposed to mean nothing to us,
Yet it’s what we as a society spend so much time on
Body positive and self-love creators who are trying to lift others up,
Get constantly torn down for how they look,
While trying to help others,
They say we are supposed to feel confident in our own skin
, but how can we do that when others are constantly trying to bring us down,
They say to believe in yourself but society
makes it so hard for us not too
What we need to do instead is lift others up and share uplifting messages,
Share messages about how exercise can make us stronger, and it can make us feel good about ourselves when we exercise instead of doing it to lose weight,
Share constant positive affirmations and uplifting images instead,
When we start to do this instead of forcing others to change themselves,
it can make us feel so much better about ourselves,
and help us to love and appreciate our bodies even more
BLUE SKIES
Free Verse Poem
May 21, 2021
By: Gabby Mosurinjohn-Lockey, Grade 12
Tiptoeing across the sweet summer grass
Damp with cold morning dew
Mosquitoes biting your legs,
Arms, face
Wishing that sleep would leave your eyes
And hazy mind
Breathing in;
Desperate for fresh air
Warm wind rustles leaves of the tall trees that surround
Fresh raindrops roll off circling down
Hitting your head
Carefully now, mud ahead
Dark and sour
Light clouds uncover the blue sky
Waving goodbye to the moon,
Pushing away the pink and purple morning
And the memories of yesterday
Welcoming a new start
THE LONELIEST GIRL
Narrative poem inspired by The Loneliest Girl in the Universe by Lauren James
April 28, 2021
By: Gabby Mosurinjohn-Lockey, Grade 12
All alone,
Blank space surrounds
She was forced into the unknown
To find new grounds
Suns and planets pass by
On a spaceship set for the stars
Around her corpses lay
Awaiting their time in the sky
Waving goodbye to a planet she never stepped foot on
Regretting what life currently is
A glimmer of hope,
A message from someone new
Instead of drifting through timeless space
Perhaps now she will be happy
Or will this just become another chase?
Ghosts of her past crawl forward
Staggering through the blank empty halls
Creaking and screeching
Dragging their long fingernails in hopes of tasting blood
A motherly touch perched on her cheek
Released from a web of lies, while hope is ripped away
My dear, it has never been your fault
As you did not choose this life
Continuing on her adventure
On a spaceship set for the stars
Around her corpses lay
Awaiting their time in the sky
PERSEPHONE, A SONNET
April 28, 2021
By: Gabby Mosurinjohn-Lockey, Grade 12
Picking flowers out in the summer air
In an instant, he fell in love with her
How could one be filled with such beauty and care?
He steals her away leaving just a blur
Searching the earth for the lost daughter
Nowhere to be found, as she is underground
Taken by the god of death who caught her
His love for her as if he is spellbound
Just six seeds changed her fate forevermore
His heart fills with sorrow when she brings spring
After four cold months, she can go outdoors
And there he sadly sits, the lonely king
Awaiting the season that brings his love back
For Persephone to walk into the black
THE GIRL WITH MISTY EYES
April 28, 2021
By: MF
My feet by the water
Waves breathing great sighs
Was when I first saw her
The girl with misty eyes
Asked if she was alright
And she nodded her head
Eyes bloodshot and swollen
From the tears that she shed
Now I don’t know if it was a trick of the light
The sun playing games as it set into night
But the misty-eyed girl had a translucent feel
Shimmering faintly, like she wasn’t quite real
My mother had told me to be wary of spirits
Said they’ll draw you right in
With their sweet, haunting lyrics
Don’t know what overcame me, but I wasn’t afraid
All I wanted was to come to her aid
I crept back to my house
and I brought her some tea
and I set in down right on that rock by the sea
Where the misty-eyed girl sat, expression profound
She appeared to be floating right above the ground
I sat down beside her
As she picked up her cup
and blew at the steam
and watched it float up
The misty-eyed girl told me, “Thank you,” then shared,
“It’s been a long time since someone has cared.”
I opened my mouth but had nothing to say
Only hoping she wanted for me to stay
With the setting sun shining gold
on the water
I stared at the girl
And finally caught her
Looking right at me, her misty edges curled
She leaned forward to kiss me, and my whole world unfurled.
THE REMAINING HOPE
April 28, 2021
By: Natasha Mazerolle
"Dust flies into the air
The wind blows against the grass
A torn flag waves,
reminiscent of a time long past
A girl stands next to a crater
Of what was once her home
A compass in one hand
And in the other a tome
One relic to direct her
The other to teach her
Both will guide
To help her reach her
Goal
The ground is black
The ground is dead
The fight was lost
The renegades fled
There is nothing left
The battle salted the earth
But apathy will only make her as dead as the land
So she shall leave and find rebirth
A tear falls from her eye but she is not sad
She smiles
For that, some might call her mad
“Goodbye,” she whispers
She turns away
Her chin is high
Her eyes look forward to a new day
She doesn’t look back"
JOIN THE LINE
February 26, 2021
By: Anna Carsley-Jones, Grade 12
When you choose to stay comfortable,
Instead of helping the vulnerable,
And choose to be still and polite,
Instead of being brave and joining the fight,
The fight goes on longer.
Because some aren’t ready to be stronger.
Your silence is violence.
Avoiding the alliance.
Your complacency causes harm.
It's time to disrupt, dismantle and disarm.
Make the signs.
Join the lines.
March the streets.
As long as we need to, we will repeat.
Say their names.
Be ready to exclaim:
“Never again.”
The fighting spirit must remain.
SHEER COLD
January 15, 2021
By Madeleine Bhamjee
Sheer cold
It crawls over green, over warmth, over life, relentlessly
It runs rampant and sees no end
How it glistens, how it gleams but its bitterness is overwhelming
Its beauty is immeasurable and yet it is so destructive, so brutal and unloving
Someday it will take its leave, for now it lives on comfortably, ruling over us
Sheer cold
WHERE I'M FROM
December 16, 2020
By Bee Kim, Grade 11
I am from the jukebox.
From the vinyl and the transition to CDs.
I am from the water, next to the woods,
(Untamed, sparkling, and uncanny.)
I am from the outdoor foraging, wild mushrooms.
Blackberry bushes with their thorns sharp.
I’m from the play fighting and the dance battles.
From Cavallo and el tic tac.
I’m from the fine line between belligerence and affection.
I am From an empty bag of Ms. Vickey’s chips.
From “Joyoung Yehae!” and “Exactly.”
I’m from the night walks with the full moon, stargazing.
I’m from the land of hope and night views, Yeosu, Korea.
From the apple foraging and a quirky guide to a secret tree.
The cooking, crying to movies and songs.
I am from the music, the woods, and the burst of laughter.
The photos, located nowhere but in our hearts.
Because time goes too fast to even savour the little moments.
WHERE I'M FROM
December 16, 2020
By V. De Caria, Grade 11
I am from candles,
From sugar and leather.
I am from dust in the sunlight,
(Iridescent, Warm, slowly drifting through the air.)
I am from the white spruce,
The monterey pine cone,
Whose sap smells festive and crisp like blades of grass covered in frost.
I’m from homemade red wine and big green eyes,
From Andrea and Francesco.
I’m from the story tellers and stubbornness,
From practice makes permanent and non si tocca.
I’m from meatless Christmas eves and baptisms.
I’m from the halfway of Westboro and The Glebe like those before me.
Roasted chestnuts and fresh pastries.
From the bullet that grazed the side of my Great Grandfathers head while he fought in a war he
didn’t believe in,
The Great Grandmother from whom I share my name with.
In an unrevealed location lies a cold metal box,
Only my father is able to unlock,
For what’s inside is irreplaceable,
As priceless as a famous painting hung at the Louvre that people stop to admire.
UNREAL
December 16, 2020
By Linda Berry, Grade 12
We live in a world that is consumed by ourselves.
We can’t escape our need to be the best, to escalate, to be invincible.
When I say need, I mean need, because wanting it isn’t optional.
It isn’t enough to be good at something; we have to be good at everything.
So we have two people that we are trying to be.
Someone that can be displayed to the world, who is smart, attractive, unstoppable.
Someone with a picture perfect smile, with teeth that are so straight they look unreal.
This person is unreal, and people say, “I want to be them.”
Then we have someone who is hidden from the world.
Someone who has bad days, and cries at night.
Someone with insecurities about their body, their abilities and their future.
Someone who wakes up some days, feeling like they can’t take life any longer, and thinks, “how will I ever do this?”
Someone who is human.
But so many of us have hidden this person for so long, behind filters on our phone, vacations in the sun, and an unwavering smile that only lets its guard down when we are alone with ourselves.
The only place where hiding from the world is finally over.
Because hiding was never the truth.
But some of us have spent so long hiding, we’ve forgotten the truth.
This is considered normal.
It’s normal to hide, to ignore, to repress.
We pretend that we are better than others, and vice versa.
A story in our heads that plays out through our display to the world.
I hope someday this changes.
I hope that someday it’s ok to just do something that you love, not because you’re amazing at it, but because you love it.
I hope that it’s ok to care about humanity not just when it’s a fad, but all the time.
And most importantly, I hope it’s ok to post a picture on instagram not because it’s “cute”, but because it’s YOU.
I’ve been real in a fake world for so long;
one day I hope to be real in a real world.
BLUE JEANS
November 18, 2020
By Linda Berry, Grade 12
We buy them without thinking.
Fresh, soft, sky blue.
Rips and tears, the latest fashion.
We feel better, instantly when we get them.
Like a shot of adrenaline pulsing through our veins.
Because they’re so much more than just a pair of jeans.
They’re not at all like all the other pairs of pants we have- no, these ones are special.
Maybe they’ll make our crush notice us, or maybe someone else will.
Despite the fact that everyone else wears them, they’re unique.
Nevermind who made them.
That’s a different story.
One that we aren’t exposed to- a story that is far away from where we live.
In a country with a name we can’t pronounce, where the people speak a language we don’t know, where they experience a way of life we never have.
Somehow, this makes the other country seem like an alternate universe.
Maybe that’s why we don’t care.
Because we can’t imagine that what we’re doing right here, right now, has any impact that far away.
Because we just can’t believe it.
We can’t believe how young they are when they begin work, or how they are treated, or how they live.
We think that because we’re kind, good people, we’re not the ones causing them any pain.
And we just want the jeans.
The jeans that we paid $20 dollars for, but that they were only paid pennies for.
The jeans that we bought in a cute store, that they made in enormous, overheated, overcrowded factories.
The jeans made by children who never got an education, an opportunity at life.
I guess it's easy to just pretend.
Pretend that we don’t know, or pretend that it’s not true.
Convince ourselves otherwise, then move on with our busy lives.
But the truth is, everyday we vote with our wallets.
And whether you vote for injustice or justice is up to you.
But your vote counts.
Every vote counts.
Even if it's just for a pair of blue jeans.
LOVED
November 18, 2020
By Anonymous
There was a time where they'd argue
You'd run into my room
And I'd shut the door and hold you tight
Like a dream fading from my mind
I'm sorry I can't always protect you
But when I can I'll be there
Looking across wherever we are
As if to distract them from the fact that I'm squeezing your hand so tight
Almost like I'm ready to run off
to protect you
And your happiness
From their fights
Even though they think they mean well
SMARTER THAN THAT
October 15, 2020
By a Grade 10 Student
It has been said
Your best was all you could do
And that’s enough
Moods and feelings are like seasons
They change so quickly
You don’t even notice until after the change
I felt good
I felt confident
I felt hopeful
But then that changed
It has been said
“You’re smarter than that”
My best was all I could do
And that wasn’t enough
I’ve always asked questions
I’ll always try to look for help
But that can’t always work
That hasn’t been enough
My disappointment will fade soon
I know
It will blow away like the leaves of Autumn
My tears will stop falling
I know
Dry up like a Spring in heat as hot as Summer
But words are like a plastic
They can stay composed for a thousand years
And both can do harm
I’ll try my best
Even if you think I’m smarter than that