LAKE COUNTY — The following poems are authored by the students of Middletown High School English teacher Hilary Devine.
“These are some remarkable thoughts from our Lake County youth,” said Richard Schmidt, Lake County Poet Laureate.
The Poet with the Pizza Backpack
The poet with the pizza backpack.
She’s ready to persuade people with pretty poems.
Every single day, on her way to school, and the play.
She builds stories with her words,
the poet with the pizza backpack.
She has the tools to poetry.
She sharpens her pencil to build castles on paper.
The poet with the pizza backpack is ready
to persuade people with pretty poems.
— by Maya Pablo
The World’s Greatest Gift
When I am a mother,
I will hold the greatest gift
this world has to offer.
I will take my children to the fields,
and teach them that to pluck
the wild flowers from the earth
is no sin
that to spread the beauty is a blessing.
I will bring them to the hillside
when white flakes are falling to the ground,
so that they may play in what is the coldest blanket that God gives.
I will teach them about
what it means to be soft and kind–
but tough enough to handle the World’s
greatest trials.
I will love them fiercely,
And tenderly, and when needed,
Wipe the tears from their cheeks,
When I am a mother,
My mother will mean much more to me.
— by Grace Southern
Out in the Woods
Out in the woods
No phone service to be found
Is where it stood
In a valley where the hills were much more than mounds.
This place of so many memories
For me, and even my Mom
Where I had the best adventures
No time to go on the dot com.
A place you call home
A place for good times
A place I find better than none
A place where you hear every chime.
— by Victor Guzman
Grandmother
An old, wise woman
the mother of mine
loads of experience
tons of time
a well of advice
a fountain of knowledge
— by Jack Farres
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The Creative Expressions column is a space for local Lake County poets and writers to share their work with their community. Creative Expressions is supported by the Lake County Arts Council. For more information and to submit a poem or short piece of creative writing, email rvschmidt2@gmail.com.
