ODE
TO GEL
by Vanessa Lepe
Green, Yellow, Blue, Pink
Slippery, sticky, hard,
crispy
Feels like uncooked cake
mix
D
B
Y
F
r
e
o
i
i
t
u
n
p
w
r
g
p
e
e
i
e
r
n
n
s
g
Smells
like
flowers after
Spring
showers.
It defeats the jungle on
your head,
Leaving behind a perfectly
trimmed,
Clear garden with
barrettes studding
The corners.
It’s the solution to the
Untamed
Lion
THANK GOD FOR GEL!
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ODE TO ICE CREAM
by Amanda Jorge
Cool, milky ice cream.
When your tongue feels it has been licking sand paper
Or your sweet tooth feels like it's just been drilled,
Thoughts of ice cream pop into your head.
A mountain of a sundae,
Erupting with hot fudge,
Covered in clouds of whipped cream,
Raining jimmies,
And a big red helicopter on top getting its story.
In a cone,
Clowns piled on top of their unicycle.
A crunch as loud as all the fire trucks in the city
Forming a toothquake.
The trick is to savor each lick,
Like a woman savors her twenties,
Every year as good as the next,
Until you come to the end
And go back to Memories.
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ODE TO MY PENCIL
by David Nguyen
It is yellow like a twinkie
breaks like a twig
writes my true thoughts
sharp like a pin.
Better than a pen
cause it can erase.
It writes as smooth as a baby's skin.
Light like a feather,
it can shrink in size,
but it is as mighty as when it was
the tallest it was.
Even when it cracks under pressure,
I still need my pencil.
-----------------------------------------
ODE TO MY PURSE
by Emily Caulfield
Colorful, bright, and dark,
like the end of a sunset.
Dirty and beginning to wear
like a favorite pair of leather boots.
Filled with my life,
my everyday mask,
reaching the rainbow teeth
that guards it all.
My companion always to my rescue
of the everday problems I may battle.
In moments such a hair emergency,
a sudden zit,
or a make-up miracle,
you are always there.
A gay parade around my wrist,
filled with colorful love,
my child that I love, protect, and carry
that is filled with my DNA
and all of the little pieces of me.
------------------------------------------
***Honorable
mention in the 2005 Ruth Berrien Fox
contest for best poem by a Massachusetts
high
school student:
ODE TO MY SAXOPHONE
by Kirsten Byrnes
Glimmers of ebony and ivory.
A treasure box collection of pop.
Bossa-nova.
Midas-touched, golden-bodied,
Silver-necked swan of Jazz.
Reed-mouthed beast of rhythm.
You speak a language spoken in twisted tongue.
Gentle S-shape
Crisp, sharp King,
Perched between kingdoms,
Self-proclaimed
Seductress of the Blues,
Malicious murderer of Rap.
Instrument of power,
A large cistern,
Capturing, catching,
Silky laces of rhyme.
Liquified heaven.
Soaring through my eardrums.
Oh, saccharinely humming fire,
Held within white hands,
Piloted with nimble digits,
Controller of rhythm, of mood,
The arbiter of passion or lust or love,
Moaning death and singing depth
Of sanguine sunrises
Or cerulean sunsets,
Won't you scorch me down,
Burn down,
This wall of frightful exposure to experience,
And let me sink
Back into
My precious ashes of misguided youth.
---------------------------------------
ODE TO PHOTOGRAPHS
by Krystal Crespo
Stay still, we'll do the
work.
Submerged
in the dark of a room
an empty page turns
into a table of images,
sheds light on life
frozen in time
a gateway to the past
entrance to the future
smiling, waving, posing
little marionettes
stereo to the eyes
a still silent movie
a memory on film
you dance in our wallets
stretch on our walls,
and we enjoy the view,
we hold you dear
to our optical senses
artwork of professionals
fingerpaintings of amateurs
wrinkles in time
forgotten moments.
What an amazing memory
an incredible ability
to keep still
to outlast us mortals
and lightyears later
you are still here.
Those fun-filled summers
Graduations
ex-boyfriends and childhood pets
all on these beautiful canvases
these small
paper rectangles.
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ODE
TO BASEBALL
by
George Justiniano
America's
favorite pastime: Traditional
Teaches discipline and patience one day
and the other day has a rave
that has everyone interested.
Every
play has a decision on the
outcome of the game; Errors
can cost the game for the team.
You have to be very fragile with
errors as if you are
handling a new born baby.
When
errors are not involved
and the game is close, it is intense
like a high-speed car chase.
Love
the game because of the
nervous and excited feeling
you get when you're playing;
not for the wealth and fame
it brings.
Honor
the game and honor the players who love the sport.
---------------------------
ODE TO
THE CELLPHONE
by Atko Alic
Waves higher than Hawaii's
Longer than the ocean's,
The whole world in our
hand.
Surfers around the world
Gather round your vibrant crests.
You allow us to travel
Without ever leaving our seats,
And I find solace in
The sound of your ring
And the luminous light
When someone is trying to reach me.
And when our mouths tire
Because we talk so much,
The fingers do the talking.
They help us send letters
Across the green sea of the screen.
Without you I would be lost,
stranded on an island
With nothing or no one
But the ocean in sight.
------------------------
ODE TO HOMEWORK
by Phillip Albino
Homework that I don't do
When I am at home or out in school,
If it weren't for you,
School would be easy,
But you have to come and ruin my day
When the teacher assigns you
Some hard
Some easy
But on and on
Pages to pages
To be Done
To help me understand in class.
Homework, oh homework,
I don't always write you up
Bust as you can see,
I am finally doing you today.
---------------------------------
AN ODE TO BERLINDA MOJICA'S CURLS
by Christina Motto
dedicated to Berlinda
with much love for her and her curls
Wild tangled mess, like a jungle,
is what she wakes up to in the morning,
But when she's out and about,
people envy her because of them,
never knowing her deep dark secret
that it took her three hours
to tame her ferocious mane.
And while pople enjoy them,
she feels glorified,
the way a queen feels
when she's being cheered on
by her loyal subjects.
And in that moment, she loves them
as she laps up the attention
like a thirsty dog on a hot summer day.
And the love for them grows and grows
into the tangled up mess
she woke up to in the morning.
-------------------------------------------
ODE TO OUR HEART
by Selma Nuhic
We feel with it
We love with it
We might hate
And mourn with it
OUR HEART
Like Marilyn Monroe’s lips
Red and plump
The shape of a
rose petal
Pounding in our chest
Each time the valves open
and close
Deep dimples form
Like stars in our cheeks
We fall in love with it
We feel every tingle and
butterfly with it
A little thing called our
heart
Does so much
to our minds
Our heart expresses
everything
Every type of feeling we
have
Feelings that flow like
the ocean waves
Throughout our bodies
The heart,
a red locket in our soul
That only certain people
know a way to open
Own a key to unlock
And know a technique to
get
inside
But if you’re not careful
with it
If you don’t know how to
treat
it
Like a rose petal, it may
die
Everything you do
Ask your heart
Is this right?
Because your heart is
what keeps you living
Praise the red
petal-shaped organ that helps us survive
The heart
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ODE TO THE SEA
by
Eifany Bolaños
It comes and goes as time
does
and never stops.
As beautiful
and as immense as the
clear sky
in the mornings. The waves
thunder
as horses run to
escape from the moon,
their master of the tides.
The sea leaves little
hidden
treasures to all who look:
a crab to the small boy
who walked close
a plastic shovel
to the girl with a bucket
a ring to the man with
a metal detector. And,
peace to the blind man
who
listens.
----------------------------------------
ODE TO MY SUNFLOWER
HAT
by Ada Gabriela Avila
Ode to my sunflower hat.
For when a summer breeze blows
I keep you safe
held down.
Ode to the hat
that makes my
summer dress eminent
in its unique way.
Glory to the hat that
gives me shade
during the summers'
hot breath.
Ode to the hat with
a sunflower
which goes with evening strolls
Or Sunday church dresses.
Ode to my hat with a sunflower
given to me so long ago,
yet it shows no signs
of fatigue.
For my hat with a sunflower
keeps its straws firm
and flower fresh
still burning with fire strong,
yet it never goes out.
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What keeps you going?
You have accompanied
me my whole life.
Are you not tired?
For whenever the
strong
winds howled,
you never bowed.
Whenever the sun shone
its strongest rays,
you never gave in.
Ode to my sunflower hat
that shared tears with me
and mourned.
Ode to my sunflower hat,
for when a summer
breeze blows
I keep you safe
held down.
Hoping that one day,
you won't change
your mind
and leave me.
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