Written Works

Will you braid the Earth’s hair, too?

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This piece is a celebration of Earth and our relationship with it. Our relationship to the Earth is integral to how we can hope for better and even do better– to recognize that we are connected. There is no us without the Earth and there could potentially be no Earth without us in the future. I think we tend to lose sight of this connection as we grow older. We spend less time outside and thus less time nurturing that connection. If we can remind ourselves of the connection we saw when we were younger, we can re-learn how to care for our Earth. When was the last time you braided the Earth’s hair?

Our Responsibility to the Earth

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In this entry, I wanted to discuss how we can best take care of the earth and how our planet is our biggest responsibility. I chose this category because I’m concerned about the welfare of not only the people and animals on Earth, but the planet herself. I feel we’ve hurt her too much and it might be too late to clean up our acts if we don’t start soon.

Ode to Earth

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In this submission, I wrote an Ode to Earth, hoping to let my audience know just how sorry I am for the mistakes of humanity done to earth. Through this poem, I am apologizing for the many mistakes I made so carelessly that led to the downfall of our planet and how I’d like to fix it. I learned that love is all it takes to set things right and I’d like to give myself another shot at helping our environment.

Fortunate Queer

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This art piece is basically talking about dreams and reality, the world the genders have come to, and what the community wants to see. I want fortune. As a genderqueer, I demand it. But I am only 15, so I need to have a small voice or I will be too “mean”. There is only a few people who have had a voice in the community. But, I was raised to have a small voice. So I found it better to write my voice. This is my voice, right before your eyes.

“No title”

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I created this poem because there are so many labels and everyone is constantly labeling each other. I want people to know that even though people can can label them, they don’t have to be that label. I believe everyone can change like myself. Growing up people always labeled me as a bad person, getting in trouble and failing in school. Now I am a much better person, staying out of trouble and getting “A’s” and “B’s” in school.

First I’m Human

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In this submission, I wanted to show how I can be more than one especially if it involves my race. I’m Mexican-American and have always been torn apart by both nationalities and I wanted to express how it impacts me and how I feel about it.

A Fresh Start

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“In this entry, I opened a veil that concealed the events that drowned humanity in despair. I wanted to show the cuts we were given as well as the band-aids we put on. In this entry, I reviewed the events of 2020 and how they impacted children like me. While 2020 was a rough year, it was also one where I bonded with people who felt the same kind of pain as me. I never talked about how I felt but working on this project has let me write out how I viewed these events and how I felt about it.”

Lost and Found

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“I am currently incarcerated for 6-9 month, detached and lost with no family. I am currently in the system and stumbling from failure to failure. In my journey I am overcoming my obstacle and trying to become a stronger person with purpose. Because of this I my hopes for 2023 is to be released from camp and to get off probation. I want to complete school and I look forward to my bright and beautiful future.”

Younger Now That I’m Older

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“I had great difficulty thinking about what I hope for my future, what I really want to work towards. I thought over the course of a couple weeks to no avail. I began to reflect, to look back on my childhood and what made me special to myself, to see how much I’ve grown from things that seemed so much bigger when I was younger. What was interesting was how many things never changed in me, and once I realized that, I found my inspiration for this poem. This poem is about my hope for the new year being that I want to be who I’ve always been but with much more growth and maturity. It’s comforting to know that the special things about you as a kid never really leave you.”

The Hero in You

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This piece is a poem that shows how a person’s negative feelings only dig them deeper. but I also wanted to show that our confidence and our positivity lifts us even higher. I wanted to show everyone that we are our own heroes, even when we don’t feel like it.