The Drummer

The drum set sits all alone
As the person stares at it anxious
And goes over there to sit on the throne
And continues to stare at it contagious

It’s not that the drummer is disappointed
They’re just examining its texture
As if the drummer first wanted to be anointed
Because it was time for them to lecture

And picks up the sticks to begin to play
As the crown stand up and rock
They could tell the drummer would play all day
When the drummer entertained its flock

-Inspired by Player Piano
Ariana B Per 1

Gone But Not Forgotten

As time goes by I still miss you.
Sitting all alone with the sky so blue,
It is so hard for me to live without you.

Seeing you at the age of two is what I recall,
Grandma your smile is what I saw.
I enjoyed the times we spent at a young age.

Erma oh why did you have to leave that way?
We all miss you from family to friends.
We all know this is not the end.

Many come up there to be with you,
I can not wait till I see you in heaven.
It has been hard for me down here.

I am so happy that you are in a better place,
God is now finally able to see your face,
You were the one to fill the empty space.

I wish you were here to see me now.
I am so big it is hard to believe,
I have come along way from the last time we met.

It has been hard for me, not to grieve,
I know I have to let go and let you be free.
When it is my time it will be more then three.

Strong, black, and beautiful, is what you are.

Inspired by "Mid-term Break" By Seamus Heaney
By Latasha N. Per. 1

Friends, Can't live with them, Can't live without them by Candice Phillips

The first time you make a promise is with a friend. The first time you make a friend is with a promise. Friends instill their trust in one another. Many recognize their friend the first day of, others can find a friend at a bus stop. No matter how or when you meet your friend you will share a bond that can not be broken, not even by the strongest force. You two exchange advice and accept the criticism given by your friend. You share laughter and also shed tears. You console your friend when they have gotten their heart broken. You call on your when you feel like talking, or when you want to share a joke because you know they are the only who will understand. I believe in friendship.

I believe in an evil twin or guardian angel. Your find could be the sweetest person which may also be the total opposite of you. When you are at home studying they may be the one causing mayhem. Or they may be the one helping old ladies cross the street and you could be the one pushing them into the street. Whatever may be the situation your friend will always push you towards the good and pull you away from the bad.

Friends come in different shapes and sizes. Your friend could be of a different nationality. Your friendship is chosen by your chemistry, like the interest you share. But friendship does not necessarily have to be about compatibility. You and your friend can be total opposites but similarity lies in you’re your heart.

Even though many make friends with strangers, a friend could be parent or a sibling. People are even friends with their pets. I met my first friend on January 31, 1992. She was the only one who understood me when I talked. She ran to my side whenever I cried and made me laugh when I was sad. I can’t imagine life without her. Her advice is the best and her guidance I will always follow. She planted the seed that helped blossom me into this beautiful woman I am today. My very first friend was my mother. We have our disagreement but we overcome and the happy moments are what we cherish most.

While many separate friends and best friends, I believe friendship is just friendship. What factors make up a best friend and what separates it’s from a friend? Really there is not a big difference. But whether you have just a friend or a best friend the loyalty and trust is still there right?

Finally, I believe friend should not be measured in length but by the love and happiness you two share. It does not matter how long you have known your friend because it does not change the fact that he or she is your friend. Friendship is the greatest gift on earth. It is like a precious valuable antique. You have to be careful how you handle, you must clean and polish it once in wile, but mostly you most respect it for all that its worth.

I Believe by Matthew Funches

Many people living today find themselves re-living their past . A past experience in any form, brought to the present or to assume to be part of the future. This is known as deja-vu. How often do you find your self re-living a moment that isn't part of your daily routine? It has occurred so many times in my life and now I know that deja-vu lives and there are many ways in which they live.

One way deja-vu lives is through time. I believe that deja-vu is a simple form of time travel. This allows things of the past to keep up with the present and even may go forth in the future. I'm not speaking of world history, but personal events that occurred in ones life. Most things that happened before, that were not planned, has or will happen again somehow. Sometimes the exact same way it happened before. It can be the exact same place, or during the exact same time. Things taking place that happened either mentally or physically. This, sometimes, is able of correcting or changing the future. As much as I wish anything could, nothing can change the past but the past can
change the future.

Another way deja-vu lives is by visions. Not actually seeing or telling the future but, thoughts. I once remember lying down in my bed one night and before falling asleep, I was staring down the hall at the stairs. I then had a thought of me falling down the stairs. It wasn't too long after wards when my though came true. One night, I was sick, and as I walked up the stairs to bed and once I had reached the top step, I had slipped out of my house shoe and fell backwards down the stairs, with my right elbow crashing through the window. All had happened, just as I imagined. The same flight of stairs, the same time of day,under the same condition, breaking the same window with the same elbow. It all happened just as it did in my humorous thought because I didn't think it would have happened but I surely wasn't laughing when it
did.

I often see things before it happens, no matter how long it take for it to happen or if I witness it taking place. Just random things that I think about, wondering what are the possibilities or chance of it becoming true, then they sometimes do. Seeing is believing. My outrageous thoughts often surprise me because I usually doubt that what ever I thought or think about to come true but sometimes it still becomes reality.

Even when they are thoughts of things that already happened, it seems to happen again. Some say that history repeats itself. Sometimes things happen more than once and then it makes or becomes part of history. Now I take precautions of what I think about and see in my mind because I usually think about something often and I believe that's one reason why my thoughts often come true. This is why I believe in deja-vu.

The Truth in Miracles by Shaina Randle

I realize miracles come in all shapes and sizes. Whether it’s something as simple as miracles in sports history or something as extreme as a person’s life. I finally realized this last year when I got to spend the last few days with my auntie.
For some there are no such things as miracle. For others a miracle is simply an unexpected event or a wonderful surprise. For me miracles are the feeling that God has intervened mysteriously into my life. All of life is a miracle, love, eating, sleeping, and having a home and even just living.
I nearly gave up on hoping for miracles, with the continuous pain and suffer in my life. Little did I know all this would change. My aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and had fought it off for year. Until two years ago when she became extremely ill. Come to find out the breast cancer along with lung cancer had come back. The doctor only gave her three months to live, but she proved them wrong. We got to spend another two years with her. I believe all miracles happen for a reason and I believe she fought the cancer so long because she wanted to spend more time with her grand kids and let her daughter know that she is strong enough to make it on her own.
The word miracle has become somewhat of a cliché. Like when someone says it was a miracle that I made it to school on time, since I woke up late. To me miracles are so much more. Take for instance the plane crash in the Hudson River were hundreds of people were all bunched up on the wings of the plane, all surviving the crash. It wasn’t a miracle because it had no explanation. It was a miracle because people experienced it as a miracle. It was a miracle because nothing like it had ever happened before to the people who experienced it. It was a miracle because it happened when something extraordinary was most needed.
I believe miracles aren’t things that we can make happen but events that happen on their own. We are all surrounded by miracles everyday but we fail to understand what miracles really are. It is a miracle just to wake up each day with a chance of being around the people I love. It’s a miracle to be able to go to school in the morning and come back to a home, where I am blessed to have food to eat and a place to sleep. It is a miracle because not everybody gets this chance.
A miracle happens to us for a reason, big or small. There are some that don’t believe in miracles and I wonder, how will you ever experience a miracle if you never know what a miracle really is? Miracles aren’t things we can control but they do come when we need them the most. We are living proof of a miracle. We are living miracles whether you believe or not.

This I Believe by Brandon Parker

I was awoken by the O’Jays and the rumbling of suitcases. I could hear the voices of my mother, grandparents, and Uncle Poochie. It was five o’ clock in the morning, and we had to be there early. “Kids, it’s time!” My grandfather’s voice ascends up the stairway to the rooms, or guestrooms, as my grandmother would put it. My grandparents’ house was like a sentient being, full of stories and history. Objects put in one place always wound up in a different place. Dishes were always, always in the sink, and you always sensed an aura of love, wisdom, and tender loving care here. Even though I live with my mother and siblings in another house, I will always feel that my home is there, at 7552 S. Chappel Ave. I rised out of bed, put in a good two minutes of stretching and yawning, and then got my little sister and brother up. My grandfather’s voice came up the stairs again, but there was no need, because I already knew what he about to say. “Ya got 10 minutes!” Ten minutes… that was always the set time to get ready; get out of bed, brush your teeth, get your clothes on. But even though ten minutes was always said, we usually got twenty.
By the time we made it downstairs, all luggage was outside in the car, and auntie Livie and three of my cousins had now arrived. Everyone was now present and accounted for, it was now 5:45 AM, and time of the essence. We arrived at O’Hare airport at 6:30 AM, the flight to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida was departing at 8:15 AM, and it would take a good forty-five minutes to get through security checks. As the plane took off into the sky, my expectations began to build, imagination soaring. Another destination. Another trip, another adventure. The carnival cruise to the Virgin Islands had been planned for about eight months. Big family vacations were always planned about every two years, and I was always geeked for them… in a cool sort of way. I loved to travel. That suspenseful feeling of what you’re going to witness in a new, foreign land. That Indiana Jones, Lewis & Clark felling of adventure; but this feeling was just the start. The true bonus, the sweet center, was that I would be enjoying this with my family. My foundation, my inspiration. My #1 band and fans. My center of the universe.
I believe in family. The first, pure form of government. Mankind’s tether to true happiness, companionship, and fellowship. Human life is not meant to be one of solitude. Hell, the average human being needs about ten forms of physical contact a day. I wake up every day and feel blessed that I know and have a group of people who care about me, and would do anything for me. That is the beauty and magic of a real family. One that supports you, inspires you to be better. One that teaches you morals and principles that will take place in your own character. My family has taught me how to be a man, self-control, maturity, and humility, but most importantly, they have simply believed in me. This I believe.

Brandon Johnson: Hard not just upgradtion

Reading is useless, I don’t need this to succeed. This is how I felt about reading for many years. I hated reading, the reason was because I was below the average reading level. This really affected my views on education, and how I fit in with the rest of the world. When I was in second grade I was reading at a first grade or kinder gardening level. Since my reading level was so low I avoided reading in class. Despite my low reading ability I was promoted to the next grade.
It wasn’t until I was in fourth grade that my teacher Mrs. Weinberg called on me everyday in class to read handouts and passages in the book. She didn’t care that it took me a longer time to figure out words. She always motivated me to do better. Mrs. Weinberg was my first teacher that believed in me and actually brought to my attention that I could do better if I just practice.
She contacted my parents and told them about her concerns. Immediately my parents rearranged their schedule and ordered many reading aids such as Hooked on Phonics. My parents also sent me to Sullivan for awhile to better my reading skills. I remember coming home from school everyday putting in hours to better my reading. I even dedicated my weekends to reading. I use to come home from school and do three hours of Hooked on Phonics, and on the weekends I did six hours. I followed this routine up until the summer before sixth grade. This is when my parents enrolled me in The University of Chicago Office of Special Program Upward Bound. I attended Office of Special Program (OSP) for the summer and the fall sessions. So, I was in school for about eleven months out of the year.
When I graduated from grammar school I was noticed as one of the students with the best grades, and I was reading at an eleven grade level. This was ironic to me that I started my academic career behind the curve. When it was time for me to start a new chapter in my academic career, I was at the top. I would have never made it to the top if it wasn’t for the help of my parents. Their concerns and assistance in helping me better my reading ability. Currently I am still reading at a level above the average senior.
This experience taught me a lesson that I still live by until this day. This is why I believe hard work is the only way to succeed. This was perfectly stated by Fredrick Douglas, when he said “ without struggle there is no progress.” This is a quote that I believe with all of my heart, and try to exemplify in the way I carry myself. This hardship that I experience gave me the tools that I need to succeed in the future, such as determination, work ethic, and the desire to never settle for less than greatness.