Each year during Spring Break, we invite young writers to join us and work with our inspiring teaching artists, to discover the experience of creating poetry and fiction. This year, we were delighted to meet so many eager, talented, and innovative young people, and we’re very happy to share with you some of the work they created during their time with us.
The South America on the Top
The power of the wind pushes the water that has erupted from a volcano
It is spreading on land that should be on top with more islands in it
From the water connecting its self to North America below as more islands form
The wind pushed the water against the land with erupting volcanoes that destroy the earth my earth will get to polluted with trash and gas,
Everytime you pollute on me, I get angrier and angrier everyday
Gabriel Mijares (he / him / his)
Spring Break Workshop: 4th & 5th grade with Ms. Virginia
A Lyrics Notebook
A rose-pink cover
With flecks of gold color
The secrets inside
Are to be described
So behold
Lyrics be told
Filled with passion
In a fervor-like fashion
Distress, anguish, melancholy
Resentment, displeasure, bitterness
Contentment, ecstasy, delight
The pages alight
With melodious tunes alike
Dancing all around
Making you spellbound
By a spirit of sound
Getting lost into oblivion and
Ethereal singing
Enveloping you
Comforting you
Relieving you
Encouraging you
Promising you…
You are never alone
Jennie (she / her / hers)
Spring Break Workshop: 6th & 7th grade with Ms. Marissa
Flower Power
—an excerpt from a work-in-progress
I had a homemade superhero costume! Nobody knew about it, though, and I decided to keep it that way. I put on this cloak over the costume, snuck out of the house, and started running along the streets. We lived in a busy town; and I knew we needed some superheroes. Of course, I didn’t have a power, but I didn’t know that’d soon change, did I?
I eventually led myself to a park, which led out to the country. I pretended I could speak to plants, and there were a lot of exotic ones growing here that I rarely ever saw. There was this one beautiful flower, it was purple and pink, and I picked it from its stem. Gooey purple stuff started flowing out of it.
I panicked. What had I done to the poor plant? I thought. I tried to glue the flower back onto the stem with the goo, but it just started oozing more and more the more I did. I set the flower down, and by this point the stem was absolutely flooded. I had to do something. I picked the stem up, and immediately my hand was drenched in the ooze. I silently screamed while I shook my hand vigorously. Because my mouth was open, a tiny bit of the purple stuff was swallowed. Wait, I thought.
That actually tastes good! I silently scooped up more of the purpleness and gulped it down. Not bad. I stuck the purple and pink flower (now completely clean somehow) behind my ear and in my hair. I pulled down the hood of the cloak. This was fun, but humiliating.
I ran back to my house, trying to be quiet but at the same time rain pattering down on my head. I had never seen it rain this hard in this city. The little countryside “next door” where I had lived before, sure, but not here. I knew this was irregular. I can’t return home just yet, I thought.
Turning around, I wondered what this rain was coming from. Was it, possibly, Rainstorm, the villain I despised the most but couldn’t do anything about because I’m just your typical 14-year-old girl? Or was it Thunderstorm, Rainstorm’s father, an even more powerful villain? Or perhaps it was just global warming and the sky decided it wants to rain. No, this was definitely irregular, I reminded myself.
So I looked up. Rainstorm. He was standing on top of his cloud, taunting me with nasty faces. I growled. But what could I do? I could pick up the flower from my hair and shoot blasts of purple goo at him. What? That’s the first thing I thought of, okay? And who knows if it would work. I tried. OH MY GOSH IT WORKED. The purple goo seemed to stick more to Rainstorm than to me. His black hair was absolutely crowded with goo, so much that the color seemed to change to dark purple.
I snorted. I had never seen Rainstorm struggling this much, it was funny. Then I sighted a helicopter in the sky. Reporters, I thought. Wait, I have to put my hood on. #1 Superhero rule – don’t reveal your secret identity! My stomach panged with nervousness and excitement, I was a real superhero. I-I mean, uh, I guess. It’s not validated or anything.
I then started to run. I could hear the helicopter following me, and I knew my parents were watching the news, so I had to keep a low profile. Eventually I hid behind a bush. I could hear the reporter’s distinct voice going, “Where’d he go?” I snickered. Apparently he thought I was a guy. I don’t know why I found this funny, and i really couldn’t afford to be making much noise right now, so I shut myself up by shoving my fist inside of my mouth.
Little did I know I had more goo on my hand, so I licked it off. Then I really felt it. The gooey-like purple stuff spreading throughout my body, the sort of sensation when you chew mint gum (honestly I hate it) and then drink water. My feet lifted off of the ground. I tried to control the gravity like I had controlled the plant; no luck. But I did get some ferns to grow around me. This was slightly painful, and I didn’t know why. Then it hit me. Literally. I felt like I got hit in the back with a hammer. Falling over, I was too weak to stop myself, I realized the ferns had stopped me from getting hurt more. They seemed to be fighting an invisible battle with a tooth fairy-sized something. I backed away. My cloak had fallen off. That’s okay, it’s dark anyways, I thought, because I didn’t want to put it back on. I then darted away from the catastrophe I had caused and wondered what this would do to the city.
Lavendercloud Rainwing (she / her / hers)
Spring Break Workshop: 4th & 5th grade with Ms. Virginia
A Walk In The Woods
The day was breezy and cold
And the sky was pure blue
The rays from the sun were light gold
It was a very good view
I glanced at my right shoe
It was very old
My left one was too
All covered in mold
And my clothes were all ripped and rolled
But I just stood there as the wind blew
And I walked through the woods very bold
I walked miles okay, just two
When I found the road
It smelled like Mountain Dew
And the street lights glowed
I could smell stew
Cooking inside an abode
So there I walked into
I thought of where I wanted to be
…a home
Sumedh Malshe (he / him / his)
Spring Break Workshop: 4th & 5th grade with Ms. Jena
The Marquess’s Son & The Milkmaid
Once upon a time, there was a poor farmer.He had a very pretty daughter called Autumn who was a milkmaid. And every day, she would milk the cows, feed the animals and do other work around the farm. She always tried this so she could help her family get more money.
Until one day, when she was running some errands, she met a handsome young man. The young man was the son of a very famous marquess.When they saw each other, they both fell in love with each other. But Autumn said “How can I marry you? You are the son of a famous marquess. I am just a poor milkmaid.” The marquess’s son was very sad by these words. Both walked away in misery
Meanwhile, there was another girl who the marquess’s son had been planning on marrying and when she heard that he had fallen in love with Autumn the milkmaid, she got enraged. She had never really loved him at all. In fact, the only reason she wanted to marry him was so she could become the next marchioness. She went to a woman who she was living with. This woman was actually a witch. She had once made the girl poison the marquess’s son with a potion into loving her very much. Now she told the witch about Autumn and the witch told her to poison the marquess’s son with a potion that would turn him into Autumn’s greatest fear and spread hatred throughout the kingdom. So she invited him for dinner that night and put the potion in the food. She knew that only a true love’s kiss could break the spell but nobody would want to do that after what would happen to him and it would only work until twenty-four hours after him consuming the potion had past.
The next day,the marquess’s son had turned into Autumn’s greatest fear, a wolf. So he ran out of the kingdom and into the forest. Autumn was sent to get some roots and berries from that same forest. When she came to one patch, she heard a young man’s voice say, ”Hello!”
She turned and was alarmed to see a wolf sitting there.She was just about to run when the wolf said, “Wait,I am the marquess’s son!”
She looked at the wolf and said “A talking wolf?”
”Yes, I am the marquess’s son, Autumn, remember me?” he said.
Autumn asked him how he had become a wolf and the marquess’s son told her about how the other girl had turned him into a wolf. They both knew that they needed to find the marquess’s son’s true love but who truly loved a wolf?
And as they pondered all afternoon, the witch and the girl were trying to find them to keep him from his true love before sundown. They took the forms of a boy and a young and attractive woman. They walked to the place where Autumn and the marquess’s son were. When they saw him as a wolf, they pretended to be frightened but Autumn explained to them what had happened and they looked surprised and the boy who was actually the witch said, “My sister could be his true love, and it’s dusk now, we’d better do it quickly”
The marquess’s son kissed her but suddenly the young woman transformed into the ugly girl who had poisoned him into becoming a wolf.
”You’re too late now” she laughed as the boy turned into the witch.
But the marquess’s son immediately yelled to Autumn “You are the one!”
”What! But-” Autumn started.
”You are my true love.” And just as the sun dipped below the horizon, they kissed.
”NO!” the witch and the ugly girl yelled as they transformed into their worst fears and ran away. Then, the marquess’s son took Autumn home where they married each other. And they all lived happily ever after.
Sumedh Malshe (he / him / his)
Spring Break Workshop: 4th & 5th grade with Ms. Jena
The Greedy Bird
One day a greedy bird was in its nest laying eggs. Meanwhile, a sharing mouse was sharing its diner with its family.
A few days later… The two met. The bird said, “Do you have any food?”
“Oh yes I have lots of food!” replied the sharing mouse, giving a peach.
One day the bird was flying… and became dinner.
Olivia Kim (she / her / hers)
Spring Break Workshop: 2nd & 3rd grade with Ms. Robin
Color Poem
Pink is as bright as pink fireworks
Pink smells like like the sweet sent of rose
Pink looks like the pretty sun setting
Pink sounds like the peacefulness of relaxing music.
Pink feels like being happy
Pink tastes as sweet as pink cotton candy.
Pink is my favorite color.
Olivia Kim (she / her / hers)
Spring Break Workshop: 2nd & 3rd grade with Ms. Robin
The Family & the Evil Zombie Robots
Once upon a time there once lived a family. Now this Family was special. They had magical powers. The brother could disappear and appear. The sister could teleport any place she wanted. The mom could sing so loud that everything will break. The dad is the strongest. He can split the earth in two if he wanted to. And every day the family trained on the magical moves. The dad had bricks and smashed them into powder. The mom had a room where she held glasses in front of her face and screamed. Olivia went up to New York and went around. I can fly. It’s like a plane inside me. Until one day this changed. Zombie robots attacked the land and this was getting worse. Mom screams but the robot’s steel was too thick. I try to hit him right on the head but it hurts and has no effect. My dad hit him in the chest—Wam!!! The punch made a little dent but not much.
Because of that, the zombie robots were coming and destroying. Because of that, the world would be wrecked. And because of that, they would have to change a new planet.
Until finally mom screams so loud that the planet is shocked. You should have been there, it was like an earthquake shaking. The earthquakes damaged parts of the robot. The evil scientist will be soon arriving to send more robots. My sister teleports to the evil scientist lab. There were weird evil inventions. Most were big. The evil scientist was in view and it was my sister. She gave a strong knuckle sandwich. The evil scientist punched but missed her completely. She gave an uppercut and a muscle jab. She did a karate twist kick. The evil scientist was defeated but the problem was. her magical powers didn work!!!! How could she go back home? The family needs help with the zombie robots!! She looked at the scientist. She saw a disk. And it was her power disk. The scientist must have gotten the disk when she was attacking. She put the disk inside her body and returned home. When she was at home the family defeated the zombie robots and had a feast.
William Kim (he / him / his)
Spring Break Workshop: 4th & 5th grade with Ms. Jena
Picking Up a Turtle
I had the power to pick up the turtle with my magical hands. I was going to pick up the stinky turtle. It smelled like old boots. Tasted like rotten milk and eggs. The smell of old horror books.
Afedfefffwefdff! I had to run away. I Might die of stink with this turtle. Why is that picking up a turtle so hard?
The next day, I went to the turtle. I could smell it miles away. Ffffff! Wow that’s a big fart for a turtle!
A year later I invented a suit. A big suit with stink free. “Finally, I could have a tur—” Fffdefef! Aw, the turtle just farted again.
William Kim (he / him / his)
Spring Break Workshop: 4th & 5th grade with Ms. Jena
The Blizzard
—a poem on the occasion of the 2021 Winter Storm
The lights are on
what a wonderful sight
charge everything before it’s too late
we can all agree it’s not too great
turn on the fire
before the snow gets any higher
rush to the store
before the snow is piled on our door
stock up on food
don’t be in a mood
spring will come back sooner or later
but I’m not a rater
there’s fun to be had
so let’s be glad
so let’s go up the hill to go sledding
before the white weather wedding
let’s build a snowman
before we are a no man
Reyansh (he / him / his)
Spring Break Workshop: 2nd & 3rd grade with Ms. Terri
Rutik & the Sea of Danger
—dedicated to my cute little brother Sparsh and for his 7th birthday
Click on the link below to download and view the full story in PDF format.
Neel Akerkar (he / him / his)
Spring Break Workshop: 2nd & 3rd grade with Ms. Robin
unbound 