The Ghost: By Malak O.

The Ghost

Awoken from my sleep
I hear
Footsteps

I go out of my room
When I open the door
Oh my god!

I see a ghost!
A mad girl
With scary eyes

Wet black hair
Covering her
White head

I couldn't move
Not even a millimeter!
What will I do?

Graduation: By Nada R.

Graduation

I waited for this moment all year long
Now it's finally happened

I'm on the stage
Getting my diploma

Parents watching have
Tears in their faces while they smile

This has been the greatest
Moment of my life

I stop - Turn towards the audience
I want to say a word

While the lights shine on me
And my family watches me

"Goodbye, Lower school -
Hello Middle school!"

But I say nothing
Just walk across the stage

My hopes and fears
Swimming in my mind

Will I get good grades? Pass every test?
Will I get to class on time?

All I can say is that
I've made it to this day

And that
Is a great accomplishment

My Soul is a Petal: By Alya S.

My Soul is a Petal

My soul is a petal
In my body
Moving all around
Like freedom
No one can imagine it
Wouldn't get it out
Until the wind
Blows it out

The Secret Gift: By Lyazid A.

The Secret Gift

I think I can only come up to you
But it's too hard to say
I put it on your desk
I write a note: "I love you."
I look away, starting to loathe myself
I couldn't help but smile
I turn around, "Thank you."
The beautiful vibration of your voice
Sets upon my ear

My Soul: By Rita J.

My Soul

My soul is a gift
from God

A creature
locked within me

A body with wings
tests me and supports me

My soul roams in my body
trying to find his way out

One day my soul will
find a way out of the labyrinth

And fly back
to its proper owner

My Soul: By Yassine I.

My Soul

My soul is a present
I find each Christmas
The person I can't see
A shadow living in the dark

My soul is an innocent leaf
A leap to the future
One lonely breath
A lock missing a key

A Note: Brian B.

A Note:

This is not a poem, but a note
Today in class the students
Writing on their own
Composed, or perhaps excavated
Poems on the topic of the soul

The images they chose
Beautifully intertwined with words
Like morning glory vines
Wrapping around the trunks
Of very old trees

Imagining anew the world
That had seemed so familiar
The very night before
As the doubts of the old
Give way to the hopes of the young

My Soul: By Fatema-Zahra B.

My Soul

My soul flies
My soul is a bird
My soul is as colorful as
Spring flowers
My soul is nature

But no, no

My soul doesn't fly
My soul isn't a bird
My soul isn't as colorful as
Spring flowers
My soul isn't nature

My soul is
Most importantly
Me

Where I'm From: By Dalia G.

Where I'm From

Where I'm from I see tall buildings
Pollution coming out of cars
And of course the strictness of people

Where I'm from I hear intelligent cows mooing back and forth
I hear the cars honking and people yelling at each other
I hear peaceful animals, and violent people

Where I'm from I taste the marvelous and delicious
Sausages sizzling in the pan
I enjoy the world famous Moroccan cuisine

Where I'm from I smell the moroccan pastries cooking
I smell the pure fresh air
Loaded with the scent of blooming flowers

Where I'm from I feel the spirit
The warmth and generosity
The hospitality of people

My Soul: By Yassir A.

My Soul

My soul is afraid of God and nobody else.
My soul asks me to act with my hands, but I have learned my lesson.
My soul is sorrowful for Palestine, and cries out for revenge in Syria.
My soul is Islam, standing next to Allah.

My soul is working when I sleep.
My soul needs care, which she doesn't have much of.
My soul needs peace, like the wind.
My soul has good manners, or so I wish.

My soul is a perfect love, a house where all knock to enter.
My soul is a gift. A test graded by Allah.To pass I must have a strong personality.
My soul is the word "Fundamental," and with it the word "Life."
My soul rests, so for me it's death.

My soul is not free as a horse in a field.
My soul is trapped like rats in a cage I have built.
My soul stands alone, waiting.
My soul enters into Paradise.

Graduation: by Salma A.

Graduation

Great! Finally here!
Really excited
Have been waiting all year
Dresses so pretty
U would be surprised by our rainbow clothing
Teachers would say
I wish I could punish them
Oh what a joy today
Nobody will stop that

Betrayal: by Davinia D.

Betrayal

Betrayal, there with your eyes so innocent
Thinking that no one knows your dark secret
Within you the evil runs through your veins
Within you the mysterious look that frightens me
But what have we done for you to become like this?
Come back to who you were. Long ago. Before.

Without You: by Majid M.

Without You

It's the looks that lie
The tears I cry
From the mistakes
One person makes

From the sad song
Where no one sings along
To where I have no friends
Just a cut that never mends

It's not simply a feeling
That gets everyone sad
It takes you to the point
Where you even get mad

But this depression
Is sad and true
Because this is my life
Without you

The House Where Nobody Lives: by Ibrahim A.and Abdelkarim S.

The House Where Nobody Lives

Not far from where I live
There is an old house standing by itself

I long to explore inside
But the door is always locked

When I peer through a window
All I can see is darkness and dust

Maybe it's a haunted house or not, I don't know
And it's the mystery that keeps me coming back

Feelings: by Salma A.

Feelings

Feelings coming out grey
Like a battleship in the rain
When you insult me
Pink like cotton candy
When you compliment me
Red like the scarf
On a bullfighter's neck
When you make me mad
Blue like the endless ocean
When you leave me

I have a color
For every way you treat me
I have a rainbow of feelings
Put in a box and pushed
To the back of the shelf
Never touched
But now
I will let
Them
Out

Once In A Lifetime: By Rita L.

Once In A Lifetime

It happens once in a lifetime
This feeling of care
This feeling of hope
This feeling of faith
A light beaming
In the darkness
Especially
This lonely feeling
Of love

Grandfather: Fatema-Zahra B.

Grandfather

You were here
Right beside me

You went
Went away

You were always
Here for me

Because you went away
Life is dark

I miss you
My family misses you

Grandfather, grandfather
I love you

Words to Say: by Yassine I.

Words to Say:

I am lost
Lost in my thoughts
Lost in my world
Lost in my words

When I think I find the words
To say, I see you
And all my words run away
One by one and I don't find anything to say

And because of you I can't talk
I am scared to express my feelings
Waiting till the day when I can say
That this is crazy

But
I
Love
You

Sister: By Imane S.

Sister

An angel
A princess
A sister
A friend

A great
Good
Big
Magical
Sister

Being Invisible: By Taha A.

Being Invisible

I'm invisible - clear and transparent
You don't pay attention to me
As if I don't exist for you

I feel agony when you, people,
Ignore me.You people are traitors!
Not even telling to me, "Hello."
What a shame of you, people.

When I try to talk to you, when I say a word;
You think it's a ghost!
You only see me, if you step on me, but
Right after you blink your eyes,
I vanish in front of you
And I'm only a memory

My tears are fully shown, I'm miserable
You see me --- oh wait, I forgot,
All what you see is an invisible, transparent
Human body.

I come in front of you
My tears are fully shown
Yet I remain invisible,
I'm completely unknown.

Horses: By Yasmine A.

Horses

Nice

And beautiful

Protect you if you trust them

Never leave a horse alone

Or it will think that you

Don't love it anymore

Trust horses

Give them a lot of attention

And they will jump over a river for you

Horses feel

Your feelings

Even when you're sad

Horses also have feelings

If you don't want them to be sad

Make them happy

You and your horse are a group

You are one

No one will break that

Lost: by Fatema-Zahra

Lost
You can't hear anything
Not even a fly passing by
You can't see
You are in the dark
You didn't notice what cost life

So now you're lost

You wait
Nothing. Nothing happens
No mom, no dad here for you
Now you realize
Life is precious.

Lost, by Rita J. (Inspired by Titi)

Lost
Who I am, what I am, where I am
I was lost, lost in my mind, in my culture, in my religion
I asked myself only one very important question
What is life?
I slowly fell to the ground.
All around me was only white.
I was lonely, only me
And my imagination.
Suddenly I was in the middle of the sea.
It was scary, maybe I was crazy.
I was sinking to the bottom of the sea.
I was afraid of me.

(Inspired by Titi, dedicated to those with Alzheimers disease)

Nature's Mask: by Lyazid

Nature's Mask

Nature looks overwhelming

Maybe a little calming

But it is just a lie 

To feel like you can fly

The wind blowing past my cheek

Tornadoes occurring as we speak

Nature has a mask

Want to know the truth just ask

But don't be fooled

Or you'll just get schooled

Sorrow, by Rita L.

Sorrow

No,

It wasn't the scars on her face

The blood on her cheek

The cast with no signatures,

The tangled hair,

The gash on her forehead,

Or the cut on her upper lip.

It was the look in her eyes

The fact she's been hurt

The fact that she's been burned

The fact she was a warrior.

Postcards from Syria, by Brian B.

Postcards from Syria

Have you seen the

Postcards from Syria?

The ancient cities are gone

Replaced by smoke.

Hollows 

Where there were once windows.

A cold hearth

Where there was once a warm fire.

It surprises me to know

That I am the first to tell you.

It's all over the news

Back home in the land of the free.

But did you see his face? (Who)

The man with the bandana.

Gun clutched like a holy book

While silently in tears he

Fought onward to what - Freedom? 

Or another day.

Buy this postcard from Syria.

Mail it to a friend.

Maybe she will receive it

After the war.

Along with that

Green bandana.

That smell -

Of fear?

Or freedom

That will never die.