by Maddie Robin This poem is about the effect society’s heavy expectations has on children and how sometimes, it can feel like we’re drowning in them. I stand at the edge, society surrounding me.
They tell me it’s time, that I should know what to do by now but I do not. I am like a baby bird, being pushed out of the nest to learn to fly too early. My wings are not grown, my eyes are not seeing, and now I am falling, falling, falling. I hit the water hard and fast and with a smack. There are weights all around me, each one heavier than the one before. I cry for help and all they do is tell me to swim, and add more. They expect me to do it all, keep my head up with all of this weight, but I am no Superman. I am still a child and every time I try to loosen them, their hands dig even deeper into my skin. My head goes under. Breath is stolen from me, my lungs are aching. The silence under this water is deafening, almost peaceful, but then the anchors just get heavier. I am running out of air, fighting my body’s instinct to breathe in, still struggling. And I am getting tired. Tired of fighting, tired of struggling, tired of twisting myself just to be what they want. My body stills, and begins to sink slowly, tired, so tired that I begin to breathe in. Water fills my lungs, everything is burning, I am on fire and I open my eyes. And as I see all the other children, drowning in this water just like me, with weights just like mine, I come to a conclusion. We are all products of society, complete with anchors, exhaustion, and water in our lungs. And as spots cloud my vision and I begin to feel cold, I realize that perhaps what they’ve wanted all along isn’t for me to swim despite these weights. But to drown because of them.
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By Mia Kondogiannis Medium: Oil on canvas Date: May 2019 by Pam Sharov In loving memory dedicated to my grandmother God rest her soul.
As I’m being interviewed for the movie “Schindler's List” I’m telling my story of, when I was 9 years old and feeding my family with a piece of thread. It all started when I got taken from my house by the Nazis. They barged in and my heart stopped as a soldier grabbed my arm. I was screaming for him to let go and bit the soldier's arm, but it was as if he felt no pain! He held me tighter than before. This is when I knew I had to be stronger and fight harder than I ever have in my life. I got thrown into the back of a truck, the door closed, it was darker than any night I've ever seen before and it seemed darker with each passing second. We were unloaded into what looked like an abandoned base with an ocean of dead rotting bodies. I looked around to see my family and I saw my father and mother, I ran to them, but before I had the chance to hug them, they separated us into females and males. My mother and I stayed together, but my father was taken from us. My mother was sobbing and screaming, her face flooded with tears. I stood there in shock. They made all of the women go into a building and strip down naked, they took our clothes and gave us rags to wear. They burned us with numbers mine was and still is 1856. Months passed and food was a far thought, I didn’t even remember the taste of bread or the smell of garlic. We were forced to starve and dig our own graves knowing we would need them. One day, when I was digging I saw a little hole in the fence. I wanted to escape, but there were multiple guards around me. I knew that if they saw me I would die, but I was already dying so I had nothing to lose. I timed it just right and ran through. I didn’t know where I was or where I was going but I kept running through the weakness and fatigue. Then, I saw a market, they sold vegetables, bread, and meat. I was in awe; I hadn’t seen that much food in months! Looking at it, I knew that I couldn’t get any of it as I had no money and I wasn’t going to steal. A man selling potatoes came up to me and asked if I had anything to sell so we could trade. I had nothing to offer him, not unless he wanted dirt. So I walked away and started to walk back because the only thing I did have was my family and I couldn’t leave them. On my way, I saw a little boy selling thread. I stopped and took a closer look; the thread wasn’t silk it look more coarse, it was something like the thread from the rags that I was wearing. I looked at myself and wondered, what if I could unstitch my clothes and sell my thread. I didn’t even care about the money, I just wanted food. I went behind a bush and unthreaded my clothes. It took me hours to get one small roll. When I finished, I took my thread and found the man that had the potatoes and asked him if he would give me some potatoes for my thread. I stood there, tired and hopeless, as he thought. When he took one final look at me and my thread, he handed me three small potatoes in exchange. He didn’t say bye, he just walked away and I walked back to the camp. When I got there, I was hiding behind a tree to make sure the guards wouldn’t see me, then when no one was looking, I ran in through the hole in the fence and went to my bed where my mother was. I showed her the potatoes. She stared at me, but I couldn’t tell her how I got them for fear of anyone hearing. We simply exchanged a look and waited until it was the time to go to sleep to eat them. It wasn’t much, but it was something. From then on, I would sneak out of the camp a few times a week with thread to go and get potatoes so I could feed my family. It was the hardest time of my life, but I had to fight for my family. by Ria Vaid
Do you ever wonder what will happen tomorrow? Well don’t. Because you have to live in the moment. Crying and trying to make the time fly. Getting mad at people that try. Refusing a high five And thinking you have no control over your life But don’t do that. Because all you have to do is live in the moment. Laughing and chatting. Playing and baking. Dancing and Acting. Well do that. Because all you have to do is live in the moment. Racing through tunnels and fighting your battles. Playing video games and Trying to aim. Sky diving and mountain climbing. Going on vacation and Waiting at the train station. And finding all your hopes and dreams. Well do all that. Because all you have to do is live in the moment. Daydreaming about life and getting sad. Hoping things will be the same. Making excuses to be sad And letting fear and sorrow take over your happiness. Well don’t do that. Because all you have to do is live in the moment. Eating unique types of foods. With a happy attitude. Traveling with friends on weekends. And sharing your happiness with friends That you know will never end. And finding friends that you know will always be friends. Do all that. Because all you have to do is live in the moment. At the end of the day all you have to do is….. LIVE IN THE MOMENT. Because if you don’t. Then life isn’t worth it. by Anonymous This was a crazy adventure, I must tell you. My name is Bill and I made a new friend name Rice. We both are skater and we go to Vaughan. I have been longboarding with Rice for two day at lunch. Now we made plans to hangout after school to skate. We were gonna meet at the school around 4:30pm.
I wait for 10 min and Rice message me on Instagram that he couldn’t come because he can’t get a ride and he left his board at school. I told him, I will bring my longboard and cruiser board on my skateboard backpack. My friend told me his address and to go to his locker to his board instead of my longboard and he told me locker number on Instagram but I fail 5 time trying to open it. So I reread the message and on the first try. I sent him a snap of his locker and I left our school. I didn’t told anyone where I was going and this was big mistake. So, I went skating on Rice’s board to his house. When, I got there, I realize that I didn’t asked for his house and phone number number. I skate down a hill to find a store that has free wifi and I found TD bank. I went near the bank to use the wifi and Rice wrote his number on Instagram. I screenshot the number and I asked for his house. So, he told his house number was 82. Then I went skating up the hill to find Rice’s house and I ring number 81. A lady came out of the house and I asked if this was Rice house. She said “wrong house buddy.” So I check my phone again it said “82.” I went to the other house and ring the door. Nobody came out. So went look if people around and i saw a car pulling up and i ran to the car. I asked the asian guy, If can use his phone to call his friend because I didn’t have sim. I asked my friend where he is and he told me near the Frozen Yogurt store. I went downhill to the nearest plaza and I couldn’t find it. So, I went up the hill to check if Rice was there and he wasn’t. When i saw a guy taking out the trash and i asked, “Excuse me sir, can use your phone?” he said “i don’t have a phone with me.” So i left and heard a garage door opening. Immediately, I went there and ask the guy name J, “may i use your phone to call my friend.” At this point, I was so confused as hell. So, i asked the guy to help me talking to my friend. We found out my friend’s house was in another neighborhood nearby and it was 10 min away from here. So, his other friend was willing to drive me to my friend’s house. I put the gear in his car and started talk to them. I knew they were high on weed but I was too force to get to Rice's House. However, they seem like nice and chill people. When, the car got to Rice house and we stop at “82.” So, I went to the door and ring the bell. A few minute Rice came out his house and we both went to the white van. We thank the guys and took the board. We went skating around neighbourhood. So me and Rice saw a highschool near by and I ask “let check out the school out.” We went in and I was amaze, that stephen lewis secondary school had better design then Vaughan Secondary School. So me and Rice started walking around the hall and we stop for second. I took out my Dslr from my camera bag and I started recording as we skated down the hall. So we left and skate to community centre. We went inside to check the place out. So we left to go the highschool again to check out the second and third floor. As we enter the build, we got kick out Immediately. Then me and Rice skate to subway to chill and eat. I told Rice the crazy story of traveling to his house. Later we skate back to location, I was skating to the bus stop and he was skating home. When, I went home it was 7:30 pm and my step dad was asleep (he has a night job), my mom didn’t came home from work. I was lucky, I didn’t get in trouble. This was a crazy story that I was lucky to live. by Anonymous
I get put in the pot. As I ask her to formal, she says, You’re chubby, you're dumb, you look like a thumb. This is when I begin to feel numb. The heat ignites. As I'm last pick for dodgeball, They don't realize how this makes me feel so largely small. I start to simmer. As I get punched in the face, my bruises become my defining trait. Im boiling, i'm boiling As I discover the meme page dedicated to my weight, I'm starting to think i'm just a waste of space. I’m overboiling, overflowing! As my teacher tells me to consider home school, Because I am nothing but a fool. I am evaporating. As my ex- bestfriend says its best if I put my life to an end; Why can they not comprehend, These words consume my entire head. I am steam. And I become mean, Attempting to restore my broken self-esteem by Maddie Robin This is a digital drawing that Maddie made using multiple different tools in Adobe Photoshop. The idea behind the design, for the most part, is the myth of King Arthur and Excalibur, a sword stuck in stone that only the true king, Arthur, could pull out.
This is a poem by Briana Glanville-Forrest, submitted during our open call for submissions. The poem is on the topic of a loved one losing their hearing, learning how to cope and raising awareness about hearing loss. Growing up you would always follow me around When I sang you always tried to sing louder than me When “Fairly Odd Parents” came on TV you would blare the volume and dance around And when the ice cream truck cruised down the street and played its tune you would nag me to buy you some They say that time flies Implying that it slips away from you quickly Like sand in an hourglass But for you the sand was your hearing It slowly dissipated, an irreversible change And the decibels that you could hear decreased and decreased and decreased Until You no longer heard my voice You no longer heard the TV You no longer heard the ice cream truck Losing your hearing was one of the hardest experiences of my life as it took me a long time to adjust I wanted to see how life was like from your point of view I wanted to better understand you So when I sing and you smile I stare into your eyes as they say that your eyes are the windows to the soul When we watch TV I mute the volume and read the captions with you And when the ice cream truck plays its song I ignore it since you can’t hear it I came with you to your sign language classes so that you wouldn’t feel alone and so that I could learn a new way to communicate with you You tell me that you miss me, the way we used to talk You tell me that no one gets you And that lip reading isn’t always easy And that shouting doesn’t help And that people shun you away when you ask them to repeat themselves You tell me that it is hard to accept yourself And that it is hard to love yourself again I just want you to know that “I love you” Hearing Loss is the fastest growing chronic condition in Canada and affects the quality of your life and relationships with others Although we take for granted the simplest things such as the ability to hear We must treasure these things So be grateful that you can hear voices, TVs and ice cream trucks |
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