“Eat me, eat me, eat me”
I looked into the bowl
There it was
The sweet taste of happiness
I reached out,
To the sphere
At my fingertips
I grabbed it
The pink plastic dish
And there it was
The pink basin
Finally,
At the palm
Of my hands
I picked
The shiny spoon up
Taking a mouthful
Of ice-cream
“mmmmmm”
It was cold
Gave me the chills
It was that
Sweet soft sensation
Gently melted
In my mouth
Slowly repeated the steps
Oh ice-cream,
I love you.*****
"Choosing America"
Christ Frank
I too sing America
I am the Latino brother.
They told me to work hard
While my family it’s too far.
I sorrow,
But I never give up.
And I stay solid like a rock.
Tomorrow
I’ll be the leader of the followers.
When my family comes,
Nobody will dare
Say to me
“You are an immigrant.”
Besides,
They will see how strong and brave I’m
And be proud.
I too am America.
*****
"Mosaic"
Ren Araki
I have another ‘I’.
I am white,
‘I’ am black.
We are contrast.
I always help someone.
I am like a pigeon.
I always tamper someone.
I am like a crow.
I hate ‘I’,
‘I’ hate I.
I think you are not me.
‘I’ am sad to see me.
I notice ‘I’ am me.
‘I’ am my back.
I said ‘I’ am me.
‘I’ said I am ‘me’.
‘I’ smiled and vanish.
I could be true I.
*****
"My Day"
Alexandra Silva
I wake up with the nature
who says me good morning,
I open my eyes
and I’m grateful
for a new day.
The day begins,
studying and enjoying
see further away.
I wait for the bus while
I contemplate the shiny sky.
Start the day with friendly friends
who opens the door to my life.
The hours are finished
and when you don’t know
the first part of the day has ended.
As happy as kid with new toy,
the darkness
Is coming,
the sun is sleeping,
homework and homework
it is what I need to do.
Call it a day,
one more day
was completed.
I close my eyes
and I dream
in a new day.
*****
"Night"
Ren Araki
I like silent times, silent times.
Rest is what you got times.
Artificial satellites watch the earth from darkness to darkness.
Stars sparkling,
Shining, and twinkling.
Catch the one you love times.
Bugs performing,
Ghost playing,
Child in the bed, Adult make a bet.
Sleeping and dreaming
Of silent times, silent times,
Rest is what you got times.
*****
"Rainbow"
Hitoshi Akiyama
After stopping rain
Rainbow colors the sky
Like bridge a river.
Rainbow is very mysterious.
It has many colors.
Red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, purple.
They are very beautiful.
Rainbow disappear soon.
It is very short life.
Yet it gives impression to us.
No one have unlimited life,
But it is not useless.
Since those are unlimited, life shine beautifully.
*****
"Road"
Hitoshi Akiyama
We are pioneers.
We are going on the uncharted path.
No one goes on the same road.
We cleave road by own hands.
Don’t go to someone’s road.
This is your own trip.
Even if you lose the way, don’t give up your dream.
Advance to the light in front of you.
We are going on each road robustly.
But those are not parallel.
So someday we will meet again.
Somewhere on the winding road.
*****
"Song"
Ren Araki
I sing a song to stop history.
I sing a song from my left wrist,
I sing, I sing, I sing a song of red.
True my heart become a tear and will fall to the ground.
I look at this world hated by me.
I sing a song from my two eyes,
I sing, I sing, I sing a song of blue.
True tears become drops and will fall to the earth.
I sing a song of hated myself.
I sing a song from my icy throat,
I sing, I sing, I sing a song of black.
True words become weights and will fall to the sky.
I want to escape from this world.
I sing a song from just my body,
I sing, I sing, I sing a song of red.
True I am becoming a tear and be falling
On the ground, on the earth.
It’s lonely.
*****
"Spot Kicks After a Tie"
Matthew Jeong
Spot kicks after a tie
One day, a big soccer match was held.
Real Madrid vs Barcelona in Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Our school playground was very big and wide as Bernadeau.
The final match of class 5 versus class 8.
I wore the captain’s armband and I participated as a goalie.
Time passed by 120 minute quickly, spot kicks after a tie was began.
Each team player’s eyes were burning like firewood for hatred to lose.
Each team made goals for four times
Finally, each team had only one chance to kick.
Our team made a first goal easily.
Next turn was the opposite team.
When opponent kicked a ball, a ball talked to me suddenly.
I’m coming to right side! So I jumped my body on the right side.
As a result, I blocked a ball which was kicked by opposite player.
When I blocked a ball, my all classmates were coming to me.
Like a swarm of ants
Then they threw me up and down through the air several times.
I was super happy.
I can hear my classmates shouting on the playground even today.
My unforgettable beautiful memory which was really impressive on the ground.
I want to throwback and touch this moment again.
*****
"Sweet Candy"
Briana Kang
You look so tasty like cotton candy.
I can’t stop to bite.
You look so colorful like rainbow.
I can’t take eyes off you.
Even you make my teeth rot,
Even you make me cold form mom,
I will hold you in my mouth.
I will love you in my life.
*****
"The Death"
Vrajana Patel
Death is darkness
which goes darker and darker.
Death is a silent sleep
from which person cannot wake-up.
Death is a path to heaven
where the atmosphere is full of happiness.
Death is end of life
from where person cannot come back.
Death is destiny
A person is born so he/she has to die.
Death is a rattle
from which person has to suffer.
Death is everything
in the world
from which a person
cannot escape.
*****
"Winter"
Alexandra Silva
I don’t like cold days,
tremble is what you got in these days,
coffee dripping,
working and studying,
stay with the person who loves these days.
Groundhog hiding,
all tiring,
hard days, no one stays
of cold days,
tremble is what you got in these days.
The winter is just around the corner,
everybody is afraid
because the cold scares them.
Everybody begin to get sick,
everybody don’t like that.
All is in the past,
the ice cream, the swimming pool
are no longer close at hand.
A cold blue sky just coming
to stay for a long time.
Welcome
to the new season,
touched by fading winter light.
Cold and weary night,
the day becomes darker,
the winter has arrived?
*****
"Wish"
Phoebe Chen
The first time I saw the starry sky,
Silver pieces on black silk,
Leap to the eyes.
Meteors across,
Too late to make a wish,
Staring with infatuation,
Watched them appears,
Gaze after they leave.
A faint of sadness climbs on my heart,
In the vast universe,
Aren’t we just like a meteor?
Born and death happened instantaneously,
It’s nothing after all.
Cool night,
Gorgeous starlight,
Chirping insects,
Beloved family.
Under the placid view of heaven,
I embraced in summer’s arms,
Softly ferried to the spring.
*****
Death Penalty
Alexandra Silva Espinoza
Nobody should end another life. No one should take a life and gives it an end. But what if does? Stay in your house; one person comes in and kills your family or friends. Everybody knows that the person needs to be punished for what he or she did so if this person is going to be punished for murdering someone. Why does the government want to do the same and end another life? How can people just decide to stop a person’s life? The answer is that even though the murder needs to have a serious punishment for what he or she did; the death penalty is too extreme and it is a chain which repeats the same crime. The death penalty is an easy way to punish murder, but is it a good way?
Innocent persons died a cause of death penalty. According with J. Budziszewski,
Professor of Government and Philosophy “No system of justice can produce results which are 100% certain all the time. Mistakes will be made in any system which relies upon human testimony for proof” ("Should a Death Penalty Moratorium Be Implemented?"). This argument is not valid because just one life is so important, the government needs to be 100% sure before execute someone, if not they can’t take a decision just to take it. The death penalty is not a game; a life is going to be loose. The website procon.org shares “The reinstatements of the modern death penalty, 87 people have been freed from death row because they were later proven innocent. That is a demonstrated error rate of one innocent person for every seven persons executed” ("Should a Death Penalty Moratorium Be Implemented?"). This is justice? Clearly is not, if the person who is going to be punishment with death penalty, finally is innocent but is too late and he or she is already dead. How government can respond to that? Government can’t repair that, the person is already dead and nobody can give a solution. For example the testimony in Oklahoma “Greg Wilhoit spent five years of his life on death row for a crime that he did not commit. He received a full exoneration in 1993. A second trial was held in 1993, but after the prosecution presented their case (without the bite mark evidence) the judge issued a directed verdict of innocence and Greg was cleared of all charges” ("Innocent and Condemned to Die: The Story of Greg Wilhoit"). In this case a life was safe because at the end they didn’t give him the execution, but, What about the time expended? Who rewards what happened? The answer is so easy, no one can reward neither return the time. This person lost many years of his life, the opportunity to raise his two daughters, his livelihood, and his physical and mental health. This is one of the terrible consequences of death penalty.
People who agree with the death penalty assert that it will preserve law and order and the perpetrators of crimes never have an opportunity to cause future tragedy. They believe that death penalty will cause people to stop making disorder; they want to say that people are fear nothing more than death, so they are not going to do something bad neither a chaos. According to the conclusion of the effect of the deterrent “Capital punishment produces a strong deterrent effect that saves lives” ("Deterrence"). This reason is unfunded; there is no evidence that capital punishment deters crime. Research reported in Homicide Studies, Vol. 1, No.2, May 1997, indicates “Executions may actually increase the number of murders, rather than deter murders” ("Law Enforcement Views on Deterrence"). Produce the dead to somebody, produce more violence. Why more violence in the world? Why more number of murders? What example they teaching? The answer is simple, respond to a crime with the way of the death penalty is to increase and give an example of more brutality and contradictory of punishment bad things. A good example is the testimony of Delane Sims, “My brother was murdered but I strongly oppose the death penalty. More than anything, I want to live in a safe community; where my six sons and my daughter are able to pursue all of theirs dreams without fear of becoming another number in the city homicide count. However, I would not have wanted to relive my brother's murder over and over again, as happens in death penalty cases. The stress, pain and hurt that could riddle my body and mind just does not serve me nor honor my brother's memory [...]” ("I Want to Live in Safe Community without the Death Penalty"). Why more violence? Must these families suffer an agony? In the world, the number of violence goes up each year. Contribute with the executions is just to be agree with violence. The long process prior to executions can extend the agony experienced by both sides’ families.
In USA the death penalty also cost a lot of many than the imprisonment life because the Constitution requires a long and complex judicial process. The website Deathpenalty.org shares the cost studies in California, “In 2011, California has spent more than $4 billion on capital punishment. California spends an additional $184 million on the death penalty per year because of the additional costs of capital trials, enhanced security on death row, and legal representation. The study’s authors predict that the cost of the death penalty will reach $9 billion by 2030” ("The High Cost of the Death Penalty"). Why government wants to expend too much many in death penalty? Why they don’t use this money to give more assist for the people who really need it? Citizens know that the government uses their taxes to pay executions? The answer is that the government doesn’t ask citizens in which case they prefer that their taxes will be used because many people don’t know that the costs of the executions are carried by the cost of taxpayer
s. Those who propose the death penalty asserts in the costs of executions are less than life imprisonment. According to Vera Institute of Justice “Among 40 states that participated in a survey, the cost of prisons was $39 billion in fiscal year” (Henrichson and Delaney). The cost of imprisonment shows for Vera Institute compare to the cost of the death penalty each year the number of executions are going down in the last year 2015 they were 28 executions and the government expended millions of dollars just for a minimum quantity of persons (Henrichson and Delaney). Compare to the quantity of money that government expends is for 1574700 prisoners in each prison (Kedmey).
The other side has argued that death penalty is the perfect way to stop future crimes. But the death penalty is not the best way to punish someone. The person who did the crime needs to have time to reflect on their actions. If this person is going to be executed it will be easier for him because he won’t have time to regret what happened. Life imprisonment could be the best way because this person will value their life and especially others. In prison the criminal is going to be excluded from the world and this will be their major punishment. Also, what about the government? Does Government want everyone to become assassins? Yes, if they allow the death penalty because they do the same. They end a life.
Works Cited
"Deterrence." Death Penalty Focus. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
Henrichson, Christian, and Ruth Delaney. "The Price of Prisons: What Incarceration Costs Taxpayers." Vera Institute of Justice. N.p., 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
"The High Cost of the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Focus . N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
"I Want to Live in Safe Community without the Death Penalty." Death Penalty Focus. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
"Innocent and Condemned to Die: The Story of Greg Wilhoit." Death Penalty Focus . N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
Kedmey, Dam. "U.S. Prison Population Expands For the First Time in 3 Years." Time. Time, 16 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 May 2016.
"Law Enforcement Views on Deterrence." Death Penalty Information Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
"Should a Death Penalty Moratorium Be Implemented?" ProCon.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2016.
*****
No Money, No College
Pessi Lansirinne
Almost sixteen years ago, when I was born, my parents had no idea that we would live on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean someday. They didn’t know that their child could go to college in the United States. They didn’t start saving money for it. In Finland, elementary school is free, middle school is free, high school is free. Best of all, college is free for everyone. We moved to Atlanta about a year ago. We like Atlanta and we would like to stay here. That would mean that I had to go to college in USA and I would like to because the schools here are amazing. However, four year college education can cost over 100,000 dollars. And I don’t have even 100 dollars excess money. And there is thousands of families with the same problem. Where are people supposed to get that much money for education?