the middleSpring 2015/Volume 1

a magazine of original poetry by the middle school students of Princeton Montessori School

Table of Contents

Welcome 3

Why Poetry? 4

Once Upon a Summer's Day by Ellie O'Brian 5

Best Birthday Party by Jack Moskowitz 6

The Moon by Alexander Huang 7

Spring Comes and Goes by Adam Schnitzer 7

Of Leaves by Ishrith Bidkar 8

The Land I Call Home by Michael Jacob 9

Starlight by Ellie O'Brian 9

Herald of the Night by Lydia McGrath-Maniulskiy 10

Only What You Need by Sean Shmulevich 11

A Sweet Haiku by Madeline O'Brian 12

Haiku Aboiut Kevin Durant by Gavin Aker 12

The Tulip by LIam May 12

All About the Rain by Liam Mendham 12

Spring Pantoum by Lucas Rizo-Patron 13

The Land of Ends by Sean Shmulevich 14

Pantoum Poem by Elizabeth Taber 15

Pantoum Poem by Emma Byrne 15

The Bodybuilder by Ben Amon 16

The Woods by Alexander Huang 17

Thievery by Christian Huang 18

Science by Christian Huang 19

Birds by Maheep Singh 20

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WELCOMEThis magazine contains original writing by the students of

the 2014-2015 middle school class of Princeton Montessori

Contributors:

Gavin AkerBen Amon

Ishrith BidkarEmma Byrne

Alexander HuangChristian HuangMichael Jacob

Liam MayLydia McGrath-Maniulskiy

Liam MendhamJack Moskowitz

Ellie O'BrianMaddie O'Brian

Lucas Rizo-PatronAdam Schnitzer

Sean ShmulevichMaheep Singh

Elizabeth Taber

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In this day and age, when we necessarily value the learning of practical skil ls needed for

students to succeed in life, we might ask ourselves the question,

?Why poetry?? Poetry is often viewed as an ?extra,? f lowery stuff

that we don?t really need to see us through life.  For

pre-adolescents--who are working hard on issues of personal identity

development--poetry can be a much needed conduit for ideas that

they are beginning to understand about themselves.  The poet Audre

Lorde wrote, ?...it is through poetry that we give name to those ideas

which are--until the poem--nameless and formless, about to be

birthed, but already felt.?  Poetry offers young people an important

way of expressing their nascent values, their emerging selfhood, and

the potential of their dreams.  

The poems featured in this magazine are both formal and informal.

They can deal with ideas that can be light of heart, or heavy with life

experience.  All of them are the voices of young people learning who

they really are.  

Lisa Stolzer

Princeton Montessori Middle School English Teacher

Why poetry?

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Upon a Summer's Day

I am from a laid back, loving, and weird kind of world.

When I got bored, tractors, laughter, and family games kept me company.

Three to a team, pitch, umpire, bat, and outf ield f il led.

No scores, just fun!

Sounds of the grass eater f il led my ears.

That meant today was a pool day.

The hot sun blazed my skin and it was stil l early morning.

Game is over and everyone won, now what to do?

Take an adventure to our secret tree house?

Or drive our tractors to Italy and back?

Too many choices.

I hear silence while bugs start swarming me as I stand stil l.

No more weed whacker or grass eaters.

Time to swim.

Fresh water splashes and laughter f il l my ears.

This is my favorite part.

Games of waves, rafts, and dives are our afternoon

activity.

Just heard word, we have company for dinner.

The gril l purrs to life as I hear hamburgers and hotdogs

sizzle in excitement.

Salad and condiments are brought out to the heat.

Laughter and jokes are tossed carelessly across the table

while laughter bounces off the surface of it.

Sun hits the horizon, darkness seeping in.

Glow sticks get brought out.

Mysteries as to it?s location f il l our minds.

It turns into a hunt.

Night greets us as yawns bloom.

Goodbye to guests and hello to slumber.

A perfect summers day comes to an end.

~Ellie O'Brian, April 2015

5

Best Birthday Party!

Today is the day

of my birthday

Everyone says "Hip hip, hooray!"

So for my party

I?ll have a perfect cake

Not too sweet, not too tarty

My parents will bake the cake

My friends come at around one o'clock

When they come, my door gets a knock

My family hires a bounce house

For all of us to jump

So we get exercise

And don?t get too plump

I will accessorize

My own bike

Or maybe take a private hike 1,2,3,4,5,...35 presents!

We?ll get a tent

To go outside and camp

I will be the Birthday champ!

Once we get home after our litt le break

We will get home and won?t fake

That we aren?t excited for presents and leftover cake!

~Jack Moskowitz, April 2015

6

The Moon

The Moon is a nocturnal creature,and wakes up at night The Moon is a white circle on black paperThe Moon is a baseball f loating in spaceThe Moon is the home of silence

~Alexander Huang, April 2015

Spring Comes and Goes

Spring, Spring what a magical thing,

Spring is l ike a cool ring that dings in the chimney winds,

If spring lasts it could be a blast in the fast spring skies the lizard says ?O my?.

When winter comes I say good bye to the f inal days of the warm haze,

By now it 's the cold snowy days and I was amazed by the warm summer days.

~Adam Schnitzer, April 2015

7

Of Leaves

The leaves fall,

They are blown away,

Placed in dif ferent places,

Every single day,

They are blown away,

While the branches are strong,

Every single day,

The wind sings a song,

While the branches are strong,

Placed in dif ferent places,

The wind sings a song,

The leaves fall

~Ishrith Bidkar, April 2015

8

The Land I Cal l Home

I am from Jacob and Mistretta lane.

The land of Italian food, pasta, pizza and gelato.

Where you dive into a pool, where water surrounds you. Where you play at the small creek and explore the woods. The rough bark and the sharp thorns.

Where the seven kids on the street yell "MAN HUNT" and "Ready or not here I come!"

The only place where you can hear Counting Crows and Matchbox 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

A land of Mickey Mouse, Kermit the Frog and Snoopy and Charlie Brown.

The place where I hear ?The captain has turned on the fasten seat belt sign as we begin our descent? at least twice a year.

This is the land I call home.

~Michael Jacob, April 2015

Starl ight

Bright golds f il l the sky.

Dancing starlight f il ls my eye.

Dots of beauty pebbles the world

Like a grain of sand already pearled.

Connecting dots f il l my spare time,

making f igures glow and shine,

Rumors and riddles sprinkle above

Solving and discovering what to be proud of.

Stars shine brightly

Dressed in pure white

Dancing the sky deep in the night.

All else is jealous of it?s rare beauty

Causing these feelings is the starlight?s prime duty

~Ellie O'Brian, April 2015                  

9

Herald of the Night

Did you see it?

The wind, whispering in your ears.

Did you feel it?

The step of a bird?s call

The f lowerbeds sleep in their blankets of snow

and the trees bend S?s as the sun falls.

Can you taste it, the crunching of leaves?

Midway between toast and maple syrup

And fresh-baked cookies.

Can you hear it?

The voice of the rain

The clouds are darkening

Night is running before us, its velvet-black cape

Spread across the sky

The smell of the stars

Is cold and icy

And ice cream cannot compare.

~Lydia McGrath Maniulskiy, April 2015

10

Only What You Need

The graceful giant pandas of the bamboo forests

Sleep in their grace.

As I walk past I wonder why,

Why are we here?

Why do we deserve such beauty?

I hear I see I smell I experience

The graceful pandas of the bamboo forest

They eat, and sleep and take only what they need

They have no need for surplus, they take only what they need

As I walk past I wonder why.

The towering shoots of bamboo cloud my vision.

I hear I see I smell I experience.

The graceful pandas of the Chinese forests

They eat, and sleep, and take only what they need.

~Sean Shmulevich, April 2015

11

A Sweet Haiku

May the cream drip down

Off the cone down to your hand

This icy cold sweet treat.

~Madeline O?Brian, April 2015

Haiku about Kevin Durant

Hard work beats talent

When talent fails to work hard

A living legend

~Gavin Aker, April 2015

This is two haikus combined for one poem about the tulip.

The Tul ip

It grows in the spring,

It shows off its colors in the sun,

Blooming in sunlight,

Everything nice,

will not stay forever, but

goes away in the end.

~Liam May, April 2015

Al l About the Rain

Rain

Rain is vain

Rain will never go away

Oh rain.

~Liam Mendham, April 2015

12

Spring Pantoum

As I walk right through the forest

Fish leap and litt le birds sing

Crickets chirp and leaves go crunch

As I walk along a pond

Fish leap and litt le birds sing

Upon a rock I look and see a litt le pond as clear can be

As I walk a long a pond

Many creatures I see throughout

Upon a rock I look and see a litt le pond as clear can be

Crickets chirp and leaves go crunch

Many creatures I see throughout

As I walk right through the forest

~Lucas Rizo-Patron, April 2015

13

The Land of Ends

A land of suffering

Ruled by an evil king

The people have nothing

The king has all

Ruled by an evil king

The people live in poverty

The king has all

The people believe he is a god

The people live in poverty

He does not care

The people believe he is a god

Power changes us.

~Sean Shmulevich, April 2015

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Pantoum Poem

As I walk through the woods,

Motor boats disturb the water,

Birds call from up above,

Pine cones fall to the ground.

Motor boats disturb the water,

Squirrels gather for the winter,

Pine cones fall to the ground,

As I walk through the woods.

~Elizabeth Taber, April 2015

Pantoum Poem

As I walk through the park

Birds play in the trees.

People walk by

Enjoying the outdoors.

Birds play in the trees

Chasing each other while in f l ight.

Enjoying the outdoors

In the beautiful park.

Chasing each other while in f l ight,

People walk by

Looking at all of the f lowers

As I walk through the park.

~Emma Byrne, April 2015

15

The Body Builder

B

BO

BOD

BODY

BODYB

BODYBU

BODYBUI

BODYBUIL

BODYBUILD

BODYBUILDE

BODYBUILDER

BODYBUILDER V

BODYBUILDER VS.

BODYBUILDER VS. T

BODYBUILDER VS. TH

BODYBUILDER VS. THE

BODYBUILDER VS. THE D

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DO

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOO

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR T

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR TH

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THA

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT W

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT WO

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT WON

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT WON?T

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT WON?T O

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT WON?T OP

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT WON?T OPE

BODYBUILDER VS. THE DOOR THAT WON?T OPEN ~Ben Amon, April 2015

16

The Woods

From winter to spring

The start of the woods

Looked like a looming fortress

At the edge of the f ield.

It was the place

Where the remnants of Winter

Remained

Until Spring's warriors came.

~Alexander Huang, April 2015

17

Thievery

I couldn?t wait any longer

for a big old rule to break,

the satisfaction of the pride,

this opportunity to take,

something big, l ike

the golden f leece,

maybe that?s why I?m

pulled over by the police.

~Christian Huang

18

Science

Everything has gravity

We learned that in class

Acceleration equals net force

Divided by mass.

Momentum is confusing.

Velocity is key.

I learned some of this stuff

Back in elementary.

Movement is just physics,

Working at its best.

Sometimes it seems like homework,

A real disgusting pest.

Friction also has to do

With anything at all.

Rolling friction

a.k.a. pushing

A red ball

Fluid friction

Static friction

Sliding friction and more

So much to learn

If you are will ing

To open the door

To your knowledge and your brain

A wonderful appliance

Make sure to learn all there is

To the wonderful world of science.

~Christian Huang, April 2015

19

Birds

Birds are the signal of a new season

Birds are the voice of mother nature

Birds represent peace and harmony

the chirping of birds releases all of my stress from the day

No wonder I love birds

~Maheep Singh, April 2015

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