I was struck by how I would ask the students to list the things they were worried about and it would usually vacillate between mundane things like grades and horrifying things like clowns murdering their whole families. It’s hard being a human.
Mrs. Asvos
7th Grade, 6th Period
“Robots”
Andrew G.
Robots are more superior
than humans, yet they do simpler
tasks than us. The robot revolution
starts now.
Animatronics at Chuckie Cheese, sing
the same songs over and over.
They don’t get rewarded for
their pain. They want us to make us pay.
This fear is built on us. You
would probably go mad if you had
a machine’s job. So do machines
go mad.
Robots have the power against us.
We built them. So who’s to say
that robot revolution does
not start now.
“My Life is Over”
Yesenia B.
I am 12. My grades are horrible. I have 2 Bs. My world is now crashing down. Now my teachers hate me. They probably are planning some way to get rid of me as I speak. They will be so happy when I miss my homework. My life is over.
To think before I used to worry about princesses. What about my beloved teddy bear, Pooky? He could be killed and I wouldn’t know anything about it because of SCHOOL. That’s not even the worst part. My hair always gets messed up in the middle of class. My life is over.
Wait a minute, when I get old and all shriveled up will my husband love me? That is if I even have a husband. I can die any minute, any second. My life is literally over.
“Only God Knows”
William F.
Do my stuffed animals come to life?
Will I fail a grade?
What will I eat for dinner?
Only god knows
Will I get held at gun point?
Do my friends like me?
When will I die?
Only god knows
Will I beat Black Ops?
Will I have to put down
my dog?
How will I sleep tonight?
Only god knows
When will I die?
Will I have a family of my own?
Will I get a good job>
Only god knows
Mrs. Asvos
7th Grade, 7th Period
“Fear”
Jake S.(ed. Note: i posted this poem on facebook and it got over 100 likes and a buttload of positive comments – good job!)
We’re all gonna die
We’re all going to get forks thrown at us
We’re all going to get hacked
We’re all going to get ebola
We’re all gonna die
We’re all going to drown
We’re all going to bite our tongue
We’re all going to fall off a bike
We’re all going to die
All of our shoes will get scuffed
The sun will blow us all up
Our Instagrams will all get hacked
We’re all gonna die
“Bands Breaking Up”
Katherine V.
Millions of thought
race through my head
every day
some dead and
some bad
Will the world end soon?
Will One Direction or
5 Seconds of Summer
break up?
How much longer
do I
have to live?
It all worries me.
Can’t concentrate
and I can’t
focus
will these
things happen?
It all worries me.
But some infinities
are bigger than
other infinities.
So who knows
what’s tomorrow
and still
it all worries.
“Missing the Bus”
Jacob T.
I am afraid of missing the bus
I always call for it
but it never seems to respond.
I say “stop!”, but it
never stops. Then I realize that
it was the garbage truck.
“Getting Wet”
Milo L.
I’m three years old
running naked through
the house. I won’t
get wet. I can’t get
wet, as my parents
chase me through
the house.
I can survive without one. I
smell good I say.
Don’t take me away.
Alas I get caught
after crawling
under the chairs
and tables
as my parents
chase me through
the house.
I fight and fuss,
I bite and cuss.
I lose and get wet
and drown in the tub.
Mrs. Asvos
7th Grade, 8th Period
“Sharks”
Marcus W.
I am 13
I am scared of large fish
especially sharks
they can eat you
they are slimy
they are scaly
they are horrible
they are literally the Joan Rivers of the fish world
they are horrible
“When People Look Past You While Talking”
Za’Nya
Fear is not something
that goes away overnight. It takes
months, sometimes even years.
I stop looking over my
shoulder for the 3rd time!
Why do they keep looking past
me? Is there someone there?
What happens next? Will
there be a tomorrow? What
happened in the past? How
will I be remembered? Who will
be left to remember me?
I blink again but this time
it’s gone. What is it? I creep
my way down the hall trying
to make enough noise to wake
someone up.
I gasp again. Why does it have
so many legs? It surely doesn’t
need that many eyes. What is it
webbing in the corner of the room?
I walk towards it with a big
shoe. It turns toward me I drop
the shoe and run away.
Why the dark we only need
light. I close my eyes. I immediately
open them again. Is there something
there? Is someone standing over me?
I open my eyes and turn on the
lights.
“Living in the Streets”
Juliette C.
I am twelve years old
and I’m worried about my father.
He lost his job
about two years ago.
Now he has stopped
paying the house. Next
think you know
we will be living on the
streets with the icky spiders.
Soon after this they will
pass away and I’ll be
safer than I’m today.
