She loved me
I loved her
I still do
She might not
She changed
I grew
She got high
I got by
She hit hard
I hit harder
She hated him
I had him
She chose her him
I chose mine
She left
I kept going
Her life is gone
Mine just begun

– Patricia Duarte, 17
From the WritersCorps 2012 book “Half Belly, Half Heart,” by students at Hilltop School.

Poem of the Month: January 2013

Yes I’ve been beat and
Yes I’ve been sad
Yes I’ve been taunted and
Yes I’ve been mad
But like a single star twinkling in the middle of loss
I shine
Like a hint of light through the fog and the rain
I shine
Through the pain of lost love
Through the sorrow of a broken home
I shine
Like a full moon bursting with bright in a pitch black sky
I shine
I shine
I shine

– Patricia Duarte, 17
From the WritersCorps 2012 book “Half Belly, Half Heart” by students at Hilltop School

Poem of the Month: August 2012

I will send to my mother
A butterfly
Small and yellow
It is the first time
She will have received one

I will send to my sister
A long walk in the park
To distract her
From her problems

I will send to my boyfriend
A day on the sofa
To watch the TV
And drink juice

– Elsa Chavarria, 18
From the WritersCorps 2012 book “Half Belly, Half Heart” by students at Hilltop School

Poem of the Month: May 2012

Some of us are not grateful
Some of us live in the dirt
While others live by the stars
Some of us learn to appreciate what we have left
And others want more smiles and laughter
Knowing that they should be grateful
Some of us are not sure if today there will be a meal
Others just have it there without
Being respectful and wasting it
Others try hard and deserve it
But others get it in a snap
I’m grateful for not having more.

– Joselin Delgado, 18

From the 2010 WritersCorps book “Towards Me From Out of Nowhere” at Hilltop School

Poem of the Month: November 2011