WritersCorps student Evelyn Leon reads “Florecita,” a poem dedicated to her father, at the 2012 Litquake festival.

I feel most at home in China
You can see people with the same skin as me
And hear Mandarin
The bustle of traffic
Lots of people everywhere
Chinese food
And different kinds of opera
It’s green on both sides of the street
And kids play on the ground
Butterflies free flying surround the flowers
Birds sing to each other
Comparing who’s the best
Fish shuttle back and forth in the river
They have fun in clear water
Little clouds float above the sky
Trees stand on the street, side by side
Like soldiers

– Xiaohui Tan, 17
From the WritersCorps 2012 book “Writing Out of the Shadows,” by students at Mission High School

Poem of the Month: November 2012

Mm mm, pho, I smell it.
Its smell never changes.
I smell beef.
I smell lemon.
I smell chili.
I smell soup and noodles…
I see it, a big bowl of noodles,
a bowl of sorrow
covered with greens,
a big piece of beef, brown and thin.
I cannot wait for the moment.
I want to taste the spicy lemon,
the hot chili, the smoothness of soup.
Everything combined, yump yump yump.
I finished it.
Is there any more pho?

– Kevin Mao
From the WritersCorps 2012 book “Mission Soul Kitchen,” by students at Mission High School

Poem of the Month: October 2012

In the dark alley
on a rainy stormy night,
is an old white man
wearing a black and yellow striped hat,
a long beard that has not been taken care of,
a blue long coat,
and brown cane.
I have heard this guy’s name somewhere…
I think he is a poet.
He has long fuzzy weird hair.
He has no smile
and is really staring at me with a crazy look.

– Abrar Malik, 14
From the WritersCorps 2012 book “Where the Clouds Keep You Hidden,” by students at Aptos Middle School

Poem of the Month: September 2012

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