Today is my future.
With knowledge and education,
I care more about my future success, about my family’s future.
My heart now has a list of things that must be completed.
I have my head up staring at my destiny that is so close
yet just out of reach.
I see my career that will put bread on my family’s table,
more friends that will guide me through life,
And I will write poems about the whole adventure.
now all I have to do is make my destiny, as I see it, come true!
That’s what must happen, because I can’t live in poverty anymore.
That’s why I can’t wait until tomorrow because,
Today is my future!

– Marisol Rodriguez, 13

From the anthology “Tell the World,” published by HarperCollins
Poem of the Month: November 2008

Depends
On
A high school diploma
The gold ink
Shining
On
The paper
In my
Daddy’s office.

– Raiana Dos Anjos

From the 2007 WritersCorps book “Poetry By Numbers” at International Studies Academy, and from the anthology “Tell the World,” published by HarperCollins.

Poem of the Month: June 2008