Cover Image, “Hands of Freedom”
by Molly S. Age 13, Greenfield, Wisconsin
Molly says:
"My artwork is inspired by another piece of work I saw on your website. The colors stand for all the cultures, people, and lives in America. The hand is smiling because it is happy to live in a free country, and it is striped to represent the stripes on our flag."
The Fire Show
I refuse to fail.
Faint slivers of light shoot onto
The black backdrop of the world’s stage
Before they EXPLODE
Brilliant bold bursts break away
Shaming the city’s lights
Electric crystal fragments scatter
Spin and surge toward the ceiling
Marked by deafening tones
Reverberating off the walls-
Off the pavilion awning to the north, flapping with each boom
Off the hollow cookie-cutter condos to the west
Above the salt-stained rug
But then the stars blink away
Leaving behind a shivering residue
That traces their twisting path
And then the evidence curls and lingers
Weaving in swirls, wound in spiraling tourniquets
Before beginning to drift away
Over the strip of spectator ships
A fog mist
Serves as the only remnant
Of the fire show
By Julie M., Age 16
Pasadena, California
A gently sloping hill and a forest beyond
Ripe stars hang low amongst the trees
Ready for plucking and tasting
The fireflies trace day dreams
And brush against the backs of our legs
Grass sways and beckons and whispers, “Hush,”
as the wind sweeps over it
The tableau unfolds for our feet to know
For our trailing fingers to feel
That we are invincible
That we are of the air and not just in it
And we are off
The stuff of legends trails behind us
Tonight we pay our respects to the horizon
Running for running’s sake:
This is what it is to be alive.
By Terry O., Age 15
Bridgewater, New Jersey