Eleventh Grade Poetry
The Painting of Life
Every person is a blank canvas.
They go through life and paint with different colors.
Sometimes the colors will be bright,
Sometimes dark.
It will be messy,
And inexplicable.
But when the brushes are ready to be washed,
And the painting is ready to be framed, They will then understand.
They will recognize the picture before them.
What its purpose was.
Why they needed that line.
In that color, shade.
Why?
Batya Wolff
Blood Donations
Some are sick and dying
While others continue trying.
Trying to help them recover,
Just one fellow person helping another.
Blood donations can aid someone’s fight,
Although the thought is a scary sight.
When a person thinks about giving blood
The thought can make him feel stuck in mud,
But those who decided to go out and give,
They are helping more people to live.
Even though it is a small action,
It will give that person great satisfaction.
These people are really heroes
Who bring light to people that feel like zeros.
When there are so many people who are in need,
One person giving blood can help them succeed.
While the world to them seems so dark
One kindness like this leaves such a big mark.
Donating blood can save the day
To help someone in need today
Hannah Lewin
A People
I stand by the tinted glass.
Leaning against its cold panes
Separating me from everything.
Trying
To spare me from the pain.
​
The whirlwind of confusion going on in the world outside,
The tornadoes wreaking havoc, forcing me to hide.
Hide away, with my face pressed against the glass
Hoping for just one glance
Of another.
​
We are isolated from each other
Worlds away.
At times it seems
Like there is no option.
Nowhere to turn, no one to lean on.
​
Because we can’t see one another
And isn't seeing believing?
Isn’t life about the view?
Five senses coexisting?
​
There isn't anything beyond my sight, my hearing, touch, taste, and smell;
And if I can't do those things,
Even smell the halls
Of SKA,
Well then, what's the point?
​
And then I remember, there are forces stronger
Than the ones held in my organs.
There is love and connection
That can reach much farther
Than what I can smell, hear, or touch.
​
They last forever.
So no matter
Where we may be,
We know we have each other,
Because Jews stand together for eternity.
​
Who else can say she has thousands of brothers,
People who fight on her behalf?
Sisters who storm the gates of heaven
Just so one Jew continues to stand?
​
There is no one else like this.
That's why for the others it’s hard,
Because when one feels alone and isolated
He needs a north star.
​
To point him in the right direction.
To keep him looking high.
For me, that’s the Jewish people,
And knowing my family is never far.
Sara Stein
Rikki Wachsler
Scars From Love and Hate
So often we find ourselves
Fighting.
Only thinking about ourselves.
Throwing an insult.
Resenting.
Being cruel.
Leaving ugly scars.
We need to remember though
That hate
is powerful,
but conditional.
You can learn not to hate.
Love overcomes hate.
Love is
stronger.
Giving compliments.
Learning to get along.
Thinking about others.
Love
is unconditional
and only leaves
beautiful scars.
Collaboration 11.2
Together From Afar
All of this may make you feel alone
But if you need a friend just pick up the phone
This may be a scary time for us all
But we should not give up and fall
Every second
Every day
We check in with each other
We pray for one another
We give to each other from afar
Because that is just how we are
Even though we may not realize it
We have become closer through all this separation
We are one nation
We support one another
No matter where we are
Near or far
We are one
And if we do good, all the tragedies will be done
Kayla Aryeh
Unity
Alone home never,
But today be clever,
For now or forever,
Stay home together.
Weeks go by,
Wishing they would just fly by,
Wishing we could leave this all behind.
Every second, minute, hour, and day,
Wishing that things could be another way,
But at the end of the day
We all must stay away.
Hoping that in some way
Things could just go away.
In unity we fight
To all the doctors who are bright
Who carry the world in times of plight.
Always trying to make us feel alright,
We constantly thank them with delight.
Anonymous
Together
I feel trapped.
The walls are closing in
I can't see anyone
Touch anyone
Even come close to anyone.
​
I miss my life.
I miss my friends.
I miss the world.
I even miss the things I never appreciated before.
​
It's dark now,
The world feels empty.
I want to go out.
They keep saying stay inside
But I want to leave.
I want to go back to my normal life.
​
But it doesn't matter.
It won't stop us.
We’re still here,
We still fight,
We won't let it win.
​
Everyone is offering help to another;
We are turning into a family.
Doctors are risking their lives to help people
We are all in this together.
​
We have fought this with love,
We overcame.
We got out closer.
We are all together.
Finnie Elkouby
Corona
All her life she’d been put in tough positions
Always having to defend herself against the negative
Trying her best to never let them win
But how much negativity could she take
How much hatred could her little heart absorb before it gave up
With all the whispers and posts
All the looks she received
All those she thought were there for her, abandoning her since she was different
All those people comparing her to a disease
Claiming she came from animals
All this hatred strained her heart until she couldn't take it anymore
Exploding like fireworks
Her negativity as contagious as the common cold
Impacting everyone like a pandemic
People distancing themselves from her
Months passed and people started to realize
That maybe she wasn't so bad after all
Maybe her change was what they needed
To help find who they want to be
Setting their priorities straight
And shaping them into better people
Making the world a better place.
Naomi Wiener
The Message of a Mime
It’s like there’s a box around me.
Four walls closing in.
The cardboard walls are empty;
Seemingly no light can shine in.
That's how it seems
In these days,
Where we can’t go where we want to,
Can’t see friends and speak to
Others face to face.
​
I don’t get how mimes do what they do.
Closing themselves off in this way.
How can they choose to form a box around themselves
When all I want to do is leave this place?
​
I just want to communicate.
Be with others,
Embrace,
But we can't today.
And maybe…
That’s what makes it even greater.
​
A mime doesn't need words to say what he wants to say -
He gets his message out even from a distance.
And we can, too.
We have the privilege of being Jews,
A group of people joined strong.
Even though few,
Our voices join together.
No matter where we may be.
​
So what if we are in different houses?
Our houses will just be Mikdashot.
It doesn't matter if we don't have a minyan,
Because we stand together anyway.
​
Because we are a people joined by a history.
Love running deeper than the blood coursing through our veins
Trickling all the way back to Avraham, the first to spread light in a world of hate.
​
And that is our fate:
To be a leader among the nations,
To reach higher than expected,
Even when confined to four corners and some walls.
We rise through it all.
Higher than the roof we must stay under.
Up to the heavens where this all comes from.
We pray, and the sun shines in.
No more darkness.
Because we bond together.
United as one till mashiach biyameinu.
Sara Stein
The Doctor
Her job awaiting her,
She dresses at daybreak.
Brushes her hair,
Her teeth,
And prepares herself
For what’s ahead.
Not thinking much of it,
It’s just another day
In this crazy world.
She puts on her white coat,
Her shoes,
Her mask.
She takes a deep breath as she walks out the door,
Already knowing what lies ahead.
Just another day
In this crazy world.
If only she knew
That she has become
A hero.
Arielle Yarmish
Combat Hate with Love
To hate is to despise;
It is to have a deep-rooted feeling stemming from the bottom of the soul.
A fiery passion which burns out of the body,
Which consumes and overtakes,
And causes one to do bad
To hate is to have a strong desire in one direction.
It is to look at someone or something
And find no forgiveness or love.
It blinds and steals
And forces negativity.
But to love and to hate are the same.
Only love is in the opposite direction.
It is to have a deep-rooted feeling stemming
from the bottom of the soul-
A fiery passion that burns out of the body.
It consumes and overtakes,
But causes one to do good
To love is to have a strong desire in the other direction.
It is to look at someone or something
And find happiness and contentment.
It comforts and nourishes
And forces positivity.
So use that love,
That sense of pride and desire
And combat the hate
And fiery passion going the wrong direction.
Show hate love.
Show it that there is goodness in this world.
And it is a privilege to be involved in the good.
Show hate that there is a positive source -
One filled with emotion.
One that can feed the deprived of what they are looking for.
One that can take away the hurt and the pain
And leave one with a feeling she has longed to find for so long.
Turn hate into love
Sarah Leiderman
Sacred Ground
And suddenly,
All the hustle and bustle stopped
No sandal, stiletto, or dress shoe trudged along my streets
Nor did any car roll down my cobblestone roads
And in that minute
They were all
ONE.
Frozen in time.
In unison they stood still, not daring to make a sound.
A president gazed at a pauper
And they were
ONE.
A general glanced at a geezer
And they were
ONE.
And I could feel, in the ringing, the pain and agony each person felt
It brought back the tears they shed for the ones that could no longer listen to the ring.
Who could no longer tap on my cobblestone roads
It brought back the sweat and anguish that people endured to get me.
No easy feat indeed.
But it made them
ONE.
They all fought for me with their lives
They fought as
ONE.
so now, as I rest my head to the peaceful silence
I thank the people for returning me once again
For giving up their sons and daughters
For me.
And it has been my honor and pride to service them, in any way I can.
So now, in this minute, how can I begin to thank them for what they’ve done?
Because truly, they have given me a gift.
Tamar Mayer
We Are Grateful
We are grateful,
For you.
Grateful for all you saved,
For the ones you will save,
and for the ones you tried your best to save.
​
We are grateful,
For helping our loved ones,
Making things better.
​
Because of you,
We will make it through this,
For that, we are grateful.
​
Grateful for all you saved,
For the ones you will save,
and for the ones you tried your best to save.
Tamar Muehlgay
Hopelessness
Life has changed forever.
It is the darkest of times.
There is sadness and despair.
Hope and light are dimmed to a flicker.
Joblessness is at an all time high.
Hunger at every street corner.
Schools, museums, synagogues are shuttered.
The illness ravages.
Lungs are struggling for air.
There is sadness and despair.
Families are torn apart.
Our nation struggles
To find sparks of joy and hope for a bright future.
Life has changed forever.
Ruthie Schnee
Light
In the dark room I look up and see light
A light that’s so small it’s barely visible
But if I squint and tilt my head in the right direction
I can just see the small glow of the light
And that's when I know that every dark place I’m in
Or every word that is meant to hurt me
Won’t fully scar me
Because in the end I can see the light
I just have to fight through the darkness
To get to the small light
And once I fight my way through
The small glow of the light
Will become everything I see
Rina Sharbat
Always Light
There is always the light
Somewhere in the darkness
There is a lot of light
Not all of it gets through
Through the darkness
To help those in need
But there is always light
Debbie Glass
Alone But Not Alone
I stand within a pit in the cold ground
It has always been this way
I am not the only one
There are others here
But still I am
Alone
​
I am surrounded by people
Cold strangers I do not know
There is a light I can see
Somewhere towards the surface
But it cannot be reached
Alone
​
I stay away from the others
I do not understand them
They are so different from me
Until one day I see we are the same
Because we all are
Alone
​
They soon realize as well
Maybe there is hope
I help each one up
But when I am the only one left
They walk away and leave me
Alone
​
I stand as I always have
Staring up at the light I will never reach
For this time I am truly
Alone
​
But something changes
Faces look down at me
Different from me and yet the same
They come back and bring a rope
To help me climb out
Together
Ayelet Teitelbaum
Miri Swimmer
The Light We Have Found
People all over
Coughing over their shoulders
Trying to keep a normal life
Protecting each other, husband or wife.
​
In times like these everyone is scared,
But people came out and showed that they cared.
The first responders are the real heroes today
And everyone is thanking them in a different way.
​
Some are raising money, some are clapping at night,
And some are delivering food to make their days bright.
Throw out all this darkness that is going around
There is a light that everyone has found.
Anonymous
Alone Together
Here we sit
In complete isolation.
All of us are separated by something invisible
Lysol is the new perfume,
Hand sanitizer has become hand lotion
The news has become our bible.
A simple virus,
That has done the unthinkable.
Destroyed businesses,
Ruined relationships.
The death toll rises,
And hope decreases.
What to do?
Everyone is trying to find a solution.
Maybe it can be found on the empty grocery shelves,
Or maybe in the fear of going outside.
But we will all get through this together.
Even though we aren’t together.
We're alone together.
Leah Rosenberg
Fighting With Positivity
By going out of our way to be nice to others
There is one goal
we all want.
We are all fighting
for the same outcome.
We all realize
what’s important.
​
We can’t fix the whole world.
But we can
Find the positive,
look for the little things in life that can bring us together,
do good deeds to make the world a better place,
and
be kind to others.
We find unity in a
A fragmented world
When everything’s falling apart.
Collaboration 11.2
Malala
Screaming and crying won’t change the past,
Malala will tell you that when you ask.
What do you remember? What happened that day?
But nothing will make her pain go away.
​
Not the pain of being shot in the head
But of her rights being stripped like the sheets on a bed.
Walk behind your husbands, fathers, or brothers
No school for women, unlike the others.
​
The only way to make a change is through leadership and power.
Malala was shot but after this rough hour
She went out into the world to make a change
To fight and defend, she stepped out of her cage.
​
A Nobel Prize and much recognition,
That can’t stop her from her major decision,
Get girls into school, education is key
She'll never stop until people are free.
​
Heroism means taking a risk to make a difference
Look at Malala and her life, for instance.
Never stop believing, living and loving
For anyone can change the world, that is not bluffing.
​
Screaming and crying won’t change the past,
Malala will tell you that when you ask.
But we can give help to the future,
Rights for every single living creature.
Kayla Frenkel
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
In this time of darkness it’s hard to see the light,
It’s time to take a step back and reflect on what’s really important in life
When tragedy strikes the world
We all feel fear
But because of our health heroes the light is near
With our lives on pause, we isolate at home
Our minds with many thoughts and fears continue to roam
We await the light at the end of the tunnel
Eager for the day we’re free from this horrific bubble
We come together to help each other out
Anonymous