LHS CLASS OF 2021

Nisha N. // SONDER

I flick off the lightswitch in my room and observe the room go black.
It’s easier to see the highway from my window without the glare from the lights.
The headlights from the cars rush by,
with the occasional honking from a truck.

The highway is partly obstructed by trees.
The green leaves cutting up the spectacle of lights in the spring. The snow covered branches adding to the serenity in the winter.

Everytime I glance out at the highway
I get the same thought:
The people driving on the roads,
They have their own lives.
They all have a place to be.

I try to think about where they could be traveling.
Maybe on a road trip,
Or to pick up a loved one from the airport.

But the sharp sound of cars pierces the otherwise silent night, Suddenly making my heart beat faster.
It is a stark reminder of another truth.

Everyone is out there living their own lives,
And I am confined to my house.
Like a mouse in a trap,
Wriggling, trying to get out.

Staring as everyone around me moves on.

Sharath Jegannathan // CANCUN

Months of working
Can have an effect of exhaustion
Thus we were motivated
And looking forward to this vacation

On a lonesome beach, with many footsteps that clear off over time.
I lay lazy on my hammock.
Listening to the gentle waves rise up onshore.
Oh! How beautiful is nature… I remain awestruck!

The white soft sand drifting while the wind blows.
A gentle breeze touches my face.
I kept thinking about my holiday
where I fulfill my birthday crave!

Look, I said to my brother
Let’s get to the Island
Pack your bags and get ready
We are definitely going to be stunned.

Cancun, a city of Mexico
Beautiful sight to see
And lots to explore
For tourists like me

What a refreshing vacation it was
We cherish the memories we made
Oh how wonderful it was to see such a place
I wish I could have stayed

Daniel Xu // STROLL THROUGH NATURE

​He looked around the forest,
Taking in the fresh summer air.
The trees peered down on him,
He walked without a care.

He adored the songs,
sung by shimmering leaves.
But what he witnessed next,
he could not believe.

A distant figure,
too large to be human.
He crept closer,
in great confusion.

A glimpse was caught,
of his worst nightmare.
What was upon him,
a great grizzly bear.

A menace of the wilderness,
was in his presence.
It’s tree trunk limbs and scuffed up paws
were oddly pleasant.

The observer backed up slowly,
making no noise.
Eager to get home,
and tell all the boys.

Sophia Z // GONE

I ask that you close your eyes
and listen to the world
surrounding you

The chirping of the birds
The slow drift of the waterfall
The rustle of the trees

The light breeze

The clear air

Nature’s music

It’s calling for you

I want you to open your eyes.

What do you see?

The light blue sky
The glistening waterfall
The multicolor trees

No.

What you see is the damaged life
The unspoken suffering

Habitat’s being stripped away while you sit at home with the AC on.
Trees being ripped from their roots while you print out multiple copies of the next presentation.

I want you to change
To correct the things in your lives
The consequences
you can’t see it
and someday
they will be gone forever.

Sean Kalkat // LONELY

How fun it was to make them laugh and giggle,
To see the smiles on their faces,

Then they grew up,
It changed them,

Now I wonder,
What could they possibly be doing,
Staring at their screens,
Tapping them and smiling,

It’s like I was imaginary and they had gotten over me.
They’ve forgotten how much fun we had,

I remember the day we met,
They wouldn’t stop playing with me,
Now I just sit here,
Lonely

Peter McCallion // AYE SIR

Propped up against the wall
Waiting and holding on to the last grip of civilian life.
Our heads were shaved and that was when it set in,
We were now recruits.
The swamps of both the training grounds and the packed barracks was home.
I had entered what was supposed to be a barber shop
But what barber shop has only one option?
Three chairs were laid out,
Three barbers waited parallel to the chairs.
Hair covered the floor like leaves on autumn grass.
All 18 years prior erased away with the buzzing
Sting of the razor.
Drill Instructors barked orders,
Move move move!
The words bounced off the cold, gray slabbed walls.
Simple instructions now became complex orders.
I practiced in my head how to march
Lo right layo!
​I had hoped the earlier I started the faster we would march on the concrete parade deck
Filled with the footprints and stories of those before.
Soon we entered a room with grey plastic boxes stuck to the wall.
The boxes were rounded off on the edges
Stirps of plastic flakes were barley holding on the main box.
Before I knew it the box was opened and my hand on the phone that was inside.
We read off a laminated paper with instructions that sounded robotic.
I have arrived safely at Parris Island.

Yuanhui Zhang // STRANGER

I took out a piece of paper
Carefully put it on the table.
Write my real name down carefully.
The time people call this is numerable.

I grabbed my old coat from cabinet
It was hanging neatly
had the accent from my hometown
I tried to take a walk
Try to detect the world that was unknown

Water drops are hanging on the grass.
My coat became wet.
I looked at myself in the shadow.
I was still struggling yet.

The roses hold tightly with each other
They do not know the scene outside their ground.
A dandelion was travelling alone from somewhere
I will hold her in my hand.

I put her nicely in my pocket
Give warmness to this loner
She must miss the soil that she grow up
We are both foreigner.

Someone has different appearance with me
Smiled at me and say hi
I am used to this culture and language

Alexander H. // GRAND CANYON

It was a hot summer day whenI started
my trek up the side of the grand canyon.
The powerful sun beat down without mercy
as I hiked with a companion.

Layers of history, colors twisting
and morphing as it collided to form a cliff.
My ears picked up the sound of water running
as history was carved into the stone like a hieroglyph.

I could hear wind chiming through the trees
sounding like the piano playing for the moon.
Swaying melodically in the dim lit park
with the adversity dancing to the tune.

A fork in an ever winding path was ahead.
Indecisiveness swept over me like a fog
and we went our separate ways
as my slow walk turned to a trot and then a jog.

One, two, one, two, one, two.
Feet pounding the ancient rocks,
heart racing as I peaked to see
the sun looming in back like a crafty fox.

My heart hurtled my stomach as I stopped
to see dawn approach,editing the sky
deleting stars and the darkness
like extra letters and words gone awry.

Arriving at the summit with gratitude
where there I saw my friend.
Nostalgia hit me like a brick wall,
but I smiled and started to descend.

Darragh M. // COOKIE

The stinging smell of coffee beans surround us
We wait in line to pay

The chocolate chip cookie sits in it’s glass jar,
Untouched, full of sugary goodness.

I beg and plead, but my mother won’t budge

All I ask is for this one cookie.
It has been a hard day

This cookie is the holy grail
And my quest is to retrieve it
I want this cookie more than anything else at that moment.

But she doesn’t want to hear it.

A dark gloomy rain cloud appeared over my head,
Rain running down my face

Katie D. // HOPE IS A WAVE

Waves come and go,
Crashing and rising,
Letting nothing get in its way
Strong, and powerful.

The calm before the storm,
The waves stop.

The storm hits
Waves rise, strengthen,
become stronger.

Hope is a wave Rising and falling
In times of need

Hope is a wave,
That never leaves.