I want to tell you:
A collection of student writing from Killeen, Texas

These poems and short prose pieces emerged from the Writing Week held at Killeen High School. The first writing prompt was to begin with the phrases "In the beginning" and "I want to tell you." The second was to write an autobiography in seven numbered stages. Lastly, students wrote a collaborative poem about their town.

Girdy

"My Grandmother"

My grandmother is the Earth which my family lives off of.
Ever since she 's been gone our lives haven't been the same.
Her passing seemed to turn our lives around
It seems only yesterday we were together at the dinner table, happy and hungry,
About to say grace,
Smiles on our faces, knowing that everything would be okay.
Now it feels that we a piece of this broken heart
That we can't put back together.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like
If she was still here,
If everything was back to normal.
Sometimes I hear her talking to me, saying
Don't worry, be strong.
And know that she's smiling down on me
And making sure we're safe.
We are a big family, though it seems like we're
A little puppy who's lost its mom.

Janay

In the beginning when I saw it
I didn't think much of it-but I felt a connection
That told me I have to be a part of it,
the way I can express myself
through this powerful instrument.
I knew I could do something that would
get my feelings in.
I spit friction causing verbal static.
I'm a lyricist, a poetic,
And the mic's where I started.
On the stage speaking lyrics,
You see but you don't hear it.
Ignorant and blind—it's okay,
Cause you don't understand my rhymes.
In the beginning I was timid,
But I'm as blunt as a Swisher Sweet.
Rhyme isn't about physique
Or what I'm wearing next week.

I want to tell you about so much
But one poem can't hold the fold
Of my thoughts, so this day
I'm an artist with stories untold.
I speak, some say I preach,
but I say that I teach.
Either way I hope you learn—
That's my philosophy.
You can't topple me
Because I stand high above.
That's not conceited, but
I don't consider myself of
The bottom few. I want to tell you
So much but it won't fit
In my rhymes. Getting stuff
Off my chest
Will take more than a lifetime.

Daniel

My young life was hard, that is,
until I got a green card.
I was caught up with elation,
but then came immigration.

Yesinia

1) I am part of two worlds, each with its own force as contrasting as day and night.

2) Loss never too distant. Always at the corner of a turn.

3) Pressure always there, to be better and better. To ascend the next challenge.

4) Peace is darkness. Sleep is peace, somehow always holding too many secrets, too many lines.

5) Lines of lies, lines of truth, lines of nothing. Lines of everything.

John Polkowski

1) Born on a Military base in Oklahoma.

2) I remember Maryland, vaguely, through tall grasses, mounds of dirt, and fields that would stretch for miles.

3) Then, a Military base on a small Pacific island; going to the beach every Saturday.

4) Jellyfish and pickle juice cancel each other out.

4 1/2) Sitting in a tree, high away from the rest of the problems. Thirty feet and four seconds of gravity away. Nothing could bother me up there.

Lisa

I want to tell you what I know about family, what I've been through in my life. Families don't stick together—well, not all parents get a divorce, leave their wife, take the kids, move in with a new girlfriend, but that's what happened in my family. Dad left, so did I. We went to live at his new girlfriend's house. I left my mom. Didn't have any regrets until everything in my life went wrong. My mom almost died. I wouldn't have found out until after. Dad was never home. To top it all off, my step-mother was treating me like crap. So I was fed up: I left with my mom.

I think it was the best thing I've chosen. Left my dad—yeah, I know it made him sad. But my mom needed me. Then for one year, I never spoke to or seen my dad. It hurt me, I'm a daddy's girl. Two years, I saw him—then he left me again. Now I'm still with my mom and my two new little sisters, happy, and my dad was back in my life; and now he met another girl, he's not in my life again. Yeah, it hurts a lot. But through them years I've learned I can't keep holding on to my dad. I've grown up in the three years since my parents split. I've learned when to show my feelings. I can express it only in writing.

David

I want to tell you what I know about our wars and the war in Iraq. They now have something called IC in games for the PC. IC stands for International Conflict, meaning overseas wars. Like now, if they're sending our troops in to die for a Republic that's not ours. The people protect this country, the people do everything, so why aren't all people in the Army? Rolling around in Iraq would be awesome if I would get So Cal's, M16s, M203s, AK47s, AK74s, M4s, M4M203s, mortars, smoke grenades, flags and flash grenades, pistols and everything.

But I would be a Seal, and someday flying in a Blackhawk, putting black and green paint on me, loading my gun, checking my equipment, and making sure I have enough rounds to take out a block. The other guys do the same, only two of them are snipers—their suits make them camo, a lot better picking off people 600 meters away while we are swimming or jogging to our objective. Perfect position is a tool of starting at the right time with perfect aim. We get to our objective—Bravo—and wait for our signal to run in, which is "Whiskey" here. "Whiskey" is a go, and seeing the hand signals from my fellow Seals, I will fight for my country! Will YOU?

Evonne

On the other side of the world
Is where all the poor, pain-stricken, dying ppl are—
Or so they claim.
In our own backyard is a weeping, unclean, dying child.
Begging for attention and saving.

A collaborative portrait of Killeen by students at Killeen High School

Killeen is diverse, with many faces, colors, and joys. It is a place of hope.
Killeen is my silent punishment, tearing me down and about, giving birth to my second half and my insanity.
Killeen is the home of my family and where I grew up most of my life.
Killeen is where I learned new things.
Killeen is colorful, beautiful and bright. It's a place where outsiders come to see a different sight.
It's unforgettable even though boring: Killeen is where I get up in the morning.
Killeen is where you come from, not go to. It's like the places in the stories where the hero comes from some small little town that no one has heard of.
Killeen is boring, non-stimulating, entirely useless, quiet, annoying, in Central Texas, home to all my friends.
Killeen is a dead place. Almost like an unknown place. The most boringest place you could ever live @. I don't understand why people move here. I don't know why I moved here. There's no concerts, there's no art. I hate it.
Killeen is not my home, but a place for friends—a place for dreams. It's not my refuge, but it's all I know.
Killeen is fun. Killeen is my hometown. Killeen is next to Fort Hood.
Killeen is weak.
Killeen is home to me.
Killeen is the place where I grew up and matured to be the young lady I am now. It is the place that showed me life's lessons.
Killeen is something special, not like all—Killeen is a place for many stores or malls.
Killeen is interesting, strange, and small.

Return to "Half my heart is in Iraq."