Shop student publications
By: Reginaed

Dear Department of Government Efficiency

Dear Department of Government Efficiency, 

I am writing today to understand why you are taking people’s jobs away just because you feel like it.

People like their jobs and work hard for the government and don’t get enough money for their hard work. You are hurting people and making them cry when you take away the only way they can put food on the table and get groceries. These people did nothing to you, why do you think it’s okay to take away people’s jobs? What did the world do to you? Who hurt you? Who made you this way?

People need this job, the world needs these departments.

Let me give you some examples: Transportation, for one. People who work for the Department of Transportation make sure you can get to work and other places without a car. You’re taking away people’s access to buses and the metro, and that’s not okay. In addition, The Department of Education, among other things, makes sure that students have enough supplies and teachers, and you want to fire them? You are a monster for this. You will make little girls and boys cry when they read what you monsters are going to do to America, the place people call home. You’re not making “America great again,” you are destroying America.

I hope you always remember what you did to millions of people, including making people starve, die, and hurt.

I hope you remember this for as long as you live. 

From,

Reginaed

My name is Reginaed. I am a student at Eliot-Hine Middle School. I like writing because I like to make stories that I haven’t seen many authors make and I like to think of it as if I’m in my own world, it makes me happy.

Shop student publications
By: Violet R., Grade 8

Golden Blood

They said your blood was gold.

They said you were going to be better than

we were ever going to be. 

They said you needed more support

than everyone else,

But they must have not supported you enough

Or in the right way,

Or maybe at all because

we’re still here

and you’re not.

I remember watching you

talking and smiling and laughing 

Being everything they needed you to be

someone to cry to or laugh with.

You didn’t shine for yourself,

you shined for everyone else–

maybe you needed someone else to shine for you.

People say that gods have gold blood

called ichor.

special blood for special people or whatever.

They say people with gold blood can’t do anything wrong.

They’re perfect, they never make mistakes

Gold blood sounds hard to live up to.

You were definitely special

You were almost perfect.

But your blood wasn’t gold

It was red.

Like everyone else’s.

I could see your smile start to waver.

I could see you start to hesitate.

I could tell you couldn’t take all of it

but you did.

You kept going.

I didn’t know you had reached your limit

until I watched you hit the ground.

And realized your blood wasn’t gold.

I knew you couldn’t take that much.

But you took it with a smile

When most people would have taken it with a grimace.

You should have told somebody you couldn’t take it;

That your blood wasn’t gold…

It was just plain fucking red.

Shop student publications
By: Prosper O., Grade 10

How To Pick Your Poison

Come children, time to pick your poison.

Something that affects the next four years but a rush to be chosen.

Choose

Let your regret put you in a chokehold as you fret you chose the wrong

school.

Choose

As your friends whisper bias, clouding your judgement you lose your cool.

Choose

As you lock in your choice, you yearn to see if what you did was the right

thing to do.

Chosen!

Time’s up! No more switching or changing.

You’re going where you’re going, and you’ll never see your friends again.

Goodbye!

“Yo bro, what school are you going to pick?”

“I’m thinking of going to Mckinley Tech.”

“Nah man, Phelps has way better IT.”

“Hell, nah what do you mean?”

My mirror fogs up from the heated debate

I need to get ready for school before I’m late

“Everybody take out a computer to research schools.”

Choose.

The word echoes in everybody’s mind as we start running out of time.

People compare choices but we all have different minds.

How can we choose the same school if we all have our own thing that we

like?

Lose

It sets in that I, you, or her, or him, probably won’t see each other again.

One day my school brings in an alumni.

They talk about high-school, they talk about the transition.

But one quote really put my heart on a mission.

“Choose for the best you that you can envision, not for others even if you

miss them.”

To choose for myself means to choose for my kin,

to choose for myself means to choose for no other man,

to choose for me means to choose—

When I come home my parents bombard me with questions,

“Why? When? What did you choose?”

I lay down my bookbag and steady my mind.

“I chose what I thought was right…

if you don’t agree then that’s tragic because I’ve had it.”

Now those who know me know I would never say that.

But I chose for me and sometimes this is what it means.

Moving Forward

Freshman year was tough, new opportunities

for eager hands waiting to steal one for their own.

Moving Forward

As I start to lose contact with those I left behind,

I get second thoughts in my mind.

Moving Forward

As the year wraps up, I vow to be better next year.

The loop starts again, but different.

The jokes don’t hit the same,

and you know the drill so there’s nobody you can blame.

Junior year you should find your ground.

You know what to do and how to do it, you finally look like you know your way

around.

But that confidence will be replaced by a familiar uncertainty.

Soon those genuine laughs are overturned by bittersweet smiles.

With every new freshman you see

a friend you lost in the sauce

but nonetheless you must keep

MOVING FORWARD.

Senior year, they bring in an alumnus

who talks about a choice that weighs on us all.

But now I listen closely,

I know a simple phrase can affect someone deeply,

“Come children time to pick your poison.”

“Take your time to choose so regret does not take hold.”

“Do not let your friends whisper because this road is yours alone.”

“As you lock in your choice you will walk with poise,

because you know you made the right choice.”

“Have confidence in the power you hold,

because nobody else has seen the stories you hold.”

“That is how you pick your poison.”

Shop student publications
By: Ma'lon H., Grade 10

Blood Ain’t Thicker

They told me family was a bond meant to last,

but I learned that love could fade just as fast.

I scrolled through their joy, their smiles so wide,

watched from afar, no place by their side.

“Why weren’t we invited?” I asked with a frown,

my mom sighed and said, “Not everyone wants you around.”

The party lit up every screen I could see,

a reminder that family wasn’t meant for me.

I turned to my sister, her silence was loud,

both of us, outsiders, to our family crowd.

I looked at my mom, hoping for a reason,

she met my eyes and said, “Not everyone’s heart holds room for you.

You’re not going anywhere you’re not invited,

not everyone stays through every season.”

She told me stories of wounds left to grow,

of words unspoken, yet heavy to know.

“Your grandmother worked hard to pave my way,

but envy made them turn love to decay.”

I sat there quiet, piercing it through,

realizing family isn’t always for you.

Their smiles on the screen felt empty and cold,

love was a language I was never told.

We weren’t just forgotten—we were ignored,

erased from the picture, our presence implored.

That night, I learned what silence can do,

it speaks the truth they’d never tell you.

I stopped waiting for calls that NEVER came,

stopped holding on to a one-sided game.

If they won’t speak, neither will I,

I won’t reach for hands that let love die.

From then on, I learned what to do—

give the same energy that’s given to you.

My mom showed me love they never could give,

taught me that family is how you choose to live.

She held me up when their silence cut deep,

proved some bonds aren’t worth trying to keep.

Through her, I learned what real love should be,

built on trust, not just shared history.

The family tree may have roots that run deep,

but some branches rot, too broken to keep.

I stopped waiting, watering what refused to grow,

let go of the ones who let me go.

Now I see family for what it should be,

not just blood, but who stands by me.

It’s the ones who show love without a disguise,

who lift me up, not feed me lies.

I’ve let go of the hurt, left the past behind,

and found my peace with the love I define.

Shop student publications
By: Imogen, Grade 5

Dear President Trump

Dear President Trump,

I am writing to you because I think you have the wrong idea about immigrants who come to the U.S. for a better life. First of all, the people who come from a country that is at war are coming to America for peace and for a better life. It is hard for them to achieve this when you not only make them feel bad, but also unwelcome. You put ideas into other people’s minds that immigrants want to do terrible things to our country, and that they are different from the people in the U.S., just because of the color of their skin or their beliefs. All of these things make it hard for immigrants to be normal people, which is probably what you want.

Lastly, stop taking money from schools of America for your bougie lifestyle. You may think this will “Make America Great Again,” but in reality, it is our downfall.

From,

Imogen

Shop student publications
By: Nyla, Grade 1

CC and the Really Big House

CC is at a house. It is her aunt’s place. The house is purple and green and really big … it’s a mansion! It has a home movie theater, a swimming pool, and a gymnastics facility. The house has two dogs, two cats, and two little fish. It has three bedrooms.

CC wants some money because she ran out of money to pay for the house. CC started working at a Jamaican restaurant. The restaurant’s name is 3 Little Birds, from the Bob Marley song. They serve chicken, brown rice, yams, white rice, broccoli and carrots, and to drink, lemonade, strawberry lemonade, Sprite, ginger ale, and water.

She doesn’t have a husband. It’s a problem because she wants to have kids. Her future husband comes into the restaurant. His name is Jack. He has a blue hat, red shirt, green shorts and purple shoes. He is nice to her. He brings her flowers. He brought her roses. She feels great because she likes roses.

On the first day they met, he brought her flowers and ordered his meal. They went to Chick-fil-A. They liked each other because she likes cats and he has a cat.

After ten days they get married. Later they had 500 kids. The first three kids were named Ruby, Tandrew and Games, because Jack really likes games.

Nyla’s story is published in As the Words Rose, available here.

Shop student publications
Shop student publications
Shop student publications
Shop student publications
By: Justice, Grade 3

Sky

The sky is blue the sky

Is talking bird-like cloud

And cloud like a leaf

And a happy and a joyful

Place like a big dream

Continue reading “Sky”
Follow us for more magicConnect with us online
Follow us for more magicConnect with us online