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The Emily Project: poems by middle schoolers

The Emily Project: poems by middle schoolers

March 17, 2019 at 2:45pm


Youngsters at Miami-Dade County public schools got a taste of poetry writing as part of The Emily Project, a program directed by theatre professor Phillip Church and his What If Works production company. Guided by FIU students and alumni, the youngsters put pen to paper in an ode to self-expression.

Recipe of Friendship

Building a friendship is like following a recipe
First, start mixing the most important ingredients:
Trust, loyalty and respect.

Then adding a dash of loyalty goes a long way
A cup of trust is a must.
3 servings of respect are what you expect
Bake it over time to make it just right.

You build up your relationship like layers in a cake
You decorate your cake by fixing your relationship
With patience and dedication.

See through how you make this cake over time
When you see the end result
Friendship is a piece of cake.

—Isabella Garcia, 8th grade
Rockway Middle School

I Once Thought

I once thought of faith,
A catalyst of trust
I once thought of society,
A broken porcelain cup

Transparent like the glass once
Like the seamlessly ending cycle
But one day, it ends

I once thought of our trust in each other, how it died
How we were fond of each other
Now, nothing remains

—Thomas Grau, 8th grade
Palm Springs Middle School 

The Flower of Truth

There is a garden of flowers in each person
One of these flowers is trust
Like everything in this confusing world
It grows, it lives, it dies.

As a naive child
You don’t know exactly what trust is
Until it is broken.
When it finally breaks
You learn a lot more about the world
And how cruel it can really be.

It takes only a moment to pluck a flower
It takes only a moment to plant a seed
But flowers need more than a moment to grow
For this flower, it can take a lifetime.

—Kaylee Diaz, 7th grade
Jorge Mas Canosa Middle School