W.o.o.t.s.

Questioner
by Stephen Kenyon from Lincoln High School
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong (Available for purchase)
Where am I?
Maybe I’m nowhere
Maybe somewhere
I could be in the
center of the universe
or at the edge of
some farout galaxy.
Perhaps I am in
the mind of someone
else, or in my own
mind, just waiting.
Where is up?
Where is down?
Are [...]

Literary Arts’ Writers in the Schools program is pleased to announce several student readings in February. The readings feature student authors who worked with our writers during the fall semester. Writers-in-residence and classroom teachers will read with the students.
Readings are free and everyone is welcome.
Cleveland High School
Tuesday, February 3rd at 7 p.m.
Chaos Cafe & Parlor: [...]

House of Capricorn
by Megan Ferguson from Metropolitan Learning Center
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong (Available for purchase)
She’s trying to listen to her father’s voice, she tries to hear the words behind it, leaning into the bluish shadows of their forest green minivan. June, and although she admired the look [...]

All great writers had their beginnings somewhere!
In 2007-08, Writers in the Schools placed 25 writers in 73 classrooms to lead semester-long writing workshops with students. During this dedicated writing time, students experimented with poems, plays, fiction, creative nonfiction, and graphic novels. Students wrote about themselves, their families, their friends, and the world we all share. [...]

The Drawing
by Adriana Rojas-Echenique from Grant High School
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong
I draw two people
face to face.
Contour lines
almost touching,
stories intertwined
into the shape
of her mouth
his eyes.
Two lines
all I know
of the secret
written there.

This Life of Women
by Isabel Burri from Open Meadow High School
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong
5 years old
“Mommy, why do I have these holes in my face?”
thunder thighs
thick glasses in the first grade
self-doubting kind of women
9 years old
“You’re the one with the funny accent.”
new life
one friend and a spaceship [...]

In Light of Matches
by Emma Brown from Cleveland High School
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong
1. Johnny Cash fell into a burning ring.
2. Bright colors that faux witches feared in Salem.
3. Gooey marshmallow, chocolate, and graham-cracker creature.
4. A force in which to make things disappear.
5. Length like an embrace that [...]

The Shortest Word
by Dylan Jones from Grant High School
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong
What a word “I”
So much, in so little a word
Who you are
And what you will become
Contained in a single letter

A Different Kind of Cathedral
by Melissa Wood and Harriet Tubman from Jefferson High School
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong
Walk, walk, walk
It’s the only way
No planes, trains, or cars
Up the street
And up again
Across the busy street,
You’re practically there
Expanding, expanding
The blacktop
Opens up to you
Like a camouflaged flower.
You’ll know you’re there when [...]

Encyclopedia Entry: F
by Sarah Habibi from Lincoln High School
Published in the 2007-2008 WITS Anthology I Once Was Young and Strong
Encyclopedia
*
F
*
Fingers
Fingers. We all have them. Well, most of us do. And the cool thing is, they’re not all the same. There are long fingers, fat fingers, short little stubby fingers, and strangely squared fingers. Our phalanges [...]