Dudes with Pens

Why you should eat junk food.

It’s the same story, offer them green food,
And they will YELL at you: “NO WAY, DUDE!”
“I’m allergic to everything green
Including broccoli and donkey spleens.”
But, instead offer them some ice cream,
And that will wake them and make them scream,
With eyes alight with a manic gleam
“It’s truly as good as it seems.”
“If it’s that good, than I’ll have some too!”
Said little Sally “Sandra” Sue
“’spect it’s no better than good old beans,”
Said the town’s only healthy eater, “Healthy” Dean.
“You are crazy.” said Sally or Sandra (or Sue.)
“You ought to have some ice cream too.
Or some of the ketchup flavored chips
Or even some of those cherry lips
Eating good food is bad for you,
(Even if it’s called “Good” food, it’s true.)
It will make your insides shrivel up
Just like Farmer John’s old dead pup.
“Aren’t you talking about Junk food, dear?”
Asked her Norwegian teacher, Ms. Wejr
“But eating junk food is very good for you!
What adults say is never true.”
And so little Sally “Sandra” Sue
Kept eating junk. She never knew
That an adult might just be right
Or that she’ll fall down sick tonight
And be stuck in bed until next Friday,
Unable to move in any way
Until one day
She mistakenly ate
A green Healthy-looking bean
This instantly restored her to full health.
“See?” said Dean, “Don’t fear the green,
Which is good to eat and maintains your health
See what happened after you ate that bean?
(And junk food can be hazardous to your wealth.)
And so life went on normally
Until it, once again, fell into abnormality
And this time it’s Dean
Who ate a “Healthy” Green-looking bean
And (after throwing up copious amounts,) he said:
“Never again will I lose my head
And eat healthy stuff,
For green things turn your insides into bits of fluff.”
“I will never eat a bean again, now, let’s see,
May I have some ice cream please?”

-Bill Xiong, U-Hill Secondary

Escape
(Inspired by the picture of the dark night and the book “Underground to Canada.”)

It’s dark
It must be at night
What thime of night?
I do not know.
I can’t afford a watch.
The stars glitter overhead,
One brighter than the rest.
“That is the north star, my son.”
My father always said.
“It will lead you into a land
Where freedom reigns free.
And where the sand lies on clean free soil
and there, we will live in safety.”
So now, I am here
Or there
Or Somewhere,
I do not know.
I haven’t got a map.
Every footstep or sound I hear
sounds like a slave catcher or bounty hunter near
and every breath I take
could be my last
I know I should be thinhing about other things.
And worrying about other things:
Where will I eat tomorrow
Where will I sleep tomorrow
Whether I would ever eat again.
And if they find me…
Will I ever live
To see the dawn again?
Never mind that.
I must go on
I’m nearing the end
of this harsh and unfriendly journey.
I can smell the sea
Which I must cross
In order to reach Canada.
Wait. Was that footsteps?
NO!!! I must press on.
I’m almost there.
Almost in Canada.
Almost free.
Almost.

-Bill Xiong, U-Hill Seondary


Four fantastic limericks

I: The Kind Limerick
Oh my mother, she’s so kind
Anything you desire, she’d suffice
She’ll clean your room
Even without a broom
And then cook you fish with rice.

II: The untrue limerick
This is about the Jason of Greece
Who wanted to recover the Golden Fleece
So his ship set sail
Not knowing he’d fail
And return in more than one piece.

III: The Not-so-kind Limerick
My sister Christine, she’s very cute
I wish I could only make her mute:
One push of a button,
And all of a sudden
She’d stop talking. Now won't that be cute?

IV: The Robotic Limerick
Once I had a robot named Sue
Who ran around drinking Mountain Dew
One day she ran
Right into the fan
And got sold as “almost” new.

-Bill Xiong, U-Hill Secondary


Live Life As You Want

Some people take their time and savor each passing day.
They'll never live life on a leash, they never are afraid.
Of life, of love, of beautiful things that make the world so great.
They never take a thing for granted, they don't believe in fate.
They make their own, they strive, they fight to be better than they are.
They don't wait for things to come to them, they don't wish on shooting stars.
Learn from them, do what they do. Live life for all its worth.
Because you never know when the time will come for you to leave this earth

-Jimmy Pham, Killarney Secondary


Dark History Within Radiating Beauty

A mark of your presence from the past remains
Standing still so proudly of the beauty you hold.
Rich in history,
It seems like nothing can destroy the suffered grace.
But it has.
Grimy water with buildings cascading the scene,
It makes me wonder, “Have people lost care for the
radiance within you?”
But no matter what
You will always be,
A beautiful history which can never be forgotten.

-Shantho Krishanthan, Killarney Secondary



trading places

walking down these Familiar Lanes
this white man guides me through y very own planes
but not with the same old familiar faces
This hits me much later: we've all traded places

i understand your big words. dont try to intimidate
dont tell me my own problems. trust me, i can relate
compare this town and the city like a dump and an oasis
That didn't hit me that fast, but we've all traded places.

the townsfolk are not hard to recognize
they have our distinguished skin and our eyes
white boy, just admit it. we're from two different bases
That hit me quite soon. we've all traded places.

how does he dare try to show me the way
mostly my misconceptions and my misjudged says?
let's not forget who's here and which races
That hit me since 1. we've all traded places

he's tried hard to show us the history of this town
i've ridiculed him for days. pretty much just up till now
i'll stop crushing him with all my kings and my aces
This hits me just now:
We've all traded places

-amanda chan, killarney secondary school


From the Rope to Hope in Chinatown

A site of history, a thing to see
Chinatown in Vancouver is a place to be.
First to isolate,
Now to buy Colgate
This haven has lasted through the century.

It was a place to ease
For the first Chinese.
A place for them
But now for bums,
Chinatown has become a place not too pleased.

It has its problems in its fate
Such a depressing ghetto state.
There are drugs,
And thugs,
At alarming rates.

There are also prostitutes,
Those who sell their bodies, denying their roots.
They gave up on life
Nearing that knife,
And living by Chinatown, unable to get off those boots.

People have lost hope,
Tying that rope,
But there is still chance
For them to glance;
At a life they wanted to live, full, not toped.

They, and Chinatown, can be saved.
If only we gave…
Our hearts for them.
And the rest is theirs to pave.

-Lawrence Tsui, Killarney Secondary


MY VIEW

Piercing noises, dust, dirt, and steel
Condos and apartments rises.
They hinder my vision,
They block my light,
And I am in their path.
Construction and progress is top priority,
We are the exhausted and disabled elderly,
Our history is in past and the future nears.
And this beautiful garden I see before me is fading,
But I have vanished.

-Anonymous, Killarney Secondary


LEAVING

Cannot find any place
cannot feel happy
I just want to find myself again

Wondering if I would ever return
to the place some part of me was left
only God knows

-Rebca Pina, Killarney Secondary School


WHAT MAKES BARBEQUED MEAT SO GREAT

Barbequed meat
Is what I like to eat
While they are really quite messy
They are the only good delicacy

Crunchy, chewy, and munchy
Beats pasta that are oh so mushy
So sweet and salty and sour
Beat the mounties syrup any hour
Try them cold or even hot
It beats anything that sushi's got

So as you can see
As I write this with such glee
Barbequed meat is just great and affordable
While everything else you got tastes bad and deplorable

-anonymous, Killarney Secondary


CHINESE RAILWAY WORKERS

they wanted to escape from poverty
as well as to earn some easy money.
They decided to leave their families,
seeking their dreams in an unknown county

It was an absolutely foreign place,
where they were compelled to work night and day.
After all the expenses the'd to pay,
there's nothing left at the end of the day.
They were given the most dangerous task:
to ignite the dynamite and run fast!
and citizens they became at long last
'cause they contributed much in the past

-Sam Luo, Killarney Secondary


STEREOTYPES

the green of the plants
the lowering of the branches
the mud filled water
the fises below
all stereotypes

the clay tiles on the roof
the "Chinese" image
the size of the pillars
the curve of the roof
all stereotpes.

the fakeness of the suburb
which was built by settlers
regarding one or two buildings from China
nothing but all stereotypes

-Aaron Sin, Killarney Secondary


The Nature of Chinatown

The sun shines on the murky pond.
The water reflects the trees and the chinese building,
like you see two identicle place.
Brown dead lilypond leaves float.
Trees' beard draping on the pond like silky green curtains
The pond is solid and still.
I can imagine myself walking on the stillness pond with grace and poise.
Calm, peaceful, quiet and still.
Everything is naturally beautiful.

-Anonymous, Killarney Secondary

Not So Far

Looking back on
The nights of fun
Between weary eyelids
There wasn’t fear
Or hurt
We sang and danced and
The world still spun its elaborate tale

The heart is anxious
One night and then
Another day
Passes by the mind’s eye
As false grins emblazon a face

But there’s the loneliness and
You start to figure
From just far away
It’s just a pin beneath a
Sea of joy

Turn around and just breathe in
Looking homeward, a beautiful view
Fireflies from windowsills and
Mothers in the market
Think about it and it’s not so far away

-Garren, Killarney Secondary


Dolphins with Toxic Needles and Tiny Little Weevils

Up and away
The world’s in frightful danger
From American porpae and British mice
With military training and Black Death-lice.

It’s more serious than you’d think.

-Garren, Killarney Secondary


THE OLD AND THE NEW

The old and the new,
Blend together in perfect harmony,
As the sky is blue,
And the ground is brown, compact with unity.

The water is still and holds its peace,
A reflection upon its surface,
Revealing the future to the east,
Construction nears, as wish becomes purpose.

Old traditions will change,
With the time that passes by,
When machines are in range,
And things will perish and die.
The things that will remain,
Will be nothing more but a memory.
Something that you can’t sustain,
Like the aging process of humanity.


-Raymond Joe, Killarney Secondary


Drawings on the pavement

Pictures drawn in the summer heat
On the cool pavement.
Our emotions can be created
And also taken away.
Our course of action can be altered
And new destinations wait in store for us.
We are all just playing out
What someone else has already written,
Just playing our part in the game of life.
Just as easily as characters can be created
They can be erased.
In mid sentence,
During the happiest moment of their life.
People will cry
And people will try to remember
How life used to be when they were here among us
But then the story changes
And some new drama consumes the artist
With new ideas for future plots
And characters.
We are only little drawings
Lying there on the pavement
Awaiting that fateful day
When we will be washed away.


-Chelsey Johnson, Killarney Secondary



Buy Them

They are ready to be sold.
The Grocery store opens doors raises blinds.
Hurry up! Vegitabilians are developing mold.

Mushroomians are painted bold
To present attractive rinds.
They are ready to be sold.

However, no attention can they hold
Customers pass with empty minds
Hurry up customers! Vegitabilians are developing mold.

Potatoinas in their beds have rolled,
But no-one ever finds
They are ready to be sold.

The customer’s mood is cold.
As through the store she winds
Hurry up customers! Vegitabilians are developing mold.

The aisles are still patrolled
Consumers want to get the best Vegitabilians
They are ready to be sold.
Hurry up customers! Vegitabilians are developing mold.

-Anonymous, Killarney Secondary