"Every pursuit, no matter what its stated end, has at its foundation purpose, survival, growth, and renewal." John Steinbeck
Kevin Palmer (Technology Kid)
I’ve kind of checked out
How long do we have to play these games,
Besides, I’m more interested in getting called
To do some hacking for the government.
I hear they want young minds
To show them how the Russians got into voting machines.
I can do that all day.
No Romeo and Juliet,
No petulant sports parents and their singleminded kids,
No do-gooder music parents and their cliquey kids,
Just me and a keyboard
Where I’m most comfortable.
Under skies of orange
Heading to uncertainty
A long yellow bus
Robert Sato (Smart Ass Kid)
It’s never been like this,
I feel like one of the Adams brothers,
Frederick Douglass,
Or Gandhi.
We feel like the system is wrong
And we are doing something about it,
Protesting, being disobedient in a civil way,
Just pissing everyone off in a don’t get in trouble way.
It’s not that we don’t get in trouble,
It’s that the consequences are less than the point we are making,
Adults have lost touch with what growing up is,
Everything is falling apart for them.
When does neighborhood envy stop?
When does car comparing stop?
When does finger pointing stop?
When do cultural excuses become unacceptable?
When do bank accounts become irrelevant?
When do the drugs of choice become part of the story?
When does a community stand for itself?
When do people become proud of who they are?
When do parents teach their children those lessons?
When are individuals responsible?
When do outside influencers accept blame?
How are attitudes changed?
Max Brown (Flute, Music Friends of Sports Parents)
This is my last year of playing the flute,
Now the other kids in the band are calling me Jethro.
All this time and I finally get recognized for something,
It wasn’t Mr. Simpson, my parents, or some judge,
It was my classmates for the other day
When we played Aqualung.
That was the first time I enjoyed playing,
How come we can’t play more songs like that,
Why do we have summer reading,
What is the purpose of the reading the classics,
I just don’t get the point of school
Especially in a year like this.
Moral victories
Poor substitutions for wins
I’m sick of losing
Digging into the depths
Doubting with each new level
Such a great feeling
Photo Credit: By Senior Airman Dennis Sloan, Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs
Sara Holmes (Violin, Music Friends of Sports Parents)
When I hit a bad note,
He puts his fingers together and
Tells that dumb violin joke.
Today, I told him what I thought,
He seemed not to care, but
At least he had the decency not to put his fingers together.
Blair Taylor (Drums, Music Friends of Sports Parents)
My parents are essentially fighting for him,
His colleagues,
And all of the kids in band and music.
He won’t even consider he might be
What the parents of the jocks
Are complaining about with the coaches.
Why are we protecting this guy,
I hear the coaches are actually talking with
Their players.
Lunging not the way
Sedentary, not good either
A choice to be made
To live static, stuck in place
Or dynamic and lunging
