John Bernard Croak Grade 6 2010

1. JohnBernard CroakGrade 62010 Art inspired by Deb Murray’s Children’s Rights Poetry Collection Poetic Justice

2. Against the Wind What should I do To let you know When I am hurting Skin and bones deep? I know that you love me More than chocolate ice cream and bananas Because you tell me every day But sometimes even the innocence of the wind scares me As it flies by full speed ahead What should I do To let you know When I am hurting Heart and soul deep? I know you love me more than all the dollars in the world Because you show mw every day But sometimes even when my heart scares me Pounding inside my chest like a drum. Sometimes I desperately chase the wind As it flies by full speed ahead. What should I do to let you know when I am wondering where the wind that I am chasing will finally take me?

6. I’m Born Free I’m born free… As free as the dragonflies hovering above the clothesline… As free as the sound of happily crashing waves As free as the poetry of a babbling brook And free as the birds that rain down on my own backyard feeder. I’m born free… As free as changing your mind at the last minute As free as a heart beating wild in a race As free as the beautiful colors on a rainbow palette. I’m born free… As free as imagination will take me As free as the winter wind that carries me along As free as the shadows that chase me behind my back As free as the beauty of a panoramic, mountain view. I’m born free and I’m born lucky If there was a world-wide game of Red Rover any time soon I’d call you over from wherever you are so that you could be born free with me.

12. What’s Right? What’s right and what are rights? Some people get up in the morning not even realizing how truly lucky they are they look for good luck in their lives and they have no idea that they are it. Some people count on miracles and some doubt that they even exist some people just expect miracles to happen… I know I do. Some people count their blessing out loud but other must do it by accident in their heads. In many places in the world there are kids with no family no home and no last name even. They stare through imaginary windows dreaming of something other kids like me watch every day and may even click the remote to cancel out. I know what’s right and I know what rights are. I also know that I should be standing in line with six billion other people who know the same thing.

16. I Have a Question I am shorter than the average kid my age they say that it’s because of my genes… will you make jokes about me? I am slightly over- weight because of medication I need to take… will I stick out like a sore thumb? I wear glasses that look like bottles… I need them to see the smile on your face… will there be one there for me? My legs are made of special metal and I can take them completely off… can I still be part of your team? I can’t afford to wear brand-name clothing my foster family is rich, but only in love.. will I blend in nicely when the picture is taken? I know what you are saying to me but because my voice is sadly locked inside I can not reply… will I ever be understood? I hear the music through my feet and know by instinct that the song is beautifully sung… will you ever ask me to dance?

18. I Have My Rights You Know! You can’t make me do it I know you can’t I have my rights you know! You can’t make me clean up after myself because I should certainly know better… I’m only 4. You can’t make me share my toys with my little brother just because he always shares with me… I’m only 5. You can’t make me do my homework right after supper even through you are always available then to help me… I’m only 6. You can’t make me put my dirty clothes in the basket even if I try pretending they are basketballs heading towards the hoop I’m only 7. You can’t make me turn off the television and go to bed just because my eyes are wearing hoods of their own… I’m only 8. You can’t make me brush my teeth every day and floss to save my beautiful smile… I’m only 9. You can’t make me keep the noise level down to a nice inside voice for once… I’m only 10. You can’t make me shovel the driveway in the bitter Cape Breton cold… I’m only 11. You can’t make me smile when Aunt Myrtle gives me home-made socks again for Christmas even if they took her a week to do for heaven’s sake… I’m only 12. You can’t make me do it I know you can’t. I have my rights you know… right?

22. Rainbow I am a rainbow that your eyes may not open wide enough to see. Unless you stop exactly long enough to take it all in, I may simply look like just another crayon accidently pulled from a box of life and pushed back in for being the wrong shade. I am a rainbow that your eyes may not open wide enough to see Unless you like to color outside the lines you may not even look for me at all. I am a rainbow and I am also a box of crayons that has been spilled on purpose right beside you and I am patiently waiting for your eyes to see me and to choose me And to smile.

26. Different? Someone told me that I am different that I don’t belong and that I never will. Well, they are right in some ways… I am different as marble and sandstone as different as an ice cube that dares to try floating in molasses soup as different as yesterday from today. I am different in so many ways that I can’t even count them myself. My eyes see wizards in the clouds and rocks shaped like Japan along the roadside. They see a path left behind as a sparrow flies by and birch trees breathing inside the bark. If being different is a bad thing then I do not want to ever belong to a group that marches along like lemmings might do in a ragged uniform of their own making. We have the right to be ourselves to plant flowers in the storm of indifference to blow bubbles in the winds of change and to hold hands and skip in the moonlight if we want.

28. Absolutely Innocent I think the law says I’m innocent until proven guilty so… I guess I didn’t leave the car door open so the raven could get inside to build his nest and I didn’t leave the wet towels on the basement floor trying to determine what that awful smell was. I guess I didn’t leave the fridge door slightly open so that I could find out once and for all who turns the light off inside and I didn’t tie my kid sister to the swing set so I could practice for my Boy Scout outdoor skill badge. I guess I didn’t autograph the underside of the kitchen cupboards so that we could all laugh about it in years to come and I didn’t read my comic books till midnight by the light of dad’s emergency flashlight. I didn’t blame my older brother unjustly any time, any where, ever and I didn’t listen in on the extension phone as mom ordered my surprise birthday gift through Sears last week. I didn’t track the mud into the living room after riding through puddles testing water displacement properties for science class and I didn’t paint the target on the side of the barn just a little bit too close to the window. I think the law says I’m innocent until proven guilty so… You do believe me right?

31. Remembrance I can remember when I was young… you would hold my hand as I tried to walk on rubber legs. I can still hear you screaming out for joy when I let go, even though I fell afterwards. I remember the smell of powder being sprinkled on and your nose against my belly blowing bubbles. I sometimes find my feet magically dancing to a tune that comes, not to my lips, but to my heart… a song about a mockingbird and how I should hush. I can remember when I was young… people staring at me with a toothless grin and faces like a mask telling you I was a spiting image. I sometimes find my feet magically walking In rug worn circles as the clock ticks time for sleep. Now that I’m 10 and all grown up to be myself will you still scream out for joy when I take a first step on my own? Because of how you love me I will always remember to love back. Will you remember too?

33. Me Promises These are some of the me promises I have made: I will not be afraid to be myself once I find out who I am When I hear things I don’t quite believe I will patiently wait for the evidence I need to turn my believer’s light on. If I make mistakes a lot I promise to uphold my rights to do so. I’ll continue to trust you with my heart and soul wrapped around each other unless, for some reason, you cause me to feel differently. I will grow at my own rate and speed and I will slow down when potholes in the road of life threaten to swallow me. When I look in the mirror I will be best friends with the child staring back at me and I will never doubt that I am as important as important can ever be.

35. Tell Me When When is it ok to put the book away and run barefoot in the field you are reading about or to drop the broom and play hockey with the dust balls you are sweeping? When is it ok to stop making the bed and climb inside the blankets to hide from imaginary dragons and trolls or to stop taking the garbage can out and use its lid as a well-brandished shield in a medieval joust? When is it ok to stop washing the dishes to test the floating capacities of an air tight plastic container or to simply play a game at all though there is much work yet to be done? When I am really old like..let’s say..fifty I hope that I am a still asking these same questions right out loud!

37. I’d Rather Not I’d rather not go to school today… my pet tarantula has a fever… the sky is way too blue… and my socks have totally squished my toes into a knot. I’d rather not go to school today… my homework got eaten by gargoyles… the sun is dangerously bright and my teacher is trying my patience to the limit. I’d rather not go to school today… my book bag has dissolved into thin air… the wind is blowing in the wrong direction… and I haven’t got a single thing to wear! I’d rather not go to school today… my legs are strawberry jelly… the forecast call for especially wet rain… and my freckles are really, really sore. I’d rather not go to school today… my throat has a hibernating frog in it… the clouds are painting pictures that scare me… and I’m afraid you’ll miss me too much when I am gone. I’d rather not go to school today… but I will because somewhere in the world right now there’s a kid my age who’d love to and cannot!

41. My Family Tree My family tree isn’t growing in my yard like a typical tree does it’s growing inside my house. My parents say we are Canadian but that we are also from places far away like England, Scotland, France, Ireland and Poland. In my class at school the trees are a forest of diversity some kids come from places I had never heard of before like: Antigua, Cameroon, Costa Rica and New Guinea. Where in the world is Polynesia anyway? Does it snow in Montevideo? Is there a drought in Taipei? The family trees of my classmates make a strange orchard that water itself through tears of pride and joy.

43. Want To, Need To, Have To I want to be a popular movie star… I need to be the best me I can be… I have the right to dream. I want to ride a shiny, new, expensive bike… I need to lock my flea market hand- me –down model every night… I have the right to hope for change to happen. I want to jump and play all day… I need to share the work-load with others… I have the right to some time just for me. I want to be an astronaut… I need to be realistic I have the right to imagine that no matter how farfetched an idea seems just maybe I can make it come true. I want to swim in a secret sea and ride the waves as a dolphin… I need to be patient as I grow and learn new things… I have the right to believe that miracles ca and will happen even to me!