Jonas Growing Up

I go back to the playground, and speak to my friends

they don’t know me anymore

I go back to my dwelling, and speak to my parents

they don’t hear me anymore

I go back to the school, and speak to the teachers

and they don’t see me anymore

I go back to the memories

and now I can go forward

-by Daniel Kuncik

A Seventh Grade Argument

What happens at the end of The Giver?

I read it once, and I thought I was knew,

But I read it again, and my classmates said no

I was wrong, because something else happens for sure

When I read it a third time, and I knew I don’t need to trust an

obnoxious

know it all

teenage

memory.

Some things, I need to decide for myself.

-by Daniel Kuncik

The Sled

The journey began with a sled

A windy slope down a snowy mountain

It ends with a sled

On a mountain where we will meet death or life

-by Daniel Kuncik

Memories

What does The Giver give, that changes Jonas’s life?

Is it a pile of new toys?

a shiny television?

an iPad?

No

The Giver gives memories.

With memories and emotions,

and Jonas can do

what he never has before.

-by Daniel Kuncik

Leaving

Leaving, a place I can no longer call my home

Searching for a place where I belong

Looking for color

Listening for music

Hiding from the searchlights

Shivering in the snowstorm

Hoping for the sun

-by Daniel Kuncik

Mrs. Yacono's closet

In seventh grade, my teacher stood up by her closet and said,

“What if I put all the memories of emotion in this closet, and nobody could see them but me?”

What if?

There would be no shooting down snowy hillsides

no glistening in the sun

no skimming the sea on a sailboat

no death on the battlefield

no starvation

no frowns, scares, smiles, or cries

no laughter with friends and family

no turkey on the holidays

no savory tastes in a dim lit restaurant

no upbeat dances

no goose bumps with your favorite music

no despair of the loss of another

If you could put the emotions in the closet, would you?

-by Daniel Kuncik

A Life Without Love

A life without love can be simpler
It can be quieter
It can be peaceful
Love gets complicated
Love can hurt

A life without love can be easier
It removes heartache
It removes loneliness
Never knowing love
Can make life easier

But in a life without love
Means never knowing pure joy
Means never feeling warmth
The warmth that can make sorrow go away
All because you feel loved

A life without love can be tragic
It can be lonely
It can be sorrowful
Love heals
Love creates peace

Love makes happiness
Love fulfills dreams
A life without love
Is not a life at all


-by Marissa Kelleher