Welcome to Xpress Plugged In, our new online gallery of student expressions. Please follow the submission instructions CAREFULLY. New work will be posted every Monday.
-- Nancy Green, editor of XPI
Kiwi Squared, chalk pastel
Samantha Ness, 12th grade, St. Petersburg Catholic High School
The trees billow graciously
While the skies drift along spaciously
Sun-kissed girls dance on the sun-lit sand
While rugged boys pursue them on their native land
Peppy blue birds sing and chime
While workers listen enviously, envisioning themselves on free time
Freezing lemonade awaits its destiny
While hot cocoa sits in the cabinet, moping endlessly
Dogs leap and frolic through their masters' vast yards
While cats horde the fluffy ottoman and pretend to "stand guard"
Orange blossoms mob an eternal field
While mocking birds hover over them, their ruffled feathers revealed
Shorts hug an ecstatic teen's hips
While a pair of jeans sprawled across the floor forever sits
Specks of sunshine dot welcoming abodes
While rain sits in the clouds, envious of the glistening road
A shuttle at Kennedy Space Center goes up to the moon in a plume of fire
While a little kid watches it overhead and begs it to escalade higher
This land captivates all who prevail
To let the atmosphere caress you with its beauty and grace, just follow the trail
Amber Johnson, eighth grade
Fear.
It is a separate entity.
It fills you up till you can't move.
It makes you realize what you're fighting for.
It changes us,
makes us know who we really are,
strips us of intelligence,
releases the primal instinct to live or die.
Ignorance makes us weak.
It makes false things seem real.
That is what I fight against.
Knowledge makes us unafraid,
strips us of fear,
shows us who we want to be.
Fear
creates uncommon emotions,
is spontaneous.
The heart races,
you try to take control,
you try to think of a solution,
but you can't.
It surrounds you to where you can't move,
but doesn't kill you.
It takes control,
but only some.
It makes you think of all you've done.
It is a cure for your sins,
but it is also a deadly poison.
It makes you wish to forgive and be forgiven.
It makes our core personality.
It makes us realize how little time we have.
The only thing that does all this:
Fear
Colter Moos, eighth grade
Home in a Tree, acrylic
Samantha Ness, 12th grade, St. Petersburg Catholic High School