Poetry project 2017

I found this "All Ages" poetry contest form Poetry Institute of Canada and I submitted my 5 best poems to it through email.























Do you remember

When your hair curled in like a dandelion ring
We smiled brighter than the North Star
Do you still remember the days in the Spring
When we sat near the tulip sea
Can you please be my one and only for eternity
And sweetie please still love me when I am on the wheel chair
We made promises under the blue sky
We shared memories before we die
When you said you would always love me
Think about us when we were in Hawaii
The water sparkled like a chandelier
Time was frozen
That’s when you kissed me

Live Love Laugh

Live because it is a precious gift given from God

A chance to feel the sudden wind on a hot sunny day

To listen to the strong beat played by the rain and lightning

A chance to Love the important ones

Love because life is different for everyone

To experience different perspective and values

To share the same excitement and problems

A way to make your love ones laugh

Laugh because laughing is contagious

To make the people around you happy

To make the world a better place for everyone

A reason for people for live

Punishment

                                 

Can we please go back to what we used to be?

To when we first looked into each other’s eyes

To the moment we smiled under the shimmering stars

I remember the scent of your perfume

When I was wrapped up in your tender arms

Under the canopy of the old cedar

The empty seat

I endured the pain of loneliness as punishment

Come back, I beg you

To cut open the blinds that block your zealous love

Enjoy this supper accompanied with the brief candles

And look at me for one last time

I never got a chance to say goodbye

From far away I seek forgiveness

Gregory Yu, 17, Open Ages "All Ages" Poetry Contest

What's your story

Life is a timer

A freight train that brings us to our terminals

Fierce and ruthless

Nothing can stop this divine waterfall

If you were to reach your station tomorrow,

Would you still be working for next month’s hydro bill?

Life is short

It is a book with limited pages

And we are the writers who make them worth reading

We create stories through adventures

Not through meaningless labor

Visit the peak of Himalayan

Or break the world record of doing the most push ups

Just anything! Anything that worth remembering

You don’t know when your pen will run out of ink

So write as many stories before its too late.

Beware of the monster under your bed

This eight-legged monster lives under your beds

Devious and cunning

It drains your energy whenever your are close

During late night

It haunts you with horrendous thoughts that keep you awake

Sometimes it may annoy you with cheesy song lyrics

In your dream

It camouflaged as the bully you wanted to avoid at school

Or the computer that malfunctioned before you get your work saved

When it’s early in the morning

It restrains you with its resilient tentacles

Pulling you back until you faint again

It has needles that can penetrate through your skin

Cursing your performance throughout the day

If you stay up late or are lazy

Slain this monster with coffee

Exams

The wheel keeps spinning

Four routes that alter outcomes

Persist, don’t resist

Chips

Bought with guilt and love

Open the bag with surprise

Enjoy the regret

 The guitar man

Walking down to the Village at noon

A tall man with grey beard approached me

Holding a sleeping bag of his size, he asked

“Do you have change? I need like five dollars”

Showing me his toonie in his hand

He pointed at the underground canteen with his darkened nails

“I want to buy the rice downstairs”

Unhesitant, I handed him the two toonies I got from buying Subway yesterday

I went on my day doubtfully

Thinking about whether it was a fraud

I then decided to take a sneak peek at the man after I bought myself lunch

The man approached another guy

Showing him the toonie in his hand

Enraged, I talked to myself

Is the money I gave you not enough?

When I met my friends at the UBC nest

I told them about my bitter experience

One of my friends replied casually “that’s the guitar man”

“Sometimes he played the guitar for money”

It turned out the man was truly homeless and needed the money

So why did he asked someone else when I gave him what he asked for?

I would never know the answer

But I know my action was the right thing to do

Denouement

You don't know. You don't know how long I had been waiting for you. I guess you never even considered me important anyway. But that's not the case for me. You were always my motivation, my hope. I would do an extra push when my body started to betray me. I would wake up in the middle of the night, hoping you had sent me a message. I would then send a picture of myself being foolish, hoping that it would cheer you up. Because I knew. I knew you fought hard to escape your constraining bed every morning, but that's all I could do. Sometimes when I was in my bed, I would prevent myself from sleeping so that I could have more time thinking about you, thinking about what we could be. But when my logic took over my emotions in the morning, I knew we were't possible. You never liked me. When we hung out, you never seemed delighted. You didn't need me. I was just there so that you could kill your time while your boyfriend was too busy doing his cross training. I was just there so that you had someone to talk to when he hurt your feelings. He flirted with other girls when you were not around. You found out, you cried. But after a day you would still chose him over me. It had been two years. My face could no longer hide my fake smile. My body had fatigued trying to make you notice me. Every time I saw you my heart shattered as if it was tossed from the Pisa Tower. I couldn't live like this anymore. I just can't. It was a great experience, but it's time for an end.

Point of view

"This is my only chance" I said to myself as I nervously walked into the exam room. Two weeks ago my piano teacher told me that at this rate I wouldn't be able to pass my grade 8 exam. As a 13 year old, I never tasted failure, and was never planning to. So everyday in the next too weeks I would bus for two hours to my teacher's house to make a final push. "Amazing enough", said my piano teacher, "I think you will be fine". Although I'm not sure if she actually meant I would be fine or she was just trying to comfort me, I sat in the waiting room expecting the worst. "Gregory, you're up next", yelled the lady in front of the examination room. All of a sudden the butterflies in my stomach roared as I stood up and walked towards the exam room. I calmed myself down my breathing deeply and slowly and the nerves went away momentarily. I went into the room uncomfortably, and awkwardly greeted the examiner.  Kind-heatedly, he directed me to warm up with the piano. I was already familiar with this piano since I had previously rehearsed in this room during the final two weeks, a strategy to make be score better. Furthermore I didn't want to leave a bad impression to the examiner by playing my pop music that I had focus my time on. As a result, I didn't quite really used the time I was given. The examiner wasn't even prepared when I told him that I was done warming up. "Let's start with the pieces", he said as he slowly walked towards the chair near mine. Things didn’t go according to play right from the beginning; I fumbled my first piece that was my best one. Although it wasn’t a huge mistake, the fact that it was supposed to be my best altered my confidence. After that, not only did I make some unusual mistakes, I also embarrassed during the oral exam. I was supposed to listen to a short segment twice before answering the question, but I instantly shouted out an answer after the first playing. He reminded me that there was one more time as he laughed. However, he also complimented me for getting it right in such a hurry. My face instantly turned red and so did my exam.

The boy walked into the room knowing that this is his last chance to pass the exam since he would be leaving the country. Although he might not be ready a few weeks ago, his commitment within his last two weeks had made he a contender. Everyday in the last two weeks he would work his best and even bused far to his teacher’s house for extra guidelines. When his name was called, his face turned pale and his palms sweated. He slowly walked into the examination room and was greeted by the examiner. Unexpected for a greet, as he was concentrating on the stakes of this exam, he responded with a late, awkward “hi”. The examiner then instructed the boy to get warmed up with the piano. Sat silently for a moment, the boy began to play some basic scales. As he was filling out the information on rubric, the examiner was surprised that the boy didn’t play any upcoming exam songs. The boy actually overthought that he believed that a poor performance on the warm up would lead to a bad impression. The boy soon finished his warm up told the examiner that he was ready. They started off with the boy’s best piece. Nevertheless, the nerves had made the boy performed unsteadily that he fumbled a few notes at the end. Although it wasn’t a huge mistake it cost him his confidence.  Later during the oral exam, he skipped his chance of listening to the piece twice and went straight to an answer. The examiner noticed how nervous the boy was and tried to comfort him by laughing off the fact that the boy still got the question right. 

What's inside Tony Stark's closet

Since this is a 5 minute write up, I am not going to go deep into the imaginary, high tech part of iron man's closet. I'll just take the logical approach and think of what a billionaire inventor has in his closet. With a good taste of fashion and lots of wealth,  he probably has suits designed by the stylists of the royal family or suits worn by  fashion icon. Luxury watches of course, Rolex, and even some self-made high tech watch that allows him to hack in other people's computer. There probably isn't bow tie since it contradicts his style of being powerful and futuristic. He is also athletic, so he probably has few pairs of joggers and baggy pants. The tight dri fit shirt, sweat shirt and black hoodie that most athletes wear today must also be there. Lastly, he must have some kind of worker clothing such as blue jeans and white t shirt. He worn these worker costumes in the movie when he was building his body armour and dissembles his machines.

The Leader

The Leader

Destiny chooses me,
Giving me the body everyone yearns for,
The look that charms a million,
The reason they listen to me

Destiny chooses me,
Giving me the conch that unites the lost
The authority to rule and command
The reason they respect me

But I am but a vulnerable youth.
My body covers my fearful heart
My look hides my deep loneliness
I just want to go home

I don't want to be the topmost
But my maturity forces to strife for survival
I am not eager for power
But orders and unity is our only chance

Destiny chooses me,
To be the only hope of this despair
To lead and guide the adolescence to future
Destiny chooses me,
To be the leader.

The black wolf

The Black Wolf

The forest stands under the rule of the lions
Restrained, the black wolf demonstrates loyalty and obedience.
He maintains the order of the young pack,
Constraining and eradicating the group's immaturity.

Majestic and respected within the group,
But unnoticeable and weak within the community
His greed for power is prohibited by reality,
Crushed and flattered under the authorities

A series of disasters renounce the lions from their thrones
The absence of the lions crowns the savagery wolf
Recognizing this sudden leap
Being on top of the forest hierarchy,
His desire for authority arises into storms
Flooding over the land of apathy

Under the hot bright sun the wolf glimmers,
As if holding a golden badge
He howls thunderously to show his dominance
Ruling ruthlessly, organizing his pack into unerring lines,
Solving problems arrogantly with his ignorance

The wolf deters any opposition,

Tramples over any disobedience with brutal force

Overwhelmed with iniquity

How I only ate one meal in the entire day

  After my four hour homework marathon, I lied down calmly on my bed, daydreaming about how wonderful my next day was going to be. It was going to be a day 2 the next day, and I would be going on a field trip to barn on the beach, moreover. I soon let my drowsiness take over. I had a nice sleep; my expectation on my supposedly wonderful day blockaded nightmares from invading my dream. This, however, ended shortly. I had to wake up early for my basketball coaching course in the morning. I woke up tardily and sat on the bed for about ten minutes. Due to this delay, i couldn't have breakfast, not even a slice of bread.

  At lunch, i worked for a chemistry lab immediately after my second block, A lab that we had restarted three times and still not satisfied. Time was limited, i had to finish the lab quickly so that i could leave for barn on the beach on time. I worked until the last minute i could at the lab before rushing to the bus stop. The lab and the bus ride was smooth, so i let this false sense of security fooled me.

   My friends and I arrived with some spare time. We saw a burger place, a restaurant which looked just like other burger franchises, and decided to quickly fill our empty stomachs. My friends didn't eat lunch while waiting for me impatiently since i promised to eat lunch with them around the show's area. This place, however, wasn't like any other fast food restaurant. Not only was it a bit more pricy, it was more like a "intermediate-fast food". My friends and I noticed the time was running, but we didn't want to hasten the restaurant. When we received our meals, we had five minutes to get to the theatre tent. I put my juice into my paper bag along with my burger and fries to free my hands for running. Trained by all the fitness testing we've done, we made there on time (almost fainted).
  Everyone stared at us for what we had done: scaring Ms. Penny for being late. No, they stared at us because we made it in time while being able to buy food. I bet they all want some of it. As i proudly open my paper bag, i sensed some stickiness on my food. The juice spilled all over the place! I didn't have time to rescue my food since the show was starting and i couldn't come back once the show had started. I dumped the food into the garbage can, keeping my half full juice. During the entire show, i battled against hunger and desolation.
It wasn't until six o'clock that i finally bought a dinner at togo sushi. On top of that, togo made me wait for another thirty minutes and gave me a worse California roll than the ones i criticized last year in my English 10 blog with Ms. Kwan.