Hollywood High School Poetry Club

By Leah Jackson

Captain (sung): In the night, left only with my thoughts

        I wish I could just shut them out

        Because I know that every time I’ve fought

        Them they only seem to scream loud

        But I can never act on them, I’ve simply gotta wait

        Wait for what, there’s nothing to see

        Nothing to take off all this weight

        On my shoulders because I’ve had a dream

        A dream that can never be

        A world, a future, I can never see

        A world that involves him and me

        A world where he’s not a prince

        A world where I don’t have to wince

        At every lost opportunity

Ensemble: A world he can never see

        A world where he can simply be

        A man in love

Captain: In the night, I imagine him

        A night where he soars

        A vision I must condemn

        In the night, where he belongs

        And I am left alone

        In a world, a future I have never known

Ensemble: A world he can never see

        A world where he can simply be

        A man in love

Captain: But I know that it’s my duty

    To protect him from harm

    And I know that truly

    I must close off my heart

    But oh, I wish

    I could just have him see

    That wonderful vision

    Of him and me

    Of a world I can never see

                        Ensemble: A world he can never see

    A world where I can simply be

                                Where he can simply be

Captain and Ensemble: A man in love

I had a dream 
I was in a cage
I felt so alone, so invisible 
So many people were surrounding me 
Yet I still felt alone
I heard so much laughter, but it wasn't coming from me
I'm in a cage, and I want to get out
I remember yelling for help but no one could hear me
I remember wanting to get out
I had a dream, I was in a cage, wanting to get out surrounded by millions of people, 
Screaming for help, screaming to be free
Then...
I woke up.

Written by Precelia Acosta

by Precelia Acosta

I'm worn out
I have been used and reused over and over like a disposable bag
I have been damp wet and suck dry
I have seen the ruthless betrayal of the bitterness of life
I have sen great people suffer and the even greater suffer even more
I have seen people pay their ruthless debts to their murderous lives
I have seen people sucked in and spit right back out like noodles
I have seen people cry their eyes out for nothing
I have seen people be strong for things they should be crying over
This world has more suffering than I can say
This world is even more backwards than I imagined

2016 Anthology:

Angst and Other Anonymous Confessions