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The Golden Days

Barefoot feet on summer ground,
Chasing butterflies around,
Sunlight dancing through the trees,
Laughter carried on the breeze.

A scraped-up knee, a fearless heart,
Every day a brand-new start,
Pockets filled with stones and string,
Finding wonder in everything.

Rainy afternoons inside,
Building castles far and wide,
Blanket forts and stories told,
Little hands that never grew old.

Moments passed but seemed to stay,
Golden hours, golden days,
And though childhood fades from view,
Its happy light still shines right through.

The House That Never Felt Like Home

The walls knew words I never said,
And footsteps echoed overhead.
I learned too young to read the room,
To feel the anger, sense the gloom.

While other children ran and played,
I learned the quiet ways to fade.
I kept my dreams beneath my bed,
And swallowed all the tears I shed.

The nights were long, the mornings cold,
I grew up faster than I should.
I learned that home could feel like fear,
And silence could be loud and near.

But somewhere underneath the pain,
A little hope refused to change.
Though childhood left its scars behind,
I kept a softer heart inside.

And now I know what I once missed—
A childhood wrapped in warmth and bliss.
I cannot change the years gone by,
But I can give my younger self a life
Where they are safe, and free to fly.

Life

Life is a road we never know,
With hidden turns and tides that flow.
We laugh beneath the morning sun,
Then wonder where the daylight’s gone.

We lose some people on the way,
Who once were there for every day.
Their voices fade, their pictures stay,
A little piece of yesterday.

We learn that hearts can break in two,
That some goodbyes are overdue.
We learn that tears are not defeat,
And broken hearts can still find beat.

Some nights, the world feels far too wide,
And we have nowhere left to hide.
We question why we hurt so much,
Why life can feel so out of touch.

But still, the morning finds our eyes,
Still, somewhere, hope begins to rise.
A gentle breeze, a stranger's smile,
Can make the pain feel worth the while.

For life was never meant to be
A perfect, painless memory.
It's every scar and every tear,
Every moment we were here.

So hold the ones you love tonight,
Forgive yourself, and seek the light.
For though our time is passing through,
The world is changed because of you.

The Parents I Needed

I learned to whisper in my room,
Because their anger filled the gloom.
I learned to hide the tears I cried,
And keep my broken heart inside.

They gave me food, they gave me clothes,
But never asked how deeply it goes—
The little fears I couldn't say,
The things that haunted me each day.

I watched the children laugh and run,
Held by the warmth of someone's love.
And wondered what it might have been
To feel protected, safe, and seen.

I needed arms that wouldn't let go,
A gentle voice to help me grow.
I needed someone to say, “You're enough,”
When growing up became too tough.

Instead, I learned to blame my heart,
To think that somehow I was the part
That made the shouting, made the pain,
That made the sunshine disappear again.

But now I'm older, and I see
Their brokenness belonged to them, not me.
I was a child who needed care,
Not someone else's wounds to bear.

So I'll become the home I knew
I needed when I was growing through.
I'll give myself the love they couldn't—
And heal the child they never should've hurt.

THE LOST KITTEN

One day I was walking home from school when I heard a kitten crying.

I looked under a bush and saw a little orange kitten.

“Are you lost?” I asked.

The kitten walked over to me.

I picked him up and took him home.

My mom said we could not keep him because we already had a dog.

We made a sign that said FOUND KITTEN and put it outside.

The next day, a girl came to our house.

She was the kitten's owner.

She was very happy to see him.

I was sad because I wanted to keep the kitten.

But the girl said, “Thank you for finding him.”

She gave me a hug.

I felt better after that.

I think the kitten was happy too.

THE SNOW DAY

I woke up and looked outside. Everything was white. I ran downstairs.

 Is school closed?” I asked. My mom looked at her phone. “No school today,”

 I yelled because I was happy. My brother and I put on our coats and went outside. We built a snowman. His name was Steve. We gave him a hat and a carrot nose.

 Then my brother threw a snowball at me. I threw one back. Soon we were having a snowball fight. When we came inside, Mom made hot chocolate. Steve was still outside.

 I hope he had a good day too.

WHY I LIKE TO WRITE

I like to write because I can make up anything I want. Sometimes I write about girls who find secret doors or animals that can talk. Sometimes I write about things that really happened to me, like going to my grandma’s house or when my friend and I got in trouble at school. I have a notebook that I keep next to my bed, and I write in it when I can't sleep. My favorite part is when I think of something really good and I have to write it down before I forget. My mom says I have a big imagination. I think she is right. I don't always know what my stories are going to be about when I start them, but I like seeing what happens. Sometimes I even surprise myself.

THE BIG WORM

I was digging in the dirt in my backyard because I was looking for dinosaur bones. I did not find any dinosaur bones, but I found a really big worm. It was brown and long and kind of gross. I put it in a bucket with some dirt and named him Balthazar. Then I found another worm and named him Abner. My mom said I could not keep worms in the house, so I made them a worm house outside. I put dirt and leaves in it and some grass. I think Balthazar likes his new house. Maybe someday I will find a dinosaur bone. But if I don't, I can still find more worms.