I AM

Azbuka Academy 9th & 10th grade English class group poem,
photo by Liliya Khylchuk

I am
purple,
the world,
texting,
and sleeping.

I get lost.

I am
happy,
a legend,
nothing,
smart basketball player,
terry-twisted
Facundo.

I am music,
a lot of food,
soccer ball,
fan,
starfruit,
strawberry,
tired summer,
chocolate.

I am Russian.

"Hi!"
"What?"

I'm From......

photograph by Victoria Kharitonenko
by Tanya Popovich, age 14


I'm from a summer country, where I like to play and sleep.....
I'm from a flower country, where the strawberries grow and figs,
I'm from a sunny country where I dance and sing,
I'm from that lovely place....
I like to watch movies, play games, eat sweets.....
I like winter, I like kids, I like the ocean and the waves
I'm from a country that just lives........

I Remember

photograph by Victoria Kharitonenko
group poem by three Azbuka Academy students


I remember the world of joy and happiness in my childhood when I played in the sand with my friends.

I remember the white, puffy bunnies.
I remember my grandma babysitting me.

I remember my grandma who talks with a powerful, squeaky voice.

I remember the really cold winters with lots of snow and the frozen snowman right in front of my house.

I remember the first small white house we had.

I remember my town, full of rumors and truth.

I remember my dog barking with a strong, deep and scary voice.

I remember the soft noise of leaves, wind and river in a forest.

I remember teachers making us memorize few-pages-long poems and telling them in front of class.

I remember staying up until morning and getting my homework done.

I remember the first day I came to this school in 2008.

I remember my teacher who acted like an army sargeant.

I remember freezing to death last year in this school.

I remember the headaches in school from last year.

I remembermy old, boring and noisy school.

I remember things that I now think of as legends.

I remember the beautiful concert in which I played the big, black, grand piano.

I remember having trouble memorizing this poem!

Untitled

group poem by Cody, Dorina, and Viorel
photo by Victoria Kharitonenko

Special people in my life
who I protect with my knife.
In the late dark night
I see people in my eyes
people that aren't supposed to be there,
people who live their lives
unfair like killers
and drug users and rapists
and abusers.
I try to keep my loved ones from that
But you really can't control everyone like that.
Everyone's got their own mind.
But I still keep them in line.

My street is full of fights
All the people need to stop but
I need to make them stop
because that's what we do in life.
People laugh, people cry,
people need me in their life.
Now just open your eyes and see
that only I was there for you.
So please don't feel blue
because that's not for you.

Viorel is my name
army is my gang
No matter what
I will go in the armată
But one thing I really wanna do
is finish school and go in the army
stay there three years
then be a boss
so I can come home
when I want
and after the army
get a really good job
a dream job.

Ukraine

photo by Victoria Kharitonenko
group poem by Viktoriya Tsygipalo, Sergei Kuzmych, and Andrey,
age 15

Ukraine
Birthplace of my group and I
A year for me
Nine for him
Eleven for the other
Passing through the world on a long road trip trail.
Looking back to the place we called our home.
Looking back to the memories that we slowly left behind
Ukraine
Ghetto corners, silent houses, or a neighborhood
like a family get-together.
The nights are deadly to step into.
Wanted figures wander in the alleys,
breathing smoke and waiting for a pray to catch.
Ukraine
Yet, the glowing days are cheerful.
Laughter, loving couples and little smiles.
Dogs, cats, children scattered in the alleys,
running all around, waiting for a play.
Ukraine
Strict, smart talks like shooting bullets,
leaving stains on one another.
While closely loved ones grow
out of their home nests leaving only
three goodbyes.
It's Ukraine
Birthplace of my group and I.

I am from living without regrets

by Bogdan Blashishin, age 17
photo by Liliya Khylchuk

I am from dancing at a rave with crazy teens I don't really know
the beats that Dj Tiesto and East Clubbers bring
and 2Pac getting put 6 feet under for the way he made rap music today.

I am from “Superstars” by Ya Boy and from Lil Jon yelling, "Yeah, yeah!" and "What!"
But the one place that turns my crazy from normal to outrageous
is shopping at Lion Logo for a line called Express.

I am from watching my family make a life for all of us
coming to a new place in 1997
from where we were living hard when my sister died.
It was hard knowing she was there
on my birth in 1992, raising me from a little boy.

I am from growing up shooting hoops with my best friends to getting older
and using those skills for shooting beer pong.
Now I'm back in school, getting my
childhood skills and putting them in the game.

I am from humans living like humans and not fighting like beasts.
From living by the Bible, for it makes a person's life the way it is,
where parents know what's good from what's bad.
From living hard with my dad around
and mama giving us the best she had
with little time to watch me grow up.
I always had my brother and sister to keep me out of stuff.

I am from enjoying a walk to church,
knowing that it's gonna be boring, from not
being patient enough for the sun to set,
knowing Saturday nights are the best.

When I was born my mama taught me
to do my best and taught me life's all about
the qualities that make a person great.

I am from moments of laughter to moments of tears,
from scary dreams
I was living, hoping I would awake from.
Where loved ones, like my baby
cousin Serj, were living a hard life
and no one helping them out. From where
running next to him with a case of beer,
I say: Bro, that was really fun.

My neighborhood is cool

by Azbuka Academy high school student, photo by Liliya Khylchuk

,

My neighborhood is cool because it's always clean. In my neighborhood, you will see rusted stop signs. I always hear dogs barking. If you go there, you'll taste fresh air because there's a lot of trees. You can smell good food when someone is cooking something. The neighborhood is cool, because when you touch something, it's guaranteed to be clean. I've always been wondering what my neighbors' problem is. They always argue. And the cars are terrible. They always drive by on our street and it's hard to sleep.

Ghetto Neighborhood

by Andrey German
photo by Liliya Khylchuk


I hear gunshots that sound scary and
I hear my family's arguments,
I see people playing soccer at the park,
I hear the train going by my house,
I see my neighbors smoking,
I hear music in my ears,
I hear the thunder and rain when I'm in my house,
I hear kids crying
in my house.

My Neighborhood

by Sveta Demenko, age 16
photo by Liliya Khylchuk

In my neighborhood, you'll see a lot of different people: Russian, Ukrainian, Asian, Mexican, American, and African American.

In my neighborhood, you will always see a lot of cars parked everywhere. A lot of them are old, rusty cars, but you can always spot out the nice, shiny, polished cars.

In my neighborhood you will see the sunrise every morning, and the moon almost every night.

In my neighborhood you will see lots of different houses and buildings. Most houses are really nice-looking: grass, trees trimmed. But you will never miss the dirty weeds all over the yards of the houses standing out there.

In my neighborhood, you will see every spring flowers blooming, and the sweet smell far up in your nose bringing you joy and a smile.

When fall comes, you will see all the leaves scattered on the ground, bringing colors to my neighborhood.

Thoughts on how we want to be seen

by Yana Yukhimchuk, age 16
photo by Liliya Khylchuk

I want people to view the Slavic community as nice, generous, smart people, not obnoxious, mischievous cheaters. I want people to see us for the hard workers that we are. We are very creative, intellectual people.

There are a lot of habits that we brought to America from our home country. For example, farming, fixing cars, building construction, and our religion.

Back in Russia and Ukraine, we were raised in a culture where everyone built their own homes and most farmed, meaning they didn't have to waste much on food, because almost everything was home grown. This shows that we're hardworking people. Also, we are helpful because everyone was always helping each other out. We brought this lifestyle here with us.

I am from chunky peanut butter, toe socks, and fleece blankets

by Yana Yukhimchuk, age 16
photo by Liliya Khylchuk

I am from tea
late nights with siblings
reminiscing of the good old days

I am from sarcasm and laughter
all-nighters and pj's
crazy pictures
and silly talks

I am from trouble
sneaking out,
getting caught
the mistakes made
the lessons learned

I am from Hallmark
birthday cards, Christmas cards
and a letter collection

I am from music
the not-scary thunderstorms
running in the rain
from board games

I am from the bookworms
toe socks and fleece blankets
chunky peanut butter and celery sticks
Jones soda, Hubba Bubba
and neverending hunger

I am from church
choir, youth groups,
prayers, worship

I am from blue like the ocean
from tulips
bright and unpredictable
I am from me.

My Great Name

by Aleksandr Bakhmatov, age 15
photo by Liliya Khylchuk

My name is Aleksandr, which means "the defending man," and the origin of the name is Greek and Russian. I was born on Friday close to sundown. It was the beautiful November when the leaves were falling and so was the rain.

It was the month that was preparing to meet the freezing cold winter that was going to burn faces with the touch of the coldest snowflakes. The weather was nice outside, the gold sun rays were falling on to the busy streets. The leaves were falling down to the ground.

That was the day when I was born. That was the day when I saw the golden sun rays and the world in its beauty, that was the day when I saw my parents and that was the day when my dad called out my name. That was the day when I accepted my name to be mine.

Aleksandr: special, incredible, windy, sunny, rainy, gold, rich and popular. None of my ancestors have had a name as great and popular as mine.