Grade 6: Unit 1

No soft squish of pine. No slip and slide through grass.

I am not gifted. When I read, the words twist
twirl across the page.

Our mama shushes us, says,
It's too late for presents and the like.

Panels work together to tell a story.

Every child, without any exception whatsoever, shall be entitled to these rights, without distinction or discrimination on account of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status, whether of himself or of his family.

In the enactment of laws for this purpose, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.

The child is entitled to receive education, which shall be free and compulsory, at least in the elementary stages.

She still recalls the fierce antagonism of the women.

One day, the orphanage was warned it would be bombed and the children were marched to a distant refugee camp.

For a moment, Michaela was distraught because she believed that all the other children would be taken to new homes and she would be left behind.

Athletes were highly respected in the black community, and boys my age were encouraged to play some sport.

Away from books I was, at times, almost desperate to fill up the spaces of my life.

Not one of us was limber enough to do the stretching exercises, and soon we were all trying to look as disgusted as we could while we hopped around the floor to the music.

I was a skinny tomboy kid
who walked down the streets
with my fists clenched into
tight balls.

I grew like a thin, stubborn weed
watering myself whatever way I could
believing in my own myth
transforming my reality

I wake
with a tenseness
in my arms