1915 and Other Poems

By Rena Kim

1915

Menlo School was founded
My Menlo School

Originally a military school
Boys only super strict
Now a place for this Asian American

With it's nontraditional values
The school challenges me each day
Pushing me more and more
So close to bursting but never quite there
I learn more and more

Menlo is not a school
It's a lifestyle
It is long hours of studying for a physics test 
It is coping with the worst grades you have ever gotten
It is stressing with friends about analytical essays
It’s about the awkward silent discos
And the school spirit on spirit week
It's about the endless sports practice every day
And about the school dances for semi

Menlo is everything 
from jaywalking on your way back from downtown
to comparing answers after a stressful test

It's hard
It's fun
And it's my home

The Fairy Tale

The that;
It is uncomfortably crooked;
Maybe a prominent place.
The bending
corner seems filled with sunlight.
Seems too weird.

Color. it's syrup;
Out secluded
From vision;
Something peeks in;
Sun shines through.
Trees slightly make way through the fairies without that 
mysterious and green’s bright light
Shade stumbled over
Natural? 
That backyard is not.
A peaceful colorful?
No. Shining my eyes off
Green sheen

Old but bent.
Plants bend be but trees, sunlight , the forest, and my backyard were normal
The green garden area.
Particular an unnatural spot
That I was into
You neon fairies remember

The trees will.
I would only stumble here if it was an
Accident 

My Family

I remember talking to the trees.

An only child and back then, 
petless and no one to talk to at home

My companions were the wind, the flowers, and the trees
and everything
was so interesting

The trees towered above me
sometimes scary 
they were so tall
but most of the time 
it felt like a protection

I never got cold

When the wind blew, it didn't give me goosebumps 
but rather twirled me around in a dance
Or it felt like the wind was saying something to me

The flowers were sad sometimes

I remember feeling sorry 
for the wilted ones 
and the broken ones
I pet them and fed them water
I gossiped with them
recounting my wild adventures at school

Rena Kim is a passionate high school student attending Menlo School in Atherton, California. Along with her love for writing, she also enjoys dancing and exploring different genres of music. Rena is currently working on compiling a writing portfolio for university applications, and has been actively involved in creative writing programs such as Iowa Young Writers’ Studio and Juniper Summer Writing Institute.