Read the Winning Huskie Poems From San Francisco International High School

By Max, San Francisco International High School ACE Poetry Contest Mascot and Martha who is working the keyboard, but really we Huskies (bark, bark) like to do things ourselvveeesss, so you may cee some words that hav my pawwprintt

Bark, bark. Max here. We’re pretty impressed with the winning poems for this year’s ACE Poetry Contest. When we saay that Huskies are strong, we mean it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Bark – my emphasis.)

The winning poemms from the San Francisco International High School team are inspiring stories about culture, family roots, never forgetting where you come from and what you are made of. Great poems Huskies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations to allll the winnnners.

First Place (In Person)

The Roots that Fed my Identity
By Litza Padilla

I come from Honduras
Coming from a fresh and calm environment
Seeing cafetales and cloudy mountains around
Surrounded by beautiful bird singing and dogs barking
Smelling a cup of hot chocolate with a semita de dos

I am from a first glance of love
I am a fruit of the most beautiful angel in the heaven
My second mom, my light in darkness
When fearness, sadness, unhappiness
Comes toward me
She inspire me to keep till the end
Helping me stay strong and not give up

I am from a sweet and soft piece of home bread
From a warm and huge family,
Fun and hard working
kind and lovely,
unique and connected

Fights disagreements might come but
Familiar Love is still stronger
Borders, distance and time
Helps recognize the meaning of love

I am a fresh breath of hope for my family,
a role model for my little sisters
I am a seed fed by advice and love
I am the third rose of my parents’ garden
I am a pride for my incredible mommy
I am a headache for my dad

Meaning of being an older sister includes
Hearing a lot of you can’t in life like
you can’t disobey our dad
You can’t drink alcohol
You can’t …..
You can’t….

I have gone through many obstacles to be where I am today
having the encouragement to leave Honduras
Experience new adventures
moving to a new world where you feel strange,
so you can’t even speak the same language
and life routines are completely different
Hearing English in the hall instead of Spanish
Dishes might be called the same but taste different
The money goes between our fingers like water
Without knowing where it went
Start feeling and carrying the weight of stress,
depression and isolation over your back

Remembering every efforts and sacrifices
parents and yourself have gone through
to achieve what you have now
Avoiding eat or buy something fancy for them
taking the bocado out of their mouth to give to their children
Working de sol a sol everyday
Remembering tears rolling down my mom’s face/
Money wasn’t enough to pay
Things were more expensive everyday

Remembering our roots, our folks
our culture passion for la punta catracha
that rhythm that makes us vibrate and
feeling our blood boil up listening to each note
‘Cause music is life, is history

 

Second Place (In Person)

I Am From
By Thi Tam Nguyen

I am from/ a beautiful country/ which is known / for its sights and food *
From the place / known for its people/ who are always / friendly and funny
I am a twinkle star/ in my home place
Drawing the strength, from where I’ve walked
I’ve walked /through a bustling-hometown *
It showed me/ how people act / and treat each other.

It made me strong / by the feeling of warm heart/ and sincerity *

I am from / my lovely family
From my favorite food – is a crab paste soup/ that my mom makes
I am a little girl like a puppy
Drawing the strength/ from what I’ve tasted
I’ve tasted/ the happiness in my life
It showed me / how the beautiful life is

It makes me strong/ by the enthusiastic and indifferent

I am fighting for myself/ fighting for my future
And fighting/ to be strong,
I am the arms/ that protect my family
Drawing the strength from what I carry
I carry the memories/ of wonderful times with my family
That we created a party/ before we moved to the U.S
They remind me that/ I have my mom, sisters, uncles, aunties and my cousins.

It makes me strong by supporting me / loving me /as possible as they can

I am from a place/ where people respect the historical event/ of An Duong Vuong / and My Chau / tradition*
A place/ where people featured/ the ancestor worship
I am a hope/ for myself
Drawing the strength from where I stand
I stand on the legacy /of Vietnam’s culture and tradition
It teaches me/ how our ancestors /have built and protected the country.

It makes me feel brave/ and strong/ by Vietnamese people

I am Thi which is my name that they call me at the first time

I am Tam which is my name that they call me when we know more each other

And I am from – the love of my family, where I successfully – grew up with enthusiasm – and a warm heart.

 

Third Place (Tie In Person)

Flashbacks of my life!
By Lely Vasquez Chavez

I’m a new person everyday,
Full of different memories /
Memories from when I was a kid and others from yesterday,/
Tristeza, alegria, y enojo came back with them/

I came from a family llena de esperanza*,
Finding hope in a different place /
Alejados del peligro and trying our best for be someone in the future/
Having to live without my mother since I was 2 years old
and just live with my hermano mayor, my abuelita and bisabuelo/

I grew up having the support from my family/
Doing the things that I started having interest on it/
Dance as a cachiporra for every event, but the most important: The Indepence day/
A big party/
different groups from schools all over the country,/ different and colorful clothing/
An immense variety of culture/
Hearing the noise from practices around April and for the rest of the year/
Dancing any gender for events from my school or from outside/
My family let me be a pencil canvas to draw my own story/

Remembering the old time bring me different feelings,/
Felicidad y enojo van de la mano/
Happiness and madness come hand in hand/
Think back that my life was going to have a big change/
Moving to a new place,/ with new people,/ new horizons, everything new/
Tears going down on my cheeks/
Bringing back the memory that I have when I saw my mom’s face after a long time/

I’m in a new place creating new memories everyday /
Finding who I am and who I will be*/
Telling others my story and keeping and sharing my culture
Being proud from where I come from,/
the person that I am, and the good things that I will make.*

 

Third Place (Tie In Person)

The past that was present in my path to future
By Marc Garcia

I am the one that laughs before I talk.
I am the one who plays soccer at the park
I am a person who talks before I think.

I am from the land de la eterna primavera.
I am from a family who never cares if they are being judged by their race or identity.
I am from September 15, el día en que la tierra del quetzal suele celebrar con desfiles y un altar.

I’ve walked through borders in my life path
I’ve seen my world change like the day but the difference is that with day I know what to expect but my world is never clear.
I’ve held my tears to keep going and grow my plant.

I’ve tasted what does freedom means
I’ve heard that barriers can be broken with dedication and courage.
I’ve smelled the fear of my enemies

I left behind what caused my pain
I carry with me emotions and thoughts of how to cross and don’t get lost.
I remember that mom told me, never to forget where I came from and what I am made of and who makes me the person who I am.

I stand on the road of life to achieve what i believe
I dream of becoming the best defender in the world. It does not matter if it is in fotboll or not.
I hope for my family and friends to achieve their goals. I want back what they wanted from me.

 

Honorable Mention (Distance Learning)

Here, Where My Roots Grew Up
By Othman Hameed

I am from gorgeous mountains’ terraces and the land of glorious coffee
From the land of wisdom and the land of generosity
I am the wings that shall forever protect my dear family
I am “Yamanie” and Yemen is the origin of the Arabs
Kindness and wisdom and the prophet(( Muhammed))who said it
The origin of Yemen is great, and its sand is as gold
Expensive, and best people are its pride
And what makes you distracted from Yemen ?? and from the queen
Belqis, her throne, or her actions
What is your concern when its heroes revolt
The world turns into flames of flame
What remains steadfast in it other than its people
The star of originality stamped in its ruins
What do you know about the two paradises of God that He gave it
Where fruits are like diamonds shine in every tree
From peaches, pomegranates, bananas and grapes
A paradise over the world overflowing its beauty
Water and a beautiful face is the magic of rapture
Whoever comes, it is difficult to leave its people
The Most Merciful poured into it the most beautiful verses
And the universe is not tired of reciting them
People tenderness and a sense of literature are
what makes me proud that my roots grew up in its horizons.

 

First Place (Distance Learning)

How do i identify myself
By Juana Hernandez

I am Juana
I am crazy
I am gordita and lazy
I am callada but buzzy
I am from rivers and mountains
I am from brothers, mama, papa, amigos and vecinos
I am from birthday’s party and where church services ended as a party

I’ve walked in mercados where people say to you “ que va llevar mamita” where my parents and grandparents grew up
I’ve seen childrens working in fields, mothers striving for their childrens, government giving his back to poor people
I’ve held my tears in front of my mom to give her strength

I’ve tasted my grandmothers food, tamales, frijoles, pollo frito
I’ve heard my grandmother saying “ cuando el rio suena es porque piedras trae”
I’ve smelled the ponche that gives in posadas and tamales calientes.

I left behind my parents, brothers and nephews
I carry with me my family’s traditions and my religion
I remember my childhood, playing with my cousins and eating mangos
I stand on my window waiting to see the blue sky in a country that has tried its best to knock me down
I dream of being one more immigrant who can change her future but not letting no one to knock my history down
I hope for be proud of me, more than today and more than yesterday
I hope for one day each student that is through troubles and difficulties, can find peace no in the future if not in everyday.

 

Second Place (Distance Learning)

The most beautiful landscapes
By Fatima Silva Leyva

I am from the country of tacos and pozole,
a country with a lot of beautiful beaches and places.
I am from where people eat red rice and mole,
and also chips and guacamole.

I amfrom the country where people celebrate death each year in el dia de Muertos
I am from a country with a lot of different cultures and traditions.
I am from where there is always a party
and people go to las miches with their friends

I live in The States for two and a half years,
but I still remember the smell of my grandma’s food,
my friends, and my old peers laughing at everything.
I remember my grandma’s perfume,
a delicate but elegant scent.

My grandma always said “echale ganas”
because she knows it will be difficult to stay with my mom and siblings.
She took me every Sunday to breakfast with her at the Tianguis
while my siblings were asleep
It was like playing hide and seek.

I miss the noise of the streets, the cloudy and rainy days,
I miss the noise of the cars, extraño las tienditas de la esquina
I miss the little shops on the corner
I miss so many things that I did not know that they could be missed.

But ironically I do not want to return to what I miss the most.
I just want to do what I like the most,
I want to meet all my goals, and stay with my crazy family,
I want to graduate and become a doctor,
I want to work hard to give my family all the best
Even if I miss the most beautiful landscapes
Even if it makes me miss where I’m from and the people that I love.

 

Third Place (Distance Learning)

My dream sleep
By Andrea Cortez Argueta

I come from El Salvador.
I’m traveling somewhere.
I take with me that passion I found, that sadness, that hope with me.
A new chapter to start again.
Places are not to blame for a new beginning.
The chapter starts writing by their own pencil.
My history? I let the pencil write about it
My lips are reading a beautiful story.
With a different me, with different thoughts, with a different story.
Feeling like you’re losing your old story.
Feeling like your past doesn’t even exist in this place because no one knows you.
Everything that starts well has an end too.
With the voice telling you not to feed a gray memory that you view.
And for wanting to fly you only cut your own wings.
I am still following a path that takes me away from my country.
Taking me to another place.4
Sigo un camino que me aleja mas de mi país llevándome a otro lugar.
Un camino que me muestra un nuevo comienzo, oportunidades y esperanza.
in a moment to another, everything begins to darken and break.
Then I wake up and I realize everything was a dream
Nothing was a new place or a new chapter.
With the feeling telling me
to disappear and start again.