Nancy Mohr.

Principal

Ruth Halligan. Assistant Principal

Paul Allison, Janice Carter. Marion Fuller. Michael Landsman, Linda Levy - Participating Teachers

CONTACT

A WATERWAYS PUBLICATION Barbara Fisher & Richard Spiegel Co-Editors

Ruth Wangerin-Waterways Teache Thomas Perry-CUNY Intern

Publication by The Waterways Project was made possible with funding support from the New York City Board of Education. New York State Council on the Arts & Con Edison

© 1990. The Waterways Project

CONTENTS:

3-6 lord John of Canterbury

7 Emilio Castro

8-12 Nyeem-Masai Adams

13-16 Rakiem S. Walker

17 Rex Searcy

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In recess are 30

nuns, all dressed in Sunday clothes, copying Pete "and Sylvester on "Victory," you know?

LORD JOHN OF CANTERBURY

UNTITLED

A maestro in the piano speaks to the trumpets like a sax,

A Germanic repertoire is a violent kind of black spurred by spectres

of Camomile

and threatening to erupt, turned by witches'

bone spoons, and tightly staying shut

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Ay, another day or so, then 10 years give a Decade, so we continue to relapse and change,

continue, yes continue, strange? Forget the lost and savor gains, Don't call me friend that's not my name,

Shine On like suns or stars in sky,

Be me, Be you, you have no alibi,

1990, Scare me not, we haven't lost a time-consuming slot, We've grown and yet we

have time to learn,

That at a corner, there is a turn,

So be smart as to continue your life.

Be better than the av~rage .,. wife, .

Don't retrospect on the milkman's honey,

or ask for a loan of Uncle Sam's money.

Forget the fastest cleanest day,

and make a new one, in your own way.

SHINE ON NEXT DECADE

I

. ;' .' . J

I NEVER DO

I'm a young man, with an old man's mind,

Son of every thinker who's been forgotten in time,

With a word I can submit some dark and evil thoughts,

but because lwant to live

I stay shut and won't talk,

In case you don't acknowledge the meanings of this Rhyme, Don't continue thinking--I've left you behind,

Intense internal touches of gray that plague the rainy day, Cause me to be oblique and slowly slip away,

Be still to all that moves at a pace unsure for you

And avoid the unavoidable like you'll never do.

STAR BANGLED MANNER

A servant met his master on an equal kind of day. They exchanged verses of Anger in an uncelebrated way. A feud had begun between server and he who had been served,

The serverkilled his master, that's what he deserved,

All credited the situation with a sly kind of manner, and from this incident derived the Star Spangled

Banner.

I

RUN FOR FREEDOM

EMILIO CASTRO

The boys were running. "Jump!" he said.

"Jump Hondo! The white man is coming!"

The white man's dog was coming closer and Hondo was afraid of heights. He had to overcome his fear right away. He jumped. He fractured his leg and split his head. The

boy picked up Hondo and ran from the white man. They ran thinking only of freedom. "The border is over there," said the boy to Hondo.

The white man's gun shots and dogs were coming closer and closer as the boys ran for their lives. They saw a man on the other

side of the border. They were overwhelmed with happiness to see someone that would attend to them when they crossed the border to freedom. The white men were angered to see that two black boys might escape, and they started closing in on the boys. The border was just a few feet away. The man on the other side of the border had on a long coat. He opened it and pulled out a shot

gun. He opened fire on the boys.

Everything started to slow down for Hondo. As he fell to the ground dying he stretched out his hand and it crossed the border. His last thought was that he was free.

I

NYEEM-MASAIADAMS

OPTIMUS PRIME

Long ago in the year of 450 B.C. in the land known as Prime, there was a young warrior named Optimus. He was so great a warrior he inherited the name of his country. Therefore he was known as Optimus Prime. He was the son of Athena and Cupid (Eros):

Athena, lovely daughter of Zeus, goddess of war, and Cupid, god of love, Optimus was blessed with the gifts of being a great

warrior and having any woman that looked upon him fall in love with him.

Havok: "Truly I am friend. Everyone has heard of the fearless warrior Optimus Prime."

When Optimus was twenty-one, he left the land of Prime to plunder the lost cities of Greece. Before he left Prime, his mother gave him a golden shield and a sword so shiny and sharp that when the sun hit it a man was instantly blinded: On his way to the lost

city of Atlantis, he encountereda man named Havok, a warrior of a land called Xavier.

Havok asked Optimus, "Excuse me, I don't mean to be a bother, but may I ask where you are going?"

(

Optimus answered, "That depends on whether you're friend or foe,"

Optimus: "From where hast thou heard of me, the great Optimus Prime? And how dare you cross my path?"

Havok: "You speak as though you are looking for a fight, but being the wise warrior that I am, I would never go against a godling like you."

"How would you know that I am part man and part god and that I am thus immortal?"

'That is the secret of you, Optimus, being the great warrior that you are. If you are cut, your skin heals in a matter of seconds. Your bones cannot be broken."

"You know my secret well. This means you are a true friend. I welcome you to come along on my quest."

"But, noble Optimus, you haven't told me where thy journey is to."

"I seek the one known as Cyclops, struck down by the gods for looking at the goddess

of love Aphrodite whilst she took her bath in the sacred lake of Venus. His punishment was that every time he opens his eyes red beams as hot as fire shoot from his eyes. The only thing that is said to be able to contain the flame is the oracle of Ice. It is to be worn

as glasses."

Cyclops was found in the valley of no return. It is called the valley of no return because once you enter you don't return. The sun was at its peak in the valley. Havok and Optimus found Cyclops half-starved and in a daze. They called to him and in haste he answered, "Who goes there, art thou friend or foe? If thou art friend, then what do you

want of me? And if you are foe then prepare to die."

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OpUmus: "Be guaranteed that we're friends asking for assistance:'

Cyclops: "What are you asking my assistance for? If youare friend then you know that Aphrodite took my sight."

Cyclops: "The task we ask of thee does not require sight. AliI ask of you is that you accompany us on my quest to find the oracle of Ice."

"What do you need with the oracle of Ice?

I am the only one who can use the oracle."

Havok: "We seek the oracle for your need, not ours."

"And who is that I hear?"

"It is I, Havok from the land of Xavier."

"Ah, yes, I have heard of you. You are the one who slew Oerebus, the guard of the underworld of Hades."

"Yes. that was I. It was a long and hard fight to the finish." (But that's another story.)

Optimus: "When we get the oracle of Ice, then I can tell you two warriors of our true journey. But first we must flee this hateful

I land of no return. But first I must ask my beloved mother Athena for safe passage to the Isle of Sinistus where the oracle lies in the temple of Aphrodite. But surely thou knowest that she will utterly try to stop us. So I

will go to gather the army of Prime."

1 n

"Because you would prove a most valuable weapon to our cause. If I tell you something is in front of you then all you need do is

open your eyes and they will be burned to a crisp. Now let us get on with our mission."

The armies of Prime and Xavier were assembled. Optimus prayed to his mother and she whisked them all away to the Isle of Sinistus. The armies were at the foot of the temple. They got to the gates of the temple and Optimus spoke. "This quest from henceforth will get more dangerous."

Cyclops: "But you still have not told me why you chose me to ccime along on this quest."

They entered the temple and one of the men saw a beautiful woman in a mirror. He strayed away from the group. He walked up to the mirror and the woman pulled him in and cut his throat. The woman was Aphrodite in disguise. Hades welcomed the soldier's body to the under world. Most of the soldiers

died by falling into booby traps. The number

of soldiers was cut to half and then a

quarter. All the soldiers feared for their

lives, except Havok and Cyclops, who would have gladly welcomed death, and Optimus, who could not die because he was immortal. All

of the men prayed to Ares the god of war for strength and great courage. The final room

of the temple awaited these warriors, all of

them fearing death but the original three.

This room, unlike all the others they had

passed through, was beautiful. And at the

end of the room they could all see the oracle

of Ice.

1 1

Optimus: "I will get the oracie, since I

am immortal arid all traps that await man will not harm me."

All the final traps that were set failed.

Optimus reached the altar and snatched the oracle.

Aphrodite appeared and said, "You

are truly a great warrior. You have reached the oracie of Ice. But I don't know if I should let you have it."

Just then Themis, the god of justice,

spoke: "These men deserve the oracle. They have been through hell and high water to get it. And I, being the god of justice, think

they tJUly deserve it."

Aphrodite gave them the oracle and they all fled the temple. Optimus said, "Now the quest truly begins."

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. -' .. - ~ .

~~~1~t1~::i;~:6·~;~~~.F':~::;:~j':;;ff~~

God Bless

RAKIEM S. WALKER

YOUNG BLACK WARPED MINDS OUGHT TO KNOW

"You can't respect, appreciate, and know where you are at, if you don't know where you were taken from."

Rakiem S. Walker

Don't empower your own neqative attitudes and disappoint your goals, Remember a man that admires his own shoes doesn't know what tile future holds.

So don't satisfy your temporary lusts, and set yourself up selling crack

for a minor drug bust.

Let God be your source,

don't let distractions knock you off course,

Don't let materialism enslave your appetite, just admire and work positively hard

for the ttilgs you like.

In the right timing of your prosperous growth,

You'll reap the positive seed of the faith you have sown.

So please hear my meek. lowly, and humble voice.

and regain definition of your heritage, It's your only choice.

Ignorance causes death, spiritually, mentally. and physically.

Knowledge and understanding grant life more abundantly.

Choose life and walk in it!

ALL I WANT AND NEED

l. Alii want is a job making more money;

All l want is more clothes to look more stunning.

II. All I want is a responsible companion to fill the gap,

All I want is a car that won't cause bills from months back.

III. Alii want to be successful is the right person to come into my path.

Then I came to the conclusion that I should thank God and do right, with what I have.

IV. Then 1 prayed and asked God to forgive me for all of my excess greeds,

and started thanking Him that He had met all cif my necessary needs.

I AM SOMEBODY'S PRAYER

I am somebody's prayer from three and four generations back.

To fiJI in the gap where that prayer warrior had lacked.

Maybe I'm the prayer of a lynched slave or a massacred Indian?

Maybe I'm a stressed prayer to enforce effective equilibrium?

Maybe I'm ungrateful for the reason why I really exist?

But now that J know I am a gift,

my whole future generation is on my prayer list.

THE SEXUAL THIEF

It seems the night is my enemy, and so are men.

I should of listened to my mother when she said, "You can't trust them"!

Either they disrespect you in the streets, in pornography, or even in the work force.

Sometimes they have flings with young women and then want a divorce.

To a man, a woman is just an object or an item, subjected to his external lusts.

Something that he had learned as a little boy has grown into an obese demon of disgust.

REX SEARCY

EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL RIDDLE

A sight through rocks, air, or water

Two eyes pointing in opposite directions A sight, at times, ot sleep, distance-

wise or height-wise

.An accurate sight in pitch darkness

A flavor but there isn't food before you Identical tastes in dreams or realities A savor, differed not by size or

distance, but everything else

It's peculiar because your mouth is closed

Energies of multiple sounds, ricocheting

off each other ". ·I •. ~""". ,,,",

Sound frequency causes scars both temporarily and permanently

Vibration on or in your flesh or

hovering above it

A lifeless limb unless a particular task is undertaken

An aroma, soon a set of damp lips

A canine extraordinalre's bothersome nameplate

Labled a "menace" during oral foreplay

A relative, from far away, touch him/her As fathers mingle with an array of sons Identically but seasonally robed in skin Perspiration of exuberance even at room temperature

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