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Myrrh by Suleiman Hassan – Portland High School ELL
My plant is named myrrh. In my language it is called malmal. The people use this plant for medicine. People do not buy medicine because it is very expensive. The myrrh tree is everywhere and so it is cheap. Myrrh grows in the bush of Somalia. It grows tall and has thorns. You cut the tree and after two weeks or a month the sap runs out. This is sap is used for medicine.
When I was little and got sick, all the moms used myrrh to make us better. They would mix water with myrrh until it turns brown and sticky. My mom would put the warm mixture on my head and then I slept. When I woke, I was better. It is good for headaches and coughs. The smell is strong, it reminds me of home.
When I was about eight years old, I used a mixture of smashed charcoal, myrrh, and water to write the Koran on a small, short board made of smooth wood. Every day we would write on it and at the end of the day, we cleaned the board with a rag. In my country, Somalia, we do not start school until we finish writing the whole Koran. I was twelve years old when I finished studying and writing the Koran. It was a lot of work, and the girls and boys were separated while studying. I liked doing this because after I finished I could teach other young guys how to do this. When you teach, the parents give you money or sometimes food for your work. I had to use the money I earned to pay for my school.
The last time I saw myrrh was around 2005, before I came to America with my older brother. Then, yesterday my teacher here brought some into our classroom for me. He drove all the way up to Lewiston, Maine, to find it. A small tub of it cost five dollars. In the school library, we mixed it up with some water, and I smelled it deeply. It was a dusty scent, but I could still smell my home.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Aloe Vera by Roxanne Martinez – Portland High School ELL
Aloe Vera is a woman,
Always healthy, tall, and green.
Aloe Vera works at a salon,
She specializes in treatment for the hair.
Aloe Vera is a mean girl,
She has a spiky body.
Aloe Vera speaks with an accent,
She comes from the soil of the Dominican Republic.
. . . . . . . . . . .
My great grandmother, my grandmother, my mom and my brother like tomatoes. I hate tomatoes. When it’s pizza night my mom cuts up the tomatoes and puts them in a bowl. My sister puts the English muffins in the toaster oven. When they’re done, she puts them on a flat pan. My grandmother cuts up the onions and the olives. I take out the bag of cheese and pull apart the pepperoni. We each choose what we want on our pizza, and my great-grandmother prepares them. We eat them together in the living room while we watch TV. We all love Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, except for my brother who usually plays his Playstation game while we eat.
We always eat all together like this, except for the night my brother got in trouble. That night, when we got home from meeting with the probation officer, I ate alone in my room. I thought I was in trouble—more trouble than I was already in—because my brother had made us break into the trailer and I thought the probation officer and my whole family wouldn’t believe me that I didn’t want to do it. That night I didn’t eat the spaghetti and meatballs my mom made, because I didn’t want to eat with my brother and sister. I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich—with crunchy peanut butter—and ate it alone in my room, sitting on the floor and watching Sponge Bob. I felt scared and lonely and sad.
The next day it felt weird to be in the same room as my brother and my sister. We ate cereal in the living room and watched TV and didn’t say anything. I got dressed and went to my friend’s earlier than usual because I didn’t want to feel so awkward in my house and wanted to leave. I hung out with my friend, watching TV and playing on the computer, and it felt better to be out of the house and with a different person.
It took my mom a couple of days to get over every thing. She was really mad that my brother had made us go into the trailer with him to steal. My grandmother was mad, too, but she got over it fast. We had dinner again together—steak and potatoes that my mom and grandmother made for us—and it was then that I realized that everything was fine, because everyone was talking and laughing together. No one was mad anymore.
We still cook together as a family at least three nights a week, and I love it. It gets messier with more people, because we’re all spread out over the kitchen, and it’s more fun with more people, too. The cooking gets done faster, and I don’t have to cut up the tomatoes when my family is around. When I cook with my family I learn a lot about different food and different seasonings, but also a lot about my family. We all like cooking together, and no one likes cooking by themselves. That’s how I like it, too.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Crazy Evil Chickens" A Poem by Jack Leddy, 10
I see the googly eyes, I hear the clicking machine gun-
Crazy evil chickens are coming.
The clock hits 12, the 24 box is crossed out,
The crazy evil chickens are here.
I hear the clucky-dooda-wee, the googly eyes roll
The crazy feathers are ruffled, they are crazy
And evil, evil alien legs. I see silver guns.
Crazy evil chickens rock!!
Ba-dum-crash!
The googly eyes—
Sleeping.
The googly eyes,
My nightmare
of—
THE CRAZY EVIL
CHICKENS
Ba-dum-Crash!!
Crazy Evil Chickens
Ba-Dum-Crash-Bam!!
. . . . . . . . . . .
The colors
they’re there—
but some hide.
Frog red jumps out at you,
boring brown is kicked into the corner,
and sky blues and grass greens
are displayed on a white wall.
Even though you don’t notice them,
they are there,
like blue green waves crashing
on the rocks.
Notice the colors,
notice their meaning
and their feel:
A thought is orange,
happiness is yellow,
red fear,
green energy,
blue is calm,
purple excitement,
pink crazy,
black is sadness.
Light is powerful.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Dancing Violet" A Poem by Finn Naylor
A sunset’s last
Goodbye
A rock under
A puddle of
Water
The color of
My pillow as
I close my eyes
. . . . . . . . . . .
"Clueless?" A Poem by Emma Etnier
When my mind goes wandering off track,
It could take ages to pull me back.
I start thinking about my lunch,
PB&J with chocolate milk.
I remember the random conversations with
My friends,
The test we had in gym,
And the excited jitters of the dance on Friday,
The drama.
I have to remind myself to stop—
Focus.
. . . . . . . . . . .
“I Am From” A Poem by Musdaf Issack
I am from Gaaboy and Abdullahi, Issack and Abdi, Hassan and Ahmed. From Kismayo, Somalia, and the Nile River, From a beautiful map and a country shaped like a banana surrounded by the Indian Ocean. I am from chicken eaters, once-a-day rice eaters, vegetable eaters.
I am from enjoyment, wildness, but also excitement and interest. From people who love to clap and play soccer. I am from “Thank you” and “See you later” and “See you again,” too. I am from the Muslim religion, and from believing in one god. From Wendy’s, bagging, movie watchers, but mostly from homework.
I am from Coca Cola, a grasshopper, an Indian song, and an airplane. I am from an owl, a zebra, and a camel. I am from Hassan A. Samakir and Arta Video, I am Musdaf Issack who is a good student.
. . . . . . . . . . .
When the Grass Was Short Enough by Musdaf Issack
I am Musdaf. I believe I am a good student. I love my parents, teachers’ opinions, and I also like to play soccer. Several years ago I lived in Kenya, where I was growing up. I liked to play soccer so much, and I played it every time I had time, especially during the spring. I always used to play it every evening while the sun was a little bit shining and it gave me a sixty-five degree temperature. And also while the land was really green and the grass was short enough. My shoes didn’t get dusty immediately because the land was cleaned up by the rain. And I also liked when my eyes were attracted by the green grasses, mareer, and others plants.
When I was living in Kismayo, Somalia, there were wild animals around me. I was very young, and didn’t know how dangerous they were. Camels were my favorite. They are huge, and not dangerous if you do not disturb them. I am from enjoyment, wildness, but also excitement and interest.
. . . . . . . . . . .
I am from Sudan
My love
Hometown
Khartoum
Surrounded by fruit trees
Loving of the smells
Makes you eat
Walking down the street
Makes you lose weight
Eat more fruit
Makes your health good
Play sports
Makes you active and smart
In my hometown, fruits are everywhere.
You don’t feel like you want to eat salty food, just fruits.
So many colors!
Yellow banana color
Orange color
Red apple color
Mango yellow color
(Not cooked mango green color
Yellow green pineapple color)
The way it tastes makes your mouth smell just like it.
Smells like fruit perfume
Sweet, some sour
So soft and round.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Soccer Was the Garden at the Center of Me by Mohamed Omar
My name is Mohamed Omar. I was born in Wardhigley. This village is important to my life. My village is near to the ocean and it was quiet and warm. It has fresh air. Also it has pine trees and beautiful plants that you can play around. This village is more important to me than my country. This village is inside of the capital of Somalia. Mogadishu is famous and everybody knows it. Whoever comes from the capital of Somalia, even if they don’t come from my village, they should know it because the Congress used meet there. Actually it was in the middle of everything—my village was in the middle of the capital so my soccer field was in the middle of the village. No one had any idea how long it was going to be there—because it used be where Congress met, after the Somalia war happened everybody thought it going be destroyed. But it didn’t happen. Today still you find every thing the way it was, except I’m not there anymore. I love my village and I miss what I had back then that I don’t have today—my friends, my grandmother and grandfather… I loved my soccer field. I used be the son of the village. I used be the player of the soccer field. I miss all that.
Just as my village is in the middle of Mogadishu, my soccer field is in the middle of my village. It is also near to my house. Before we start playing soccer at the field, it used be a big, beautiful grid where we used to go and enjoy simple games…Once the field was built, I started on my new soccer team as the youngest player, which impressed all the other people. As a young boy who lived in the village the team was named for, Wardhigley, the village really started to matter to me. I knew then that I matter to the people who lived there with me, and I care about them. They raised me, and they gave me the most beautiful thing in the world—true love. Also they gave me a beautiful garden that I could watch before the sun rose up and after the sun went down.
Since I came here to the U.S., I miss the true love that I used to have and the people that I loved. I miss going out before the sun rises up and looking the beautiful garden and also my team and my all my support and all my family. I miss my teachers who taught me at my Dugsi, a school where I learned quran, which is the most important in life. You most learn quran when you are young. I am still young, and so I miss that.
The true love that I used to have that I don’t have today is gone because my family is not here. Now I live only by myself. The beautiful garden I used to have I don’t have now because I life in Portland, Maine, where the snow covers all the beautiful gardens.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"I Am From" A Poem by Mohamed Abdirahinan Omar
I am from Padima and Abdivahascou Hassan, Siicow and Omar.
From Wardhigley and Portland and Monroe, Connecticut,
From near the ocean, quiet and warm, and fresh salty air surrounded by pine trees and beautiful plants that you can play around.
I am from halwa, sweet, like candy—red or orange, made with sugar and a little flour, whole chicken without the head stuffed with vegetables, macaroni. Wash hands first, chicken only.
I am from anger, queasiness, but also friendliness and love.
I am from people who love to go to the movie theater and play soccer.
I am from “go out and don’t come back until your mind gets back” and “we need to do whatever we need to do before Mama knows” and “do your work before I send notes to your home.”
I am from Islam, praying five times a day, can’t touch a woman without being engaged to her, and from going with the ways, and growing up to do the same work your family did.
I am from Idexx, Fed-Ex, a librarian, but mostly from shipping and handling.
I am from Somalian orange juice, Superman, country music, and bicycles.
I am from brown-throated circle birds, lions, and pygmy monkeys.
I am from Abdi Sanka and Cyalka Xafada.
I believe to pray every day.
. . . . . . . . . . .
"I Am From" A Poem by Annet Orti
I am from Martina and Otti, Benson and Rete, Gilbert and Norman.
From Uganda and Sudan,
From green banana forests and huge markets surrounded by lots of people.
I am from chicken and sheep eaters, okeyor, rice, and meat with clean, right hand eaters, and white bean eaters.
I am from anger, sadness, but also happiness and love.
From people who love to cook and run track and jump high.
I am from “Amaro ina” and “Lok ming ming” and “Mama nining.”
I am from a large family of Catholics, and from “Jesus is the only son of God,” and all ancestors who are Catholic, and we follow them.
From caretakers of the old, the assembly line at Berber Foods, and jokers, but mostly from a king who told the rain to come and it did.
I am from mango juice, teddy bears, You Raise Me Up, and walkers.
I am from doves and ostriches, lions, elephants, giraffes, zebras, and my grandfather’s 200 goats.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Talking with Z, An Interview with Zemarai Hassanzada, November 29, 2007
There was a town near the lake. A place called Nimruz. I was born there. I was there for like 15 years with my family. My dad had a good job and all that. He was an officer and he had a good job, making good money. So after a couple years Taliban came to town so my dad lost his job.
Who are the Taliban?
They're like the army. A different army.
Were people happy when they came?
Actually not. First for two weeks, people thought they were good people. They were happy the town would get better. After one month, these people were dangerous people.
How did you know they were dangerous?
They were coming to your house and hitting you. Go to the mosque they want to cut your hair, keep it short, grow a long beard. That's not their business. That's your business. They will take you to the jail and all that. If you didn't go to school they would come to your house or if you were working in a store, they'd come and take you to school.
Did that happen to you?
Yeah, that happened to me. I was working in a store with my brother and they came with another student and they took me and my brother, they put ropes around our hands. They took us to school and hit my brother so bad and they hit me. When it was over, they were like come to school tomorrow and we didn't go to school. I told my dad what should we do. They're not teaching us nothing. We can't learn nothing. They just hit you. My dad was like I don't want you going to school. Just stay home and when school is over go to your job.
We were helping my Dad so he could make money.
What was the town like?
It was a deserty town. We were living in the desert. Iran was on the other side of the lake. I was going to school when the Taliban was not there. When I was six years old, seven years old. The baddest people I ever saw in my life were the Taliban.
Why?
There was a lady. She killed her husband and a son. Then the Taliban brought her to the city. My brother and I were working in the store. So the Taliban came and they said you've got to go to a big circle and people were sitting there. And the lady was in the middle of the circle with her eyes closed. I understood they were going to kill her. I was eight years old. How can you go watch a lady they're going to kill in front of your eyes, you know? They took me and my brother and all the people if you did not go they were going to beat you so bad. We were sitting and they brought the lady in the middle. One guy, he was just holding a gun and he shot her.
You saw it?
I saw it. It was really scary. When I was going home I was thinking about that oh my god. You don't want them to come to your house. They'll take you and kill you. You were thinking, thinking, thinking.
Did your family stay in Nimruz?
After three years. My dad was trying to find a good job, but he couldn't make money. Finally my dad was like I've got to go to Khandahar to call my sister so she could send some money from the United States. When he went to Khandahar he called her and she was like where are you? I thought you were dead. He's like no I'm fine. I'm going to help you guys. I want you guys to move to Pakistan. I'll figure out all the paper and I want you guys to come to the United States. I'll help you. My dad was like OK, I've got to tell my wife and kids and see what they're going to say. So he came back to town and said you guys need to get ready because you're going to go to Pakistan. My mom was like are you OK? He's like I'm OK. What are you talking about. We're going to go to Pakistan, then we can go to America. We were laughing.
You were laughing ... Did you believe him?
I couldn't believe that I'm coming to the United States. I was like my Dad is joking. He was like no I'm not joking I want you guys to get ready. He sold all our clothes and we finally got our stuff to move to Khandahar. So we were there with my aunt and uncle for a couple weeks and then we moved to Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan. We were there with some friends for about two weeks so finally we moved to Pakistan.
How did you get to Pakistan?
We took a taxi. You pay a lot of money. Khandahar to Kabul and then Kabul to Pakistan. We came to Pakistan. We were there for like three years. Finally all the work that my aunt did for us to get ready to come to the US ... we were ready to go to the airport and then we heard that 9/11 happened so they were like everything is done. You guys can't go. Go back to your home and my Dad was like oh my God, you can't be serious. We have to wait like six more months. We waited for six more months for everything to get ready so finally they called us they were like OK now you guys can go. We came to New York City and my aunt she was waiting there for us.
Islamabad to Karachi. Karachi to Dubai and Dubai to New York City, and then my aunt drove us here to Maine.
Was landing in New York the same as you imagined?
No. It's like I'm in a different world. The people in the town I was living in were different. These people were big guys. It's like oh my God they're so huge. So we came here we were at my aunt's house for six months and then we moved to the shelter. They gave us money for food. Then everything was fine. The life got better.
What was school like?
I didn't know how to speak English and all that. A student was looking at me: Oh my God, look at him, Where did he come from? Second day, one week, two weeks, six months, I didn't speak English and when I was going to class students were laughing at me and I didn't understand anything. I was not listening to them. I was quiet, and I was asking the teacher what are they saying, why are they laughing at me? The teacher was like, oh, don't listen to them. You can't say nothing, you can't hit them. This is America. If you hit them you'll get into big trouble so like OK.
I moved from Lincoln Middle School to King Middle School. I learned a little bit of English. Talking to the teacher, friends. so seventh grade in King Middle School and 8th grade in King Middle School I was there. So I learned English pretty good so my freshman year I moved to Portland High School so I learned more English talking to friends going to work out at the gym. My sophomore year, I learned more English and now my junior year, I think I'm OK.
When did you start going to the gym?
Started going to the gym in seventh or eighth grade.
That's young.
Yeah, it's young cause I really I was on fire and I wanted to start working out really fast. When you love something you just go for it, you can't wait, you know.
For me when I just step in the gym, I'm really happy. I don't think about nothing. I don't care about what happened in the past. When I go to the gym I feel happy. I feel like I'm in heaven that's what I feel like. I feel like I'm in heaven.
What makes that happen?
I don't know. When I go there I just focus on my working out. This is the time I focus on what I do.
I've got a belt. I wear gloves some times. I wear knee bells[?] A lot friends come there and ask me questions. What should I do? Like freshmen kids, they don't know what they're doing so I'm just helping them.
A friend told me: lift hard, lift smart. Eat even harder, and smarter.
You need someone to help you, like your partner. It's really important.
Do you have a partner?
My Dad.
Do you go with him all the time?
All the time. He's lifting also. I'm helping him. He's helping me. People look at us like oh what a great partner. When I was young my Dad was going to the gym, he was taking us to the gym in Nimruz. He had his own gym. Students and all that.
So he had his own gym?
Yeah. He was getting money from them. The Taliban came to his gym and all the pictures were on the wall, like the body builders pictures. So the guy came and they were religious. They don't like it when you take off your shirt and see all the muscle. They looked at my dad, what is that picture. It's a picture of body builders. They ripped them and threw them away. My dad was so mad. And the next day, my dad came back to his gym and nothing was there. No weights nothing. They took them to somewhere else. My dad was looking for his weights and finally we found them.
Where? Where were they?
In their office. They took them to their office. What are you doing with this stuff? We're just trying to work out. I don't know why they took my dad's stuff to their office. and they were working out with it. My dad took all the stuff and brought it home, the weight machine. And one guy was like can you give me this, I've got to work out. And my dad was like OK this is for you because my dad couldn't say nothing. He couldn't say no because they would hit him so bad.
So you started working out in Portland.
I told my dad I would really love to work out. I was really serious. I didn't know where I should go so I asked a lot of friends. They told my to go to the YMCA. Me and my dad we went there. We got the membership and started working out one day. second day, one week, three week, I'm like Dad, how long is it going to take for me to get big? Son, it's going to take you six months, one year. He knows a lot about it. I'm going to wait and never give up. I'm just going to keep going. I kept working out. My friends were pushing me. so I was getting serious. After two years, three years, a friend told me I should go to competition.
I was like, OK, I don't know if I can go to competition I got to work a little more. I worked more. My posing routine. I looked at pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger, all those guys, and then finally learned a lot of stuff from them and I read the book and all that. You can't go to competition if you don't know nothing. You ned to learn first and then go to competition.
What were you learning?
I learned a lot of posing. I stayed on a good diet. I went to the competition with some friends. In my first competition I got ninth place. so I came back and I'm like I've got to work hard again. After two weeks, I worked again hard, hard. One year again worked hard. So finally there is a competition again. I went to competition with my friends and dad. My dad is my trainer. He's the guy pushing me really hard. I was really happy. It was my second competition so I thought I'd do really good. I got big the second year. I practiced my posing routine I taught a lot of my friends how to pose. They were telling me, Z, we don't know how to pose so I told them what to do. It was my time.
They were calling my name to go on stage to pose. I was ready on the stage. I was on the stage. They took my music. after one minute I was standing there. There was something wrong with the music. They said the music wasn't working. They asked if they could put in some different music so I'm like oh my god this music I practiced a lot If they put in different music it means I'm done. I can't get to first place. So I'm like Ok what can you do? They put in some different music for me so I just posed not thinking about getting first place. I knew that I was going to lose. I'm like OK I'm just going to do my best so i did my best on that music. I went back stage and my friend came to me they were like Z oh my god I can't believe it with a different song you did a good posing. No I don't think so, I said I didn't like this music. My music wasn't there so ... They were calling out who got first place from each group. I was a novice. So the guy came back, who's Z? I'm Z. Go on stage because you got first place in posing. I did? Yeah you did a good job. I went on stage I can't believe it. I got fifth place in that competition. With posing I got first place.
My dad was there.
I came back home. Back to off-season. Put on some weight.
Do you think being strong comes from your work or your father?
My dad is a muscular guy. It comes from genetics and working really hard. You're watching what you're doing.
Is you father careful about what he eats also?
Yup.
I'll just keep working hard and we'll see what I can do in the future.
I'm in off-season right now. I was trying to get ready this year, but my dad told me to stop. I want you to get bigger for 2008. so I'm like OK dad, whatever you say. I have to listen to him. He knows a lot. He has a lot of experience.
Did he ever do a competition in Afghanistan?
Yeah. Back in the day when he was young.
Does your brother lift at all?
He's playing soccer. one older brother, one younger brother. and three sisters.
Do you think your sisters will be interested in lifting weights?
Who knows?
What will you do?
First I'll get a job to make money and then go to college. Hopefully, I'll study about personal training.
EXTRA
One thing remind me about my mom when she was cooking bread in Nemroz. Like the other day in Portland High School one of my friends bought a bread from school.
“Can I have a little bit of bread?” I asked.
“OK,” he said.
When I ate the bread, it reminded me of the bread my mom was cooking in Nemroz. It tasted just like that bread, so it reminded me of when I was sitting there with her, eating the bread.
Now that I'm here in the United states, my goal is to help my mom and dad and to respect my friends. My other goal is doing bodybuilding. I'm doing this so some day I can compete with the big guys.
There was fighting between soldiers. My mom's family said you are going to go back to Khandahar. My older uncle stayed to watch the house. The family left. When my grandfather went back to get him to bring him home, he wasn't there. The dangerous people took him and killed him. 25 years ago. my grandfather was living in Kabul and he was crying and all that. I want my son back. He was crying. He was in Kabul waiting for his son. He heard from people, oh your son is alive, but he wasn't. Finally, he died thinking about his son.
Some stories and poems in-progress from recent workshops and school visits:
"Myrrh" by Suleiman Hassan
"Aloe Vera"
by Roxanne Martinez
"Tomatoes" by Talisha Wildes
"Crazy Evil Chickens" A Poem by Jack Leddy
"The Colors" A Poem by Lucy
"Dancing Violet" A Poem by Finn Naylor
"Clueless?" A Poem by Emma Etnier
“I Am From” A Poem by Musdaf Issack
When the Grass Was Short Enough by Musdaf Issack
Sudanese Fruits by Hala Ishag
Soccer Was the Garden at the Center of Me by Mohamed Omar
"I Am From" A Poem by Mohamed Abdirahinan Omar
"I Am From" A Poem by Annet Orti
Talking with Z, An Interview with Zemarai Hassanzada, November 29, 2007