Chani is a senior at Bais Yaakov High School. She likes to read and draw. She is involved with the St. Paul JCC and is on the Teen Council. She likes to play chess, sew, and listen to old radio programs and she does yoga on Tuesday nights at the Highland Library.
POETRY- 2010
Grades 7 - 9
First Place - Lana Rubinstein
Third Place - Lily Goldfarb
Grades 10 - 12
First Place - Baila Elkin
Poetry, Grades 10 -12: Third Place
A Piece of Me - Chani Elkin
You’re not allowed to have a life
You’re locked inside this cage
No one can hear when you cry
You’re kept inside this place
Silent screams stuck in your head
Survive the hate and fear
Oh, when will you find
You can get out of here?!
Everybody wants a piece of me
Everybody but myself it seems
Everybody wants a piece of me
Now I’m nothing but an empty body
Be polite to them, now act nice
Even if you feel like ice
Never let on that you’re numb
How can you be so dumb?
Do your homework, do your tests
You’ve got to do your very best
I find that I can’t sleep tonight
Here we go – another fight!
Everybody wants a piece of me
Everybody but myself it seems
Everybody wants a piece of me
Now I’m nothing but an empty body
To your horror you have found
You’re stuck inside reality
Since molded by their “loving” hands
You’ve become your own worst enemy.
You can’t fulfill the ideal
You’re stuck without a dream
Saying “Sorry” while you think
“Someone save me from me!”
Everybody wants a piece of me
Everybody but myself it seems
Everybody wants a piece of me
Now I’m nothing but an empty body
Yes, everybody wants use of my body
Please give me back my life
I just want to be ME!