The Canopies, the Sidewalk, and the Sunbeams

This spring, Global Arts Plus students will publish their work in each issue of the Community Reporter between March and June. Their work will range from long-form articles to bite-sized memoirs to poems and stories. They are so excited to share their stories with you. This month, we’ve got a poem and a short story from our student authors.

The sidewalks of my neighborhood,
that I’d rather not walk,
because I know there’ll be the days of gloomy shade,
The sidewalks of my neighborhood,
that I’d rather not walk,
because I know there’ll be days when the sun burns down hot.

A thousand trees
with their
thick and
dense
Canopies,

That overhang
the sidewalks of the neighborhood,
drenching them in shade;
Trying, so no inch of concrete can
escape

A hundred rays of sunlight
with their
perseverance and
warmth,
A testimony to the sun’s might,

That pierce through
the green leaves,
opposing the canopies;
trying to dapple the concrete in
light

The sidewalks of our neighborhood,
that we walk every day,
even through the days of gloomy shade,
because we know eventually there will be
light.
The sidewalks of our neighborhood,
that we walk every day,
even on the days when the sun burns down hot,
because we know eventually there will be
shade.