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Spring Dream Keeping

The Dream Keepers have had a busy spring. The high school Dream Keepers continue to work on advanced writing projects. Jacque Troy of the Milwaukee Chamber Theatre visited us and presented a four-session playwriting workshop. At least two of the high school students finished plays and submitted them to Milwaukee Chamber Theatre One-Act Playwriting Festival. This is quite an achievement! 

The younger Dream Keepers group continues to grow. We attract a wide group of children each week—especially boys—who are interested in writing. Here are a few of the pieces the young people have created in the past two months.

I AM
by Robert

I am black and I'm proud.
I don't care what I am
Long as God's kind work together.
To be continued ...


ALL I WANT
by Trayvece

All I want is a dad who will
be there for me. Who would love me.
Who wouldn't forget my birthday.
And ask me is it a bad hair day.
Who would call me his little angel
sent from above and
tuck me into bed.
That's all I want.


I AM
by Kenneth

I am a tall giraffe walking the street.
I am a drum hitting to the beat.
When I'm tired, I go to sleep;
I hear the birds go tweet, tweet, tweet.

Summer is like ...
by Ashley, age 9

Summer is like a big ball of fun.
Sleep is a peace.
The moon is like a big night light.
Night is magic.
Day is drowsy.
Water is like a fountain of joy.
Time is priceless; you can't get enough.


Summer is like ...
by Kyle

Summer is like fire.
Sleep is like a break.
Time is like a slide when you can't stop.

Summer is ...
by Xavier

Summer is love. Spring
brings emotion. The heart 
beats back and forth to the
sounds of hummingbirds 
in the summer heat.


Urban Haiku
by Faith, age 9

Fight at school
Two boys punching each other
In the face. Big bump.

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In 2004, I began attending a church in the heart of my city. During my first visit, I had a vision: I would teach writing to the young people in this place. I dismissed the thought. I’m too busy. It’s too hard. They wouldn’t be interested. But the visions persisted. Each time I sat in the pew, the dream would come. Finally, I accepted this vision as a calling. I shared the dream with others, but I didn’t believe it would come true. Then a friend asked, “What can you do right now to make this happen?” In the fall of 2006, I embarked on a writing journey with four young women from the church. We have named ourselves “Dream Keepers,” after a poem by Langston Hughes. Hughes believed that writers were the dream keepers of the community. We are! In addition, recent studies suggest that people who write down their deepest thoughts, feelings, and dreams are healthier, happier, and have better success achieving their goals. Every Saturday I meet with four or five young women. We talk and write....