The June 2004 issue of Highlights for Children contained a poem entitled "Tears" by 11-year-old Joshua Mirsky of Plainview.

The demographics of Highlights for Children, a national magazine that was founded 58 years ago, range from 2 to 12 year olds in many parts of the world. More than 2 million copies of Highlights go to children's homes, schools, libraries and professional offices 12 times a year.

Each year, Highlights receives approximately 35,000 submissions including drawings, poems, stories, jokes, riddles, recipes, book recommendations and letters to the editor. The editors only have room for less than two percent of the creative items they receive from children.

According to the editors of the magazine, choosing which work to publish is the hardest part and they try to include work from boys and girls of all ages and from many different places in the world.

Mirsky, the son of David and Karen Mirsky, likes poetry and enjoys bowling, playing video games, practicing basketball and spending time with his family and pets. His future plans include becoming a paleontologist.

For more information about Highlights for Children, call 570-253-1080.

The following is the poem that was written by Plainview resident Joshua Mirsky and included in the June 2004 edition of Highlights. (Reprinted with permission from Highlights for Children.)

"Tears"

As I wave good-bye

my tears flow

like a river going

downstream.

When one tear falls off,

another takes its place

like a waterfall.