Poetry
Glass corsets
by Emily Watson
I love her,
so I let her scream,
I let her take her anger out on me.
She tears deep, her words her weapon,
Into my flesh and to my soul.
She eats away at my heart, knowing it’s hers.
I let her.
I allow her to destroy me,
let myself be broken into pieces
So I can be rebuilt with her as a part of me.
I stare at her, meeting her gaze.
She raised her weapon,
Her face contorted with anger
When she saw the excitement in my eyes.
I took a step forward,
Trying to convince her
To do what she desires.
I watch her pull the trigger.
The sound rings loud,
I fall to the ground.
I clutch my head,
As her words echo in my ears.
I make a soft sound.
It grows louder.
As the ringing in my ears subsides,
My laughs fill them instead.
She screams, cursing me,
But I don’t mind,
For she had finally brought
My ideal demise —
My heart in two,
As my secrets hang in the air,
My thoughts, my feelings,
Every tearful word
That was just for her,
Now free for the world.
While my vision blurs
Her face falls, the anger draining.
She gives me one last glance,
Before she backs up,
Opening the door.
My sobs die down
As she disappears
into the blur of figures in the street.
The door slams shut,
My love is gone,
Her presence still weighing on me.
The lights shine bright in my eyes,
Reflecting my pathetic tears.
I curse myself,
And my trust in her.
How stupid I was
To think I could be loved.
I wipe my eyes,
And think about her.
Her rosy round cheeks,
Her skin so soft, turning red at my gentle touch,
Her smile so sweet, wide every time I look her way,
Her eyes so bright, full of life and joy,
Her words so cruel.
I stare at the closed door,
I think of her,
As she leaves me in the dark.
Sophie
by Emily Watson
.
A kind figure formed of words,
Her brightness burning bags in my eyes
Her single picture made of a thousands memories
.
Her kindness curing those blinded by smog
Calming the children with her melodic dance
Using her painted face to hide others' grief.
Changing her faded outfit for others' entertainment.
.
She was trying to take off her mask,
Trapped within ceramic
Forced to bury her desires within.
Her parents puppeted her mind
Her stuffed limbs always needing new stitches
Yet she fixed anyone but her cracked self.
.
Always caring for others, no one handled her with care
Her plush innards rusting over time
No one minded her rotting.
The smell of wet, sweaty copper followed her.
.
She lay on the floor,
The bottle in her hand.
Her dog licked the cheek her father hit and
Her ex-girlfriend kissed before spitting venom.
Her phone was laying on her bed,
The text to her best friend one plea:
“Please don’t be mad at me.”
My Big Grampa
by Julie Saylor
He lifts me in the air.
His big arms bring me to a bear hug.
Then places me down from where I was standing.
He takes out a frosty box that reads,
‘Klondike Sandwiches.’
A toothy smile forms on my face.
He lets out a laugh.
Then he calls me
the apple of his eye.
.
White flakes of snow fall from the sky.
The delicious aromas of ham and spice fill the room.
Is he coming to dinner?
What’s taking him so long?
We called, until we heard buzzing
at the end of the line a million times.
We’re done waiting.
I overhear weeping downstairs,
soon to find out that his chair will empty.
.
I am alone and feeble without his presence.
The emptiness has consumed me in his old home.
Boxes of mugs sit at the table
where we used to eat his peach pies.
The house was still and smelled of a wet cellar.
It’s cool and sunny.
We’re having a garage sale of all his antiques.
I hope nobody buys them,
so I keep them as a memory for myself.
Seasonal dreams
by Julie Saylor
Though we were intertwined like two maple trees.
And joined by the hip.
I still remember till this day,
when we first kissed.
Our skin ablazed by the touch of each other's lips.
Like our leaves brushing against one another in the wind.
This love was hot.
I could not stand this heat,
and how it hurt my branches.
I was burning,
from my trunk to my crown.
The wind quickly came,
to save my burning soul.
To put the fires she created out.
Though I’m all ash,
and my branches are all dead.
I wonder if I'll be able to love again.
Darwinism
by Katelyn Menck
The view from the top of the food chain was gilded.
Gold forever thick falls from their pockets.
Money blinds pure eyes,
The hungry in a world of abundance.
They hide behind an illuminated screen,
Spitting hate posed as a saint.
*
Worth is measured in gold.
When clocked out you live another day.
Making just enough to cover their heads.
The rich pitted against the poor.
Stale and empty staff rooms feel demeaning.
Mundane conversations color in the gray.
Tainted air clouds your lungs and sky.
Ripples of toxic water fill your streams.
Flowers are blooming in Antarctica.
A meal fills your stomach but leaves you languid.
But as long as you are there to reproduce,
There will be another hand to fill the bank.
*
From the view of the lands untouched by man,
The wild lives and breathes in me.
Survival of the fittest marks the strong
While predators unveil the feeble.
My worn paws scrape on the brutal roots.
My eyes fade gray in the harsh sun.
There’s limited time before I am accepted as one.
One with the leaves and rocks,
The salty wind and cold night.
One of all the animals that roam the earth,
The predator and the prey.
by Meagan Cox
She Was Watching
Just watching was something she was used to do,
When the clouds rolled by and the sun tried to shine again.
She would sit in class and try to focus.
The girl felt how they gave her a glare that felt like daggers.
She had heard the whispers that swirled around her like wind.
Maybe just maybe, they would stop and listen.
She was quiet, but she understood the words said.
She saw the grins and grimaces others shared.
Some said she was a mystery, some said a dream.
Neither rumor was confirmed but neither was denied.
Over and over, as they stared and whispered,
she drew black circles in her books.
Her peers said she spoke new words that they never heard.
She sat in the classes everyday, like a lost child.
Her silence spoke louder than the words others said.
Maybe a witch they said, maybe a nightmare
She drew black circles in her books,
And spoke new words that they never heard.
Shiver
by Meagan Cox
I.
With every touch in my mind,
My vessel shivers with warmth at night
Calloused hands hold my waist tight,
Promises fall from my lips.
The sweat clouds the air and leaves my mouth dry,
Aching for more.
You brand me.
My skin burns.
II.
As if a stab to my heart
I watch you walk by with her
and touch her hand gently.
I saw the way you kissed her.
When she needed you,
your hand was in hers.
III.
You lie to me.
I should scream.
You expect me to reach back to you.
I should scream.
I should tear you apart,
but it’s easier to shut the door.
Sunflower
by Sage-Elizabeth Questore
One sunflower
Alone in the night
Is a thread that pulls me towards the light.
The sunshine pours on top of me,
So now I can see.
My pedals bloom as I began to see
From every side of me—
I am a sunflower.
Even when you can't see me
I'll shine.
Peter and Penelope
by Elizabeth Hernandez
When we met, I thought you were a thorn.
Then I was overcomed by your sharp laugh
And soon our eyes watered with the joy we rained.
My day blossomed with you, my remedy,
The berriers to my wood, The butterfly to my flower.
I stood proud to see you spread your wings.
It was with you that I created honey
It was with you that I felt reflected
It was you whom I made a flock with.
The last time I saw you, wilting, weeping, both of us,
I wanted to gift you a petal of my soul.
Something that could keep you safe in your new home.
And even after a year with you,
A wondrous year of completing each others…
I couldn’t keep you. You had to fly south.
Goodbye was all I said.
Now my day is filled with clouded emptiness
Our old spot, dead, without you. Weeds grow unruly.
I can no longer bear my roots to grow.
My world keeps walking, yet my heart is left in the dust.
Back where we built stories of grandeur made of sticks and mud.
I stand alone in this winter waste land.
Watching as clouds made of our dreams pass.
Hoping that one day I reach out my leaf and touch a star.
But you are the only one I wish for.
Alone, I stand. You will never see my bloom.
Alone, I writhe to reach the sunlight.
Alone, I am in a world we used to share.
You’ve flown, and I'm rooted here,
Yet the world keeps going.
Silence lingers in your place.
A field of forget me not's
by Elizabeth Hernandez
I.
His midnight fur rubs against my hand
His yellow eyes round with love and full like the moon
I nuzzle my nose against his wet one
He vibrates with warmth and happiness
I smile because he is my home
His meow, my guiding call
II.
A week before my birthday.
I lay my head to rest
My hair frizzy with spring
you, on a glittering adventure
One I knew you were familiar with.
One I allowed you on everyday.
When I open that front door
I always knew you’d find your way home
III.
My dreams are made of him.
Of us, back in the day
Sun ablaze as the wind kissed our faces
My bare feet hitting dirt
His paws pitter-pattering along with my steps
My mind goes back
When we were young. Free.
When we lived with nature
Away from paved streets
And running with moving streams
No matter where I went you followed close behind.
IV.
The creak of my bedroom door wakes me
The morning sun, coloring my pink room blue.
There my mother was.
Her silhouette made out in the frame of my doorway.
Holding herself.
Her face red and puffy with hot tears.
“They got him. They- he hit him with the car.”
V.
This is a game played by the insane.
I relive your meanings.
You are the crisp crunch of my life,
The dance of leaves,
The smell of a new book,
You are my best friend.
VI.
As I stood at the base of my carpeted staircase,
My eyes fell upon him
Wrapped in a yellow towel.
His little head poked out.
He looked so small.
Like a baby again.
My baby again.
I collapsed to his side
And rubbed my thumb over his chilled fur.
He was cold. No longer radiating himself.
Gone.
VII.
I shook.
My world dimmed, as I
Heaved sloppy wails.
The idea of goodbye lodged in my head.
My ribs pulling in on myself.
When he yelped in the night,
No one heard.
Hour by hour, his body lay on cold dirt,
Only his brother by his side,
Just like how we found them as kittens in that bush.
I wasn’t there to save him.
VIII.
My fingers felt numb as I trembled.
You didn’t deserve this.
You were good.
You followed every rule
Sat when told
And jumped when asked
It’s his fault.
He took your life out of choice.
He saw your shining grace
And pressed harder on the petal.
I imagine you felt nothing as
You didn’t even get the chance
To run.
IX.
My boy.
They took him.
And now I’m left incomplete
My future unspoken
My past erased
Because of someone’s viscous choice.
X.
One day I will stand
In a dark open valley,
The sound of ink dripping echos,
And, as I look around,
I’ll see a shining light
Full of the humming.
I’ll wonder what the light has to offer as
The dreadful waves will lap at my feet.
I’ll trudge forward slowly
Then I’ll see it:
Wiping at my eyes in disbelief,
I’ll see you.
