Starting School
“If you were out in the morning of a weekday, you would see most kids up and getting ready for school by seven a.m. Most schools start at 7:30 to 8 a.m. and this is too early!”
Category Archives: Spring 2015
The Neighborhood Cadaver
“When she was twelve, I was fifteen.
She wore a bunny suit. No one talked about it.
Before she was a bunny, though, she was the neighborhood cadaver.”
Vanilla Sugar
“And the sky blue of my walls matches the color of my eyes and now that I think about it, that’s tacky. My walls should be light grey to match the color of my eternal need for whipped cream because it’s not with passion it’s with longing, and light grey is the international color of rainy days and on rainy days you long for the sun. But I don’t long for the sun.”
The Wordwielder
“Once when I asked the Worldwielder about this he smiled, gave me a pat on the head, and hinted, “non-Euclidean,” before climbing the great big staircase to the places above.”
The Surreptitious Spy
“Before long, the figure had grabbed the Mona Lisa, not forgetting to put on black gloves (that certainly didn’t stand out compared to the rest of his dark outfit) and then swiftly exited the room. Unfortunately, the thief had forgotten to deactivate the alarms that initiated when someone left the building; as soon as he set his gloved hands on the handle of the doors, a deafening alarm screeched throughout the museum.”
ABJ
“Joe stumbled into the alleyway. His head was pounding, he could barely form a conscious thought. His vision blurred and tunnelled, focusing on only the cowering man in front of him.”
Criminally Unjust: A Tale of Two Justice Systems
“On the surface America maintains the hallmarks of a healthy democracy: the right to vote, the right to a jury, and the right to an attorney. But underneath this glimmering sheen of equitable justice lies a dark labyrinth of policies and bureaucracies which ensure that we live in a nation of two justice systems: one for the rich and one for the poor.”
Pockets
“I take out the notebook from my bag and write ‘you look beautiful!’. I tear out the page, and stick it on the mirror.”
Assassin’s Greed
“The things that scared her the most were the people who tried to tell her to change. She was scared she would listen. She knew what she did was bad, and she knew she was a bad person, but she didn’t want to be a good person. If she became a good person she would have to care about other people.”
Happy Face
“A ratio of emotions, that no one…not even I could control. My mind and body would free themselves and feel what they wanted.”
I would never be tied down to humanity’s prefixes of an average girl.
Till The End
“I’m falling into the blackness, the blackness surrounding me and engulfing me like fire when it’s engulfing you with flames. “
Twisted
“The hallway is no longer a hallway. It looks like we’re in the middle of a meadow.”
Ghost
“The further I go, the darker it seems to get. If that’s even possible. Just when I feel like I can’t stay here any longer, trapped in this car, the headlights illuminate a little wooden house. It looks…somewhat inviting.”
Cassiel
“And the days were hers alone.
Days of quiet
steps along hardwood.
Days sprawled across her funeral pyre”
That Something I Thought Was Worthy
“I mean, what is something I would want that badly? I mean, Martin Luther King wanted voting rights. That’s something huge. Me, I fight for what color shoes I should wear each day.”
Especially Not You
“The families spent every summer after that in Bear’s parents’ country house in the Adirondack mountains. The children were summer friends, never managing to keep in touch over the year. There was a magic that only existed in the woods behind the house, and the field in front of the woods.”
Shadow To Your Silhouette
“I was the shadow of your silhouette
Then the sun slipped into the simmering sea
Like a delicate egg being hardboiled
And we became crepuscular”
A Concentration Camp Poem
“I ask what color hair he had
he had quiffed brown hair that he loved
that he loved as much as I loved my red
red blood drips on the floor as we talk”
Love Letter
“My skin is prim, buffed until all the callouses have chipped away,
gilded like my eyes, my straight locks, my button-nose.
But, my dear, there is a loneliness in polite. A void among the dyed roots.
A core like a dilapidated creature, made of polished metal, with a coating
of rust that lies beneath it all.”
Their Beloved
“The spiderweb of her hair waves in the soft breezes that blow off the ocean that I like to think are made from sailor’s salty tales and mermaid’s murderous secrets. She isn’t looking at me so she doesn’t notice me writing poetry about her and taking her all in like my eyes are at an all-you-can-eat buffet and she is the meal. “
Andrea Perspective
“My bedroom has light green walls and a bed with a purple lace canopy. I lie down on my bed and eat my strawberries, then lick my fingers. My flowy white dress feels uncomfortable but, I am too tired to change clothes. I have too much to think about. Who will I choose to be my apprentice? What the heck is the most valuable thing in the world?”
Hemorrhaged Hope
“I had the will to cut away the pavement
that made my feet hurt as they pounded
hurtling me past figures that leeched eagerness
I tried to see past metaphysical maybes that
made my head burn and cry out strings of lost thought
lost imagination
lost longings”
Food Entry 5
“My cold drink arrived, brimming with ice cubes and raindrops of water dripping down the side. As I brought the drink to my lips I felt a cool trickle of sweet tea run down my throat, refrigerating my body. I smiled and looked down at my newly arrived eggs, with a beautiful array of vegetables sitting by their side sparkling with carrots, spinach, tomatoes, green and yellow peppers, all the colors I hoped the Santorini sunset would hold.”
Yellow Paint
“Yellow is linked to happiness, so why wouldn’t eating yellow paint also be linked to happiness? It makes perfect sense.
I’m sure everybody has been at the point where they wanted to eat yellow paint, or their version of yellow paint.”
Muddy Eyes
“I slowly drew the gun out, the weight odd in my hands. This was nothing like the high-tech, aerodynamic models we trained with in school. This was heavy in the back, and seemed to resonate with pure physical power. There were no settings, no long-range or short-range dials. Just a Flick The Safety, Point At Target, And Shoot kind of gun.”
Problems=Anger=Change
“School. Lots of stories have been written about school. Lots of kids do not like school. Few do. Teachers give orders. Students listen.”
Asleep in School
“My pages of homework just keep piling and piling, they utterly flooded my room!”
Into The Green
“These woods have bewitched time.
The trees and knolls and rocks,
Statues of their former selves.”
Just One
“Arms, legs, fingers
Mouth turns up at the corners
Green, green, green.
Green thread, green walls.
Skin is pink, delicate but powerful.”
Parents
“‘When I was your age…’
There are few words more hated
Than these
Because a rant always follows.
Generations are different, for God’s sake!”
Dear Bully
“Your two-year incessant torment of me has done a lot to make me who I am now. I suppose that was your plan all along, wasn’t it? You wanted to make me a better person, didn’t you?”
St. Mark’s Place
“Even though we continuously want to change our image, we could never go through with our plan because of our parents. If we dyed all of our hair, the result would be too obvious to hide, and we were not willing to completely disobey our parents with tattoos, so my last option was to get a piercing.”
The Journey (Excerpt)
“Some said all humans used to be big people. And, the big people were not always born with wings and tails. People said that it was bad air. Some called the air: radiation.”
Tree of Life
“Children loved the summer and they never once wished the car that rode along that endless road would come to a stop. If the winding road was seemingly forever, so should be the car.”
The Ugly Journey
“I look at my arms and legs and see I am scratched up and bleeding. I look back to see how far we have gone and it’s only about 20 feet. I start to lose hope and think we are never going to get home.”
A Short Story
“Kids were supposed to be treated like babies until they reached fourth grade, or so she thought. They were supposed to be pinched on the cheeks and be cooed at, not follow instructions!”
Me
“Without creativity motivating me I can no longer be an ARTIST”
That Divorce Story
“Later, I’d wonder what would happen if I hadn’t spilled the milk that morning in my haste to pour it into the cereal bowl. I wouldn’t have to have taken a detour on the way home, and I wouldn’t have discovered what I did.”
Star Crossed
I had to crane my neck slightly to have a full view of the gleaming crescent looming in the distance. I turned to see it, and at the same time he did too. We were suddenly inches apart, our noses so close they could almost brush against each other. I breathed in; he breathed out.
Sticky Summer
“Heartache tunes
Sadness melodies
and the sticky popsicle
in a sticky summer”
Us Against The World: Prologue
“Today is the first day of the eighth grade. I didn’t think I’d make it. Honestly. After spring in seventh grade I didn’t think I could even be here. I thought I’d be still caught up in a separate time. Still fighting reality. I lost that battle. Reality hit me like a sucker punch to the gut. But it seems that I’ve overcome it.”
Why I Will Never Get a Desk Job: A Treatise
“No one could pay me to live in an office, no matter what career,
The older I grow up, however, there is a growing fear,
That I will be that man, who every day walks into here,
A grey glass building furnished with laminated plywood,
An earthly purgatory of despair, a dull life stuck in the mud.”
Underground
“I let my arms float to my side
Weightless due to the gentle breeze
I close my eyes once more
And imagine that I am a bird
Soaring aimlessly through the sky
Only attached to the ground by
The cool ocean crashing
Against my ankles
Burying my feet in the moist sand”
Twin Survival Guide
“This is your go-to guide on surviving being a twin.
Well, this is NOT going to be easy. You see, to be honest, being a twin is awful. Take it from me. So now for the tips.”
Voice of Reason, Spirit of Adventure
“I slipped out of the house quietly, knowing that if my parents knew what I was doing, they’d lock me in my room for sure. No parent wants their kid knocking on the door of a house that sounds like something out of a bad horror/sci-fi movie.”
The Madhouse
“It was the summer of 1929 when I first found the house. I was roaming Central Park with my best friend, Cass. It was cold, and our breaths were white in the air. The hum of the factories was louder in the still snow. It was silent on the streets of New York City, like a ghost town.”
Ayla
“Silence filled the car as it rolled into the driveway. Ayla grabbed her phone, slung her bag onto her back and ran up the stairs, holding back tears. She fumbled with her key as she fought the urge to start bawling. Don’t cry, don’t do it, don’t let them get to you.”
I Can’t Think Of A Title: Poem Series
“I’m grey yet everything is in color
Choking on the fear of the unknown
Drowning in my simpleness”
Feast on Words
“Similes are some great stuff
I can never get enough
Metaphors are like chamomile tea
Subtle but strong enough for me”
Practice Makes Perfect
“The dinner table was eerily silent. Nothing but the smacking of tongues against the roofs of mouths broke the spell. I sat in a furious haze, determine to keep my lips locked, as this was my vow. This continued for at least another minute — me staring down crossly at my lamb sausages, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.”
The Martians are Coming, The Martians are Coming
“The only reason we don’t fly away is because of martian physics. You see, every planet has their own physics which the people come up with. So for our planet’s physics, we made it so nothing bad will ever happen.”
Green Eyes and Gasoline
“That day her head was down, buried beneath a plaid scarf. Her hair was shorter then. And I thought her eyes had been greener, but maybe that was just the illusion that the street lamps cast as they flickered and we crunched onward. Maybe they just got greener with every moment that I spent thinking of that night, biting my cheek until I felt the blood break through.”
Cerulean
“Fleeting.
Tears wiped from crinkled eyes, heads thrown back with laughter.
Petals waving in the wind. Fast moments.
Forgotten.”
Adding More Languages
“About 40 million immigrants move to the United States every year. About 50% of those immigrants don’t speak English.”
Beauty
“Normality shielded by your ignorance
my world blocked by the disgusted look on your immaculate faces
my head booming with perceptions that you will never hear. Not from my beastly face”
Romeo’s Nirvana
“Fear is his ghost
It binges and gluts on a sane head
With words that are upchucks of senseless ragamuffins:
Their meanings need no coaxing”
Cornflower Blue
“Cornflower Blue are waters in the well
And green and glowing like an ocean swell
Heart of friendship long away
One has left and one must stay.”
Cows
“There are no windows. I have not seen daylight for three days. All I have to look at are the bright, artificial lights hanging from the ceiling and the peaceful blackness when I close my eyes to sleep.”
Bubble Tea
“I’m going to be late again, she mentally noted, looking up at the crowded corridor. In her hurry, she almost bumped into one of the many girls oblivious to anyone besides herself. Brown curls reeking of hairspray brushed against her lips, and she made a face when the nasty poisonous smell crept up her nostrils.”
Doll House
“Nobody moved fast, after a long day of sitting stiff and being moved from table to kitchen to bed, we were all sore. The house was illuminated with light and a silhouette moved across the wall, Mother. There was heated conversation between her and Father (I was not surprised), but finally the light was extinguished and the house was silent again.”
First Hunt
“My foot falls are marked by the crackle of twigs and papery leaves,
Around me, I know they’re watching, waiting; they’re somewhere.
Pulling my spindly frame up the ladder, I see the woods differently.”
Future
“You see, ever since the recession of 2014-2015 things have been semi-hard. I say that because while there are four castes, the Government, the Millionaires, the Monks and the Commoners. Wait, six castes. I forgot the Soldiers and the Homeless. As you see, I’m a Commoner.”
Human
“I am a human.
Not perfect, not the best at everything, but that’s ok.
There is no right or wrong.
But I am still the unique one.
I am that person that people say ‘they’re different’ and I love the thought
of: ‘She is not the same.'”
He’s Not The Right One For Me
“you had me at hello and I had to say goodbye
I usually get mad but I let it slide
I was tough to stay, strong to rise
but I fought for you that wasn’t a surprise
we work a path, you and me together”
If Time Stopped
“If time stopped, we would have forever. We would spend eternity together, thinking about all that we might have done. Wondering what would have changed if we had lived differently. Pondering the infinite possibilities of everyone, and everything. All the places we might have been, all the things we might have seen.”
John F. Kennedy International Airport Adventures
“murmurs of commotion, excitement
the smell of stale
people and personalities
unintentional noise, ears popping
I’m sorry
I spilled my iced coffee on your shoes”
No Good News Today
“I ate and wandered through the kingdom of my mind.
No good news today.
The sun was blotted out by hazy, forgotten dreams.
No good news today.
One day a giant force will pursue truth.
No good news today.”
NFL Playoff Predictions
“This year the Super Bowl was the most watched event on American television ever. The same thing happened last year and the year before that. On top of that, football is the most popular sport to bet on. This makes for an eager mass of football-lovers wishing for a crystal ball that would see into the 2016 NFL playoffs.”
My Life As A Senior
“All of a sudden, we heard the fire alarm go off. The smoke in the room got worse. I turned around to realize that the reaction never stopped, and I finally pulled the fire alarm button and everyone went in panic mode.”
Parfait Pantoum
“The oranges are making me bananas
Yogurt is a weird word
Especially oranges, they make me go nuts
Is a berry a fruit?”
One Wish
“She flopped down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling, a newfound excitement welling up inside her. She could live forever! She could see a bright future where she made tons of friends and did all sorts of crazy things! But, the best part was that she could never die! Yi knew that there were going to be fun times ahead of her.”
Running
“The wind teases every strand of your hair
While the ground races underneath your feet
And everything around you moves too fast
When you decide to run”
Ramen
“Ramen, ramen ramen.
Where do I begin.
You beautiful bowl of noodles
with pork and spice”
Self
“The bus
In the back, swaying and bumping over roads
Paved with cracked tar
Laughing
Playing games with reality”
Silent World
“Silent world. Chemical world. My world. They mean the same thing. Before, there used to be life, plants, animals, society. Not anymore. I write this as the chemicals slowly ravage my body, the same ones that killed this world. Maybe, if our world can heal, you will find this and know our mistakes, but let me start when I began to understand our wrongs.”
Window Writing
“the crunch of chips,
the bark of laughter,
the slam of a door,
the crack of a knuckle,
the pounding of the heart”
Dream in The First Place
“A scar built and made by unfocused hands,
Who wouldn’t want to say ‘I love you’ in the rain and thunder crash,
A ship sinking so well it forces laughter,
Life can be a burden, death can be a release,
And I can find my worth, my solitude, my soul
While flying on the shoulders of dreamers”
You’ll Walk into a Bar
“You’re standing by a table in the corner of the room, nursing a cup of cider and trying not to stand out. People around you are talking and moving around and, in one instance, singing.”
The Adventures of Stupid
“My mother was a dragon! Why did the assassin kill her? Why did the assassin like it!?! I thought, And what am I???”
Memoriae Vitarum
“As your aura fades from
your jacket,
your car,
my memory,
I have trouble recollecting
the time we had together.
Only hospital beds and funeral homes
seem to come to mind.”
The Story of a Family
“The waves battered the rocks at the bottom of the headland, tossing spray up fifteen feet or more. Buttercream, Dagny’s golden retriever, ran alongside her, her strong paws thudding on the ground. The leaves fluttered around them like forgotten thoughts.”
Satires: A Collection of Current-Event Satires
“Tragedy struck the cast of Finding Bigfoot yesterday, as what was once a fabricated show preying upon the dementia of elderly conspiracy theorists quickly turned into an all-too-real nightmare, when in their fake search, they actually came across a Bigfoot-like creature.”
The Mistress
“It wasn’t silent, as nothing ever really is.
Moonlight lay on the waves
and hung in her tears.”
Self-Portrait
The Afterlife
“My soul could’ve been violently ripped from my body as it crossed over, leaving the past behind. Would I have seen my dying body from above, clawing at my solid presence, desperately hanging on to the last bit of my small existence?”
Zeroed Out
“Behind me was chaos. I knew people were fretting and spinning and shrieking, but I stayed with my forehead pressed against the ice-cold window of the space station. I forced myself to watch the eerie white expand over the Earth as if the swirls encircling the planet thought they could conceal the rest of the universe from the obliterated sadness that was now left.”