Poetry

By Lahari Dharmala the sun, who makes the moon shine brightly when it can't yet it's so hard for them to meet, rare to shine together but people are fascinated by it when they do, the moon gets buried under the light like me, who shines because of you, but not when you're there go through phases but it's okay, because i am happy seeing you shine brighter and longer even if it means i have to stay hidden longer because everything i have, the reason i exist is because of you ho

By Avery Jorgensen Everything relies on the Xylem and phloem of life It is what brings us the unknowns of the future, and what Sends away the joys and pains of the past Tomorrow, and the next day, we will Each live our own lives and Navigate new experiences, but I Can’t see a point in any of it, if we don’t have Each other By Avery Jorgensen

By Avery Jorgensen Sitting in a cafe on our long drive back into town They ask “can you scrape off my nail polish before I get home?” Wincing at the pain, as the acrylic barely chips To avoid a pain that most have never known I think of other questions, other favours I’ve been asked “Would you order this to your house, if I gave you the cash?” “When my mom’s around, can you call me by the name I used to have?” “Can we keep this between us, and leave it in the past?” All favou

By Avery Jorgensen I think of the past not as behind me, but as a parallel Every version of me seems not to be gone, but rather, somewhere else And in this rain, I am reminded of all of my past selves My four year old self is still taking rainy day trips to the library with her mom My twelve year old self is still dancing barefoot in the wet grass to her favourite songs And just as mine does, their lives continue on Reminiscing about the past usually brings me pain But this k

By Avery Jorgensen Grief hits hardest in the morning When the sunlight illuminates the space left behind By all that one has lost (There’s a reason mourning doves are mistaken for morning  doves) By Avery Jorgensen

By Avery Jorgensen Thank God we invented sunscreen So that the lifespan of our skin is doubled Thank God we’ve developed red light masks And dermal filler And buccal fat removal So that we can truly say  “Thirty is the new twenty!” Thank God we’ve discovered every chemical that can smooth wrinkles And every makeup formula that can camouflage blemishes And every dye that can hide our gray hairs And that we’ve put them all into millions of plastic containers So that they too ca

By Amira Wells Coming back was my mistake. Getting a job was my mistake. Going to college was my mistake. Going to school was my mistake. Having goals was my mistake. Having mental issues was my mistake. Having feelings was my mistake. Trying to better myself was my mistake. Was staying alive my mistake, too? All these mistakes I have made in life so far, I wonder if I can come back from them. I just want to be happy and successful. It just seems like life doesn’t want the sa

By Amira Wells Feeling empty without you, not knowing what to do. I get this sense of loneliness; you're not in my space anymore. My insides feel so melancholy, so hollow. All flesh is nonexistent. Things falling apart, bones breaking, trying to keep it together. It’s like trying to hold wood with a feather; easily breaking. I need strength, your strength. I can’t do this by myself anymore; it hurts my bones too much. Pain reaching to the depths of the center Like a screw tur

By Amira Wells Trying to understand this pain. Should it even be there to begin with, knowing you’re worse? Maybe it’s the guilt. Maybe it’s the shame. Just hoping the devil doesn’t win this battle. I wanted you to consider my feelings. You know, show me something better. I was willing to wait. I told you I want this to work out, but in the right way. I guess the substances got in the way. Made black & white turn grey. Grey turned to code red as everything shut down. Days go

By Amira Wells Not understanding this feeling I have has become flustering. One day, I’m okay and living life. Others, I miss your presence and the way things were. You were starting to become something to me. Something that I never had before. Something that was unusual but felt good. Things felt different, and I thought those things were fine. I wanted to simply understand. I could always tell that things weren’t okay on your end of the stick. I’ve seen you try so hard to i

By Amira Wells Hearing the deep tones of his voice, grasping onto the vibrations of mine.  Sound then caresses my ears as it touches my eardrum. Traveling to the tips of my stereocilia. As chemicals rush into the cells, they create electrical signals to my brain. Topic no matter the size. Over the phone or face-to-face. No interruptions whatsoever. Going on for hours and hours. Continuously driving throughout the silence, no matter how long. Evoking the feeling of closeness,

By Amira Wells A four-letter word that has such great meaning. To some, it feels like stepping out of a fresh shower To others, it feels like getting stung by a bee. It is one of the many things that has a massive amount of control over the human body It may come to leech onto you like a parasite. It can cherish you as well. Many have been destroyed by love. Resulting in them being unable to complete the action themselves. Nor have the trust they once had for it. For those wh

By Amira Wells You look around and you see The love that’s in the air. You then get this feeling being evoked from your body, A sense of hopelessness. Wishing that maybe it’ll happen for you that way. Then remembering how much of a stress it is. Looking back at your parents and how they turned out. Seeing your closest person and the tears flowing down their cheeks, Like a river in the middle of a storm. Knowing how society has dominated people’s thought of minds. Thinking abo

By Amanda Wilson Oh Lord, quell these ugly thoughts, These spiraling atrocities. What a job they did to me— Breaking me down incrementally, Smiling as they unleashed Hellfire and silent war crimes. Now, to quiet the voices, I read, Learn, plot, and daydream— Wading through my own anxiety, Searching for ways to live peacefully. But ancient, distant drums still beat. Ashes cling to my two black feet. Future foes, I desecrate, then defeat. I look forward to days I can breathe de

By Keertana Saji When fate goes against you and the One betrays you, take a walk through the woods, just like I had- during those days... When to the nation my heart was given and my every breath was taken. My feet pounded against the stones, to find shelter for my broken bones, until there I stood in the midst of the wood. When the one who held my secrets now held my chains, love became a crystal which cracked in my fortress of solitude. I walked through the woods with a pul

By Keertana Saji How do I even start? How do I move on? When among all my bestest of friends, our journey back hurt most at the end. How do I explain? I know you all like a family found deep within all that we felt. Through the joy of victory to the greif of defeat. We spent every ticking second in the embrace of our fun. A week and a day. That’s all it took, for me to remember you all and for you to remember me. To have seen me in the moments belonging to only close ones, yo

By Jacob James Grigware I am slowly dying I’m not as strong as I used to be My friends are slowly dying They ride along right next to me Everyone I know is dyin' We distract ourselves with a buzz In the end I hope you’re next to me In the end I hope we all had fun My sight is slowly blurring My heart is pumping hard My bones are slowly fraying My lungs are filled with shards Everyone I know is dyin' We kill ourselves just to get a buzz In the end I hope you’re next to me In t

By Jacob James Grigware Mama, I am stressed I take Honors classes AP too I have straight A’s My shoulder It aches I have to do physical therapy For a year, it has frustrated me I have to perform to get on stage To take a risk and be vulnerable Something yall will never know I write creatively To somehow express the thoughts And I draw To somehow show the images And I play music Because it brings me emotion And I workout To discipline myself I have to show up For my friends in

By Jacob James Grigware It was spring The air was cold My fingers burned My lungs froze You were sunlight In the cold You kissed my fingers You let me drink from your warm lungs You told me you loved me But your light didn’t solely shine on me There was a girl And there was me She was shy Her eyes Begging for you strained to reach mine I was shy My eyes Felt wrong on her And were pried off of you So you took off your clothes You were vulnerable, we had the key you held our ha

By Jacob James Grigware What the fuck is that!? I hear him say Don’t tell me you’re…  I am You are  You’re fucking high Don’t you remember  I do What I said  Last time I caught you I said never again  I trusted you Did you?  I think as I fall Really? My head hits the wall First Then the floor My body is on the floor Spazzing, so I’m told I can feel my body buzzing Every nerve Is squirming  I am alive My mind is on fire Conducting electricity Sensation Makes sense to me And fo