Author: Lucy K

Walls
Walls that have seen me grow up.
A small girl who ran and played.
Every sleepover, play date, and mess that was made.
Seen every fight and every night that I cried.
It’s seen toys and decorations go,
and said goodbye to friends that I used to know.
Seen hundreds of movies and read many a book.
watched me eat meals my mom would cook.
Seen my changes in style and clothes.
Watched me dance and put on shows.
Seen dusting, vacuuming, and complaining galore.
Seen mountains of clothes bury the floor.

And in all these years the walls have filled.
Become wrapped like a present in posters, calendars and poster boards.
Now the time has come to unwrap the silent watcher.
The four walls that surrounded me.
Almost like stripping a museum of its history,
the posters and paper come down.

I look at the blank walls and only now I realize,
that they’ve been looking back at me all along.

---

Stony Point High School

10

A snowy mountain cap within the grass,
as malleable as clay, the lamb
cross-eyed, gazing
at paper wings of a butterfly
suspended in light.

On the opposite side of the range,
the closeness of flanks disrupt any chance
of sleep. The sheep climb
over rusting machinery
To the sound of assembly line bells and tv static.

Wrapped in rainbow blankets,
the sheep decay in their unmarked graves.
Both domesticated followers, victim
to shining shears that snip away wool in clumps

Leaving a rash of pink flesh,
vulnerable and guilty, an empty manger
littered with crushed straw. Heartbreak then
begins to ebb away, eroding
as it always does.

---

James Bowie High School

12

What once was Parisian dreams,
slinks out of the warm sun
with a hint of abandonment.

The museum is silent now,
Except for the falling glass tears
of the nameless;
a weeping woman.

Critic muse the final piece,
sipping their acrylics, blended with
a dash of red wine.
Gripping the stem of their glasses with moldable judgement.

They place authenticity
Upon the staircase of eyes
enshrined in agony,
encased in oil.

Disjointed limbs slice
The composition.
A period of deep blues becomes
violent and bright.

The minotaurs are unleashed.
And the scattered fragments leftover
from their massacre, are hung in gold
and called cubism.

---

James Bowie high school

12

Seeping sands of an hourglass
A graceful, solemn stream
Trickling down, oblivion waiting

Looming on the edge of a chasm
A fleeting unknown unfurling over the
Seeping sands of an hourglass

Feelings of unease bloom
Deepening with a surge of dread-
A graceful, solemn stream

A pounding rhythm, a drum-like beat
Sound spilling over shards
Trickling down, oblivion waiting

---

Ann Richards

9

If home is where the heart is,
I don’t think I live here.
If home is where the heart is I’m far, far away,

If home is where the heart is,
I don’t think I belong here.
With my heart so far gone,
And being so different in comparison,

If home is where the heart is,
I think I need to change.
There’s so many things I haven’t done.
I’ve never lived on my own, or been to Pride.

Mother I’m telling you,
If home is where the heart is,
Home is not here,
And I don’t think this has been home,
Not in a very long time at least.

---

C.D. Fulkes Middle School

8

Time is weird, especially as a student.
You either have too much, or not enough.
You’re either bored, or you’re stressed.
It’s either you’re hanging upside down from the furniture scrolling through social media,
Or you’re cramped over yourself as you try to finish that last assignment at 2:00 AM.
It almost seems like there is no in between,
There is no ‘Just in Time’.
At least not anymore,

---

C.D. Fulkes Middle School

8

Light is funny that way
you see,
Darkness flees at its sight,
Its gleam reveals things hidden with all man’s might,

But in gluttony it yields another blindness.

Thus to live in darkness is to have acquired
A keener vision of things most inquired

Retreat therefore,
From the flashing lights,
Into the still quiet darkness–
awaiting sight’s completion.

Away from that place with all that radiance,
That place where everyone pretends to see

---

McNeil High School

11

As I walk into the living room,
something catches my eye.
That thing was a rocket ship,
charged and ready to fly!

I couldn’t contain my surprise!
I didn’t know what to do!
And how to fly it?
I didn’t have a clue.

I got inside the ship
after I opened up the door.
There were so many buttons,
but which one made me leave the floor?

I think I found the one,
my finger is over it steady.
I press it slowly.
The rocket ship is ready!

The rocket ship is rattling,
i’m going off the ground!
So much can be done
when a big brown box is found.

---

Fern bluff Elementary

5

It was a bitter winter’s day when my inhibitions became a distant memory
With the abundant warmth of my house still caressing my skin
As I tread through a winter wonderland flecked with sparks of light, strokes of dark
My pockets held mittens and a small note I wrote a few hours ago
In case someone came across this place and I was nowhere to be found

You’d promised me you’d meet me before the sun rose
Because you didn’t like the sunlight
Said it took away something from my appearance when it shone
I didn’t agree, but didn’t speak
Not wanting to raise my voice, constricting with uncertainty
You reassured me I was like the sun to you
And promised that I’d always be your one and only
As long as I’m in your life

The shadow of the tree wove a pattern on your cheek
I see it now as vividly as when you first met me
The color of your eyes when they filled with tears
Sweetened with the maturation of your professed love
In the frozen landscape, your words generated heat

I recall a feeling of detachment
Lack of sensation
Bottled in a syringe
That was locked tight
In this world of shadow
The way you squeezed the inside of my palm
Threatened to burst the cap
And my imagination would run like liquid gel
Smooth onyx streaming in a river of confession

You hated when others would walk their dogs in the park
You said they were just obstructions in the way
Following a map to a chest full of treasure
You’d it so there you and I would be alone
And I would feel lonelier than ever when I was with you

I had told you the night before three words
I specified that friends could love each other, too
Why didn’t you understand that?
You were so desperate, you said you needed me
And couldn’t accept it when I said I had enough
I had hoped a night’s sleep changed things in the morning
But it failed me just as I had failed you

You couldn’t pretend to be sane
You started screaming and shaking
Complaining loudly about how the world was against you
Angry at things you could only see
So jealous by my happiness
Frustrated by the fact that I had guy friends
My name on your lips was a deadly weapon
To ensure that you’d hurt me with it over and over again
Puncturing my confidence in my personality and goodwill with your bad association
And to see that no one could stop you from standing within my arm’s reach
In the softest, most dangerous voice you’d croon to me
Telling me about a hidden paradise, one far away from your wreck of a reality
Only I, as the girl, didn’t possess the keys
That’s when you broke the news that you had to be the one to take me

What kind of paradise is it, one without the sun, or passerby, or seemingly anything
The way you wouldn’t ever smile unless at least nine of your fingers were attached to me
And if your head wasn’t resting on my shoulder at any given time
Or if you were imagining a particularly dirty series of things
“Lilli, it’ll make you happy, the way you were meant to me.”
I’ll be the one to make you happy
That’s my line you took against me when I was at my low
If only I knew then what I knew now
You tried to give me what you needed, not what I did
The way you would kiss my neck without my permission
And take advantage by refusing to let me go
When I pushed you away
You made me think I’m insane
All those times I didn’t recognize how dangerous you were
Trying to negotiate what’s been broken when you lied and omitted and threatened
In the nights you would call my phone to talk about yourself
And not even tell me that you were in the mental hospital
And that your mom had handed you your depressants
With an instruction to overdose
Or that girl you talked to for a week
That kept away from you after you shattered their fragile trust
I lost my 15 years worth of dignity on the spot
But you never respected it in the first place
Honestly I don’t care if you do
I can enjoy the sun rising in the morning without you
I can bask in being alone without feeling lonely
I never needed a man to make me feel happy
When you talked about a hidden paradise
There were always details that didn’t feel right
A melody out of tune, a movement out of sync
Looking now it’s clear to me all along
The hidden paradise was inside me
Refracted through your desperate intentions
And twisted through your broken heart
It took me a lot of struggle with you to find where it was
It took everything I’ve been through to realize that I was enough
My day with you has come to a conclusion
I am enough

---

Round Rock Early College High School

11