Category: 10th

Hackneyed

Currents of thought wear them down.

The edges of words,
The sharp point of meaning.

The more the flow of my mind runs over them,
The more they round.

An edgeless word is good for nothing,
Except skipping through the toxic water of conversation.

My thoughts are ever hungry.
My words forever raw.

San Marcos High School

10

Significance Of A White Coat

Football this basketball that
It’s all I ever hear
but nothing about the white coat
that helped to heal your arm
when you broke it
or the white coat
that was right by your side
making sure everything was good
while you laid on that hospital bed
No
it’s all about the man who kicked a ball into a net
or ran a ball to the touchdown
stop to think
that the person who wears the white coat
is one reason I’m here watching this game today
not the person on the field
or on the court
No
but the person in the white coat

Lyndon B. Johnson High School

10

lost at sea

She doesn’t cry because she doesn’t like wasting time
on pointless pleas for sentiments never shared
sympathies stolen
and things never given.

She remembers bits of words and lots of letters
the soft and wrinkled edges of notebook paper
Gentle curves between the lines
anxious turning…
Check the time.

When she writes, her eyes go blind and somehow
she feels lost.
In a place that is entirely her own
to share and to hide
I don’t think she minds.

But when she stops and breathes out slowly
Bites her lips and turns the pencil she’s holding
with nails that gnaw into skin
I am terrified.

She promises not to cry but
Nobody’s listening
Everything wants a say
and all their little voices and little faces
Make her so afraid.

The waves that build inside her eyes
make me think she isn’t blind.
Instead she must want to be
away

lost at sea.

S. F. Austin High School

10

Morning Routine

Eyes flutter open
Sunshine streaming in through the blinds
Swaddled in a blanket of warmth
Unable to leave the comfort of sleep

Reach out
Hands fumbling to turn on
The phone whose clock reads 8:13
Overslept an hour

Rip back the blankets
Tumble frantically out of bed
Cold air instantly awakening
The warmth only a distant memory

Clothes thrown on
Teeth half brushed
Desperately urging the coffee to brew faster

Folders strewn across the counter
All stuffed
Into one backpack
Hoping everything’s there

The coffee is ready
Grabbing the keys
Glancing one last time
To make sure nothing’s forgotten

Out the door
Locking behind
Get to the car
Open the door

Glancing once more at the time
And the date
You realize
It’s Saturday

Austin High School

10th

Unspoken Words

Those pretty, blue eyes
bright like the cloudless sky
saying what words can’t tell
but pulling away as soon as she Fell.
That sweet, knowing smile
leaving a daze for the while
causing for her a dozen emotions
but creating her own tear-filled ocean.
So many things that she’d like to say
uncertainty keeping them all at bay.
Wishing she could simply spend her time
with the boy who failed to speak his Mind.

Austin High School

10

The Path

We are born on an untaken path,
We start walking.
We walk and walk
Suddenly on the sides,
We see things.

We see faces and other people,
We see art,
We hear music,
We taste food,
We start to grow.

We keep walking the path,
We hit obstacles and road blocks.
We push through.

We learn to solve problems,
We continue.

We meet others walking on paths of their own,
We create friendships,
We discover love and companionship,
We construct families.

We carry a blanket stick of accomplishments,
And memories,
And deeds.

The path begins to fade and become worn,
We lose friends,
We lose loves,
We find the path hard to follow.

We reach the end of the path,
Alone, worn, tired, and broken.

Finally, there’s the cliff,
No bottom in sight.

We plunge into the dark.
And nothing.

William B. Travis High School

10

Wine-Dark Sea

At the dawn of the journey, a chord was struck, so gruesome
Odysseus had a ship filled with the spoils of war, but carried an even more peculiar cargo-
Pride.
The arrogant sailors provoke the gods and are expelled by the wine-dark sea, so unrelenting
Odysseus finds himself on the brink of his demise
Luckily, salvation befalls him
He is recovered by the nymph Kalypso
Odysseus remembers his home and abandons the nymph without question. So bitter
He journeys to the underworld to seek exemption from his torment
He ventures into the darkest corners of the world
Upon his sacrifice to the dead, Odysseus gains the knowledge of his escape
Odysseus is encapsulated by the shrieking and surging of death and destruction
Finally, after his assessment, a chord was struck, so bright.

Good for you.

You’re a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I’m not the cause but a catalyst
Of everything you already set in motion.
Now you’re late to your own pity party.
We’ve grown bored waiting for you to show up
Take responsibility.

Too bad your heart’s too mutilated to feel even this last
Most shocking, last-ditch desperation.
There’s so much mean in me these days.
My best intentions could make your blood run cold.

Wouldn’t you like to know.
You fancy yourself so intellectual.
We’d all like to imagine ourselves as something superior
One of the gods, even if for only a moment.
Fine then. Enjoy your moment but
pay with everything you’ll never own.
You’ve outgrown the benefit of the doubt.

Does it taste sweet?
Champagne mixed from blood, sweat, and tears
And none of them your own.
Choke on it. Struggle for breath and
despise your own failing lungs.
It’s the closest you’ll ever stumble towards understanding.
There’s no kindness left.
Goodwill has gone and is no sooner returning
Than a sincere word from your mouth.

We’re all fools for you and I know that you know.
The smile in your eyes can’t betray the wicked grin in your mind
While you lay your plans and our dreams bare.
Your law is no more than a piece of thread
To twist and to bend.
You hang our hopes from them
And beat the last drops of will from their broken remains.
Is it fun?

You don’t deserve even the lowest things.
Not a scrap of love left to toss to you.
You are a useless, sinking boat on barren seas
Empty of everything except your own delusions.
Love your hallucinations, then.
I will bleed you dry from the cuts you make
With every bitter word you speak.
Don’t blame me.

The chains you hate are the ones you hold
All your cleverness, has it gotten old?
Struggle all you want
You’re the one who’s always had control.
I’m sure you’d say I’m undeserving of your demands.
A foolish, stupid creature. Just a beast of burden.
Carry the weight of your own words, then.
I refuse to pay the ransom to rescue you from
Your own sinking sands.

Let’s be honest, no one wants amends.

Then, Before and After

Then
A haze of fog,
Blinding my memory of sight Before,
Protecting my soul like my childhood blanket covering my head from an imagined, scary creature behind
my bedroom door.

All I remember is After.

Not because I was so young Then,
But because After’s crash was so fiery and impactful,
I was left in a daze,
Wondering where and why.

After is my second birth.
Born into a world of who you Aren’t.

Comfort in my fears,
Umbrella in my rain,
Hand that holds mine,
Shoulder for my lean,
Always here.

Voice of assurance,
Whisper of confidence,
Teacher of morals,
Inspiration,
Model,
Sacrifice,
Selflessness,
Constant.

After
The haze is gone,
It no longer blinds my memories of Before,
My sight is clear.

Who you Aren’t is who she is,
Who she always was,
And who I will strive to be.

William B. Travis High School

10