Category: 2022-23 Submissions

Younger self

The date is October 5th,
It’s my 15th birthday, I feel as large as life,

I wake up to the sweet smell of sizzling blueberry pancakes and maple syrup,
my favorite.

I love getting older.

I glance in the mirror and get a sense of reality
I feel taller, bigger, my baby face has disappeared,
I finally look more womanly,

I don’t even feel older, should I?

My parents give me a quick hug and kiss before they head to work, and I head for the bus.

I showed up to school,
Everyone remembered.

My mom picks me up early from school and brings me to my favorite restaurant.

I lay in bed thinking about how this is only the beginning,
What does the future intel?
Where will I be in 30 years?
What will I do?
Where will I go?

These concerns consume my mind until
my eyes are closed
and I am asleep.

Oh to know what the future beholds….

Older self
Its October 5th It’s my 50th birthday, ,
Oh god am I really half a century old today..
I feel like i’ve lived 1000 years,

Today I woke up to last night’s chinese food on the kitchen top, and a million dishes.

I hate getting older.

Getting ready for the day I look into my makeup mirror and glance at every imperfection
Long straight lines run through my forehead,
My wrinkles are forming ,
My back seems hunch and I spot each gray slowly coming in,

I still feel like a child, when does this feeling change,

My parents give me a call and sent me a gift.

I showed up to work,
no one remembered.

I come home and get ready for a night
out with my friends.

I close my eyes and wish I could just be 15 again.
No kids,
no job,
no worries.

Oh to be 15 again.

Sugar bleeds from the side of your lips
Your palate is perverted
The artificial blue light rays into your brain
You’re a kid in a candy store, you can’t touch.
Your hands are covered in frosting, you’re pathetic
You groan at me, Is it anger?
You nod as your head is filled up with my sounds, and you hate it.
Scraping the sides of your bowl, You moan out, “Too sweet!”
As if anyone wants to hear you.
You look down at your hands, you hate yourself
But I’m too sweet, aren’t I?
So you open your computer again.

I finally met you,
a few months back.
After constantly asking,
and endless waiting,
I met you.
The thing I wanted most in life.

It was wrong and selfish of me,
even to just ask.
But there you were,
sitting,
waiting,
looking lonely and sad.
I felt like you were there for me.
And now you are.

You missed your friend.
The man who used to sing along with you,
to his daughters and wife.
You missed the guy who talked to you
when he was feeling sad.
This man you loved.
But he disappeared.
Never to be seen again,
by you,
his friend,
or by his daughter,
and his wife.

He.
Died.

And now,
the only memory of him is in you.
His memory lingers,
like how carvings stay in trees.
And I’m scared,
that I will never be enough,
that I will never compare to the great man,
who played this guitar.

I am scared to fail the memory,
of a man I never got to meet.

Your smell of wood,
aging every second.
Your gentle strings.
The sound of you so beautiful,
It always makes me cry.

The connection we hold,
I hope you had with him.
How you’re always there,
waiting,
to cheer me up.

The adventures we’ve had,
playing from our hearts,
to sitting down to talk,
of our feelings,
and our lives.

But when I see you,
I’m still scared,
Though this relationship has grown.
I’m afraid.
Cause I know,
I’ll never be worthy to play you.

The love I had for him in my heart
Was like the sun on a summer afternoon
People could look at it and think it was art
It was like a note that was in tune

But soon find out he was immune
The love that I once felt was shattered
He was the raccoon
And my love was the trash scattered

I was left battered
He wasn’t, he shone
My heart was all tattered
Maybe he just wasn’t in my zone

My love for him may have been high
But it was time for me to say goodbye

My grandparents tell me to sit down and think before I act.
My mom says that I need to not renege because they are people that wish they had the opportunities that I have.
I say I collect squishmellows and books with so many words. They said my brain can grow and I
can share more to the world.
My dad tells me to go places he couldn’t.To get a piece of paper that he wish he had to be
able to work at a place that has ac and flexibility.
My mom tells me again she agrees with my dad because she never had to work a 9-5 my dad always had her back till this day.
They say I am a crazy goat that needs to stop popping.
My classmates tell me that awkwardness and weirdness is in the state of mind.
I say how will I control their mind when it’s not mine?
My devious evil twin tells me to do something generous than devious. My generous side feels
bad because she’ll never know if the devious side will change.
I say we are a perfect match. Both sides are what makes me me.
The media has told us gen z we are obnoxious, entitled, dumb . But I say I am different from the
rest.
I say that I want it all and will break my back to get what I want.
My teachers say that they listen as if they were our 2nd pair of parents. I say they built me what I am today.My doctor says Im mocosa.
I say It’s because I have a lot of build-up.
They tell me I can’t do it.
I say anything is possible society says I need to fit a label. I say statistics are misleading.
They say stay with me.
They say I can’t do it alone.
They say I will come back crying
But…
I say I am the moment.
They say I will be okay.
I say I know, with them or without them.

Going around the great globe
One plane ride at a time.
Each individual destination with its own
Characteristics that make it its own.

The landscapes vary from place to
Place… some flat, some secluded,
Like those surrounded by salt water.
Some of these reach for the sky like
Those peaks covered in champagne powder.

Transportation from one realm to another,
Flying at top speeds through the skies,
Or by crawling, restricted to the ground.
Sometimes you make it by floating;
Usually carried by propellers and currents.

The people you will meet from
One land to the next
Will keep you searching for what land
Could be beyond the horizon.

The Intensity
The trash talk
The talent
The fans
The spirit
The refs the uniforms
This is football!
The ball is at the 4 yard line
With the game on the line
The Patriots have the ball down by 5 to the Raiders
They snap the ball
Its a run
No
It’s a pass
And they score!
Touchdown Patriots.
With 0 seconds on the clock the final score is
Patriots 27 Raiders 22
Patriots win a thriller back and forth game

USA, a country said to be the land of the free,
But to what defines free in our current country?
We seem to overlook those problems that sting like a bee
An invisible barrier separating us
Pulling us apart
Violence that we must discuss,
Power we must control

USA, a country said to be the land of the free,
But does not apply when one cannot breathe
Targets certain people though this is a country,
Not archery
Open your eyes,
See how this country is under a disguise

USA, a country said to be the land of the free,
Fooled by greed,
Locking up the victim in their traumatized mind,
Instead of the one with the corrupted mind

USA, a country said to be the land of the free,
Took eight years to become independent,
Only took a few minutes to become corrupt

Lights dance throughout the woods where I have made my camp,
Small yellow, flashing lights,
Not blinding but still bright,
Not disorienting but guiding,
Magical lights,
Blinking out a promise for me,
A promise that gives me hope,
A promise to help me find my way through these dark woods,
A promise to stick with me and light the way through the impenetrable black,
A promise to stay,
I see their flickering promise through the flap of my tent,
I see their promise and long for it,
Sleepily I rise,
One barefoot forwards,
And then another,
I leave my tent,
I venture outside
Outside, where all I can see is darkness,
Only darkness,
The promise is gone,
A flash illuminates the night,
The light has returned,
The flash shows me the dim outlines of towering trees,
It shows me more than that,
It shows me hope,
The dark isn’t as frightful as usual with the lights there,
I catch sight of a light and snatch it,
There in my palm is a glowing light,
It turns off,
I can feel it float away,
No more light,
The glow of the lights has abandoned me,
Then I see a small yellow dot ahead of me,
I chase it into the woods,
Following that light forwards,
Forwards into the firefly darkness.

Nature o Nature!
You calm us, and give us room
to think new thoughts, to

see wonders that we
can only dream about, yet
see with our own eyes.

Though not for very
long! The wind, trees, water, fire,
earth, animals

will soon fall victim
to human’s machinery,
polluting the earth.

Yet… there is still hope;
a glimmer, a shine, but we
only deserve it

if we work hard to
take care of our beautiful
humble, strange, planet.