Category: 2021-22 Submissions

How does one attempt to fix
An already lived in world
Like a pair of shoes
With tears in the soles
And holes in the toes
You wished to give to your children
But are now
Unwearable
Like our world
A gift for the children
But a broken one

For what does one do
When they need water
But have no tap
When they need justice
But have no representation

I hope my children
Do not resent me
For the broken world I could not fix
And I hope they still try to stitch the rips
And wear this world
One more time

Nine days I spent alone
On the cusp of reality
With a full room
And an empty mind

What does one do when they have no thoughts?

A world full of pigments
Of varying intensities
Of varying styles
Of varying attitudes

A room full of people
Each one alone
Too scared to speak to one another
All of empty mind

Who do I always hope to see in a crowded room?

You
Without reason
My empty mind travels back
To you
Sending me spiraling
Without warning
A black and white world turns golden
And swings naturally
Back to blue
As my unnatural longing
Is met with the apathy
Of an empty mind

And so here I am
Ten days spent alone
Finally falling back towards the reality
Of my empty room
Of my empty mind

In this house
It is silent
Except for the leaky pipe
Pit
Pat
Pit
Pat

The silence interrupted
Over and over
By a simple
Pit
Pat
Pit
Pat

As I lay in agony
Unable to sleep
The water continues to fall

Pit
Pat
Pit
Pat

I plug my ears
I try to ignore
The never ending drip

Pit
Pat
Pit
Pat

I almost swore
But then it stops
Interruptions, no more.

The sharp cool breeze hits my face
Making my cheeks turn pink

The splash of salt water
My rolled up pants turn wet

The cold water rushing over my bare feet
Shivering legs

My feet turn numb
Now unaware of the cold

The calls of seagulls going home for the night
The waves splashing against the shore

The horizon is dark and dreary
The sun is gone but l remain

I wish l could remember
I wish l could forget

But the feeling of numb in my heart lingers

Little pine tree,
Stretching its branches merrily
In the center of the clearing
At the base of the mountain
Near the edge of the woods

It leaves me
wondering
Oh little pine tree,
What is it like
To be

here endlessly
When the bee comes
and smell your sweet scent,

And the snow
covers your grand little branches
And the sweeping winds
carry it away
when it melts again for spring

What is it like
To be

In the center of a clearing
At the base of the mountain
Near the edge of the woods?

1 A magnificent scale
2 So wondrous and tall
3 Stable and luxurious
4 So able in its appointments
5 Its supremacy was thought to never be challenged

6 A fateful day
7 A fulfilled prophecy
8 Some face is to blame for the end of a long awaited journey
9 So traumatic was this event, that face was lost in history

10 A lesson was learned for many
11 As the souls aboard were lost in time
12 Forgot in the midst of the doomed vessel
13 Lying under sand in the ocean, buried by secrets that will never be told

Gass sways through the wind
Without a care
As it moves through
The flow of life

Grass is a home
To little bugs and animals
Where they roam around
In their secret little village

Grass is an itchy thing
That crawls up your legs
Brushes up against you
As you walk through it

Grass lives everywhere
As it perseveres
Living through the harshest of climates
And the tropical ones too

Grass is a farmer
Making food for itself
Working all day long
But as soon as its night
It sleeps till dawn

Trees
Swaying in the breeze
Dancing in the wind
Breathing in the sun

Trees
Falling down to earth
Being hauled away
Far from their homeland

Trees
Helping the earth
Staying rooted and strong
Being an anchor for us all

Trees
Stopping the sunlight
Ending the fuel
Freezing the life

As I walk by
The community hall
I see the telephone pole standing tall
With all its pride and glory

The telephone pole
From 1940
Shoots up from the ground
And into the sky

The giant pillar
By town hall
A symbol of strength
And hope to all

The wood is splitting
Yet held together
By love and care
From the people

Some might say
That history holds it together
But I say
It’s just the duct tape

Paws, like velvet they are
Fur, feathery and soft
Eyes that are diamond

Grass parting, fireflies shining like diamond
In our backyard you are,
Running to give me a kiss, gentle and soft

Your hugs are always soft
Wouldn’t trade you for a million diamonds
My dog you are

You make me soft, better than gold and diamonds, my dog you are