Category: 2023-2024 Submissions

In life, those who belong
Value thy tiniest of tokens as gold
Are always those who stay prolong
For one who views on no account shall fold
Display pride through stride within a home
When matter ensues and drains ones brain
Head held high as not alone
With faults will bring no pain
For sun will dry the weeping pages
Ones story shall never fade
With passing time with days and ages
Thus life I live becomes my jade
Thy plague of life my one desire
No foolish games for I am no liar

The Power of Words
When we think of words we think of
Run,
Laugh,
Ambassador,
School

But words are so much more than that

Words form our world
We can express ourselves,
Empower each other,
State our opinions

If we were silent, our voices could not be heard
No more laughing,
Shouting,
Or sharing little whisper with friends

Words can paint a picture
With swirls,
Rainbows,
Shapes and sounds

Words can
Inspire,
Move,
Influence,
Encourage

Words are
emotion,
Sensation,
Passion,
Excitement

Words move our world like an avalanche

Shaping everyone’s
Vision
Inspiration
Emotion

The power of words

Oppression has multiple definitions within the word
Oppression has a monster lurking within it
Somepeople believe that oppression is learned
Just like Jim Crow or segregation, we all take a hit

Some thinks this is a game
While others are terrified to play the game
There is no justice for us cause we’re restraint
They got to reclaim us, and rename

We had to fight for freedom
By playing there game, oppression
By absorbing the enslavement, pain and the demon
Fighting till the end, now we have protection

The Oppression that we speak of today stays the same
At least people doesn’t think this as a game
They reclaimed their freedom, took aim
They said NO MORE OPPRESSION that became

The Last memory I have is my victory. I had tricked Hod into throwing a piercing mistletoe dart at his own blood. That dart was the only thing that could kill the god of light and beauty and my trickery made me successful. Balder’s blind brother had killed him under my influence. Although, I ended up getting captured, which was right before my mind went blank.
I open my eyes and they’re filled with gray. I have no clue where I am and I can’t move any of my limbs. I can feel anger arising inside of me. I am bound to three stones inside what looks to be a cave. All the gods have come together to do this. To punish me for what I had done. However, no regret flowed through me. I attempted to move my wrists but they wouldn’t budge. I turned my stiff neck and my eyes were struck by red; red intestines almost cutting off the circulation of my limbs. I see my son, Narfi’s, soulless body on the cold hard floor with nothing left to fill him. A sickness overcomes my body and my vision is distorted by a glaze of water. I close my eyes and take a deep breath trying to take this all in. The anger revisits me and I’m back to reality. I turn the other way to see my wife, Sigyn, loyally by my side. I can see through her beauty, the heartbreak in her facial features. She is holding a bowl in her shaking hands and that’s when I noticed the serpent placed above my head. There is a liquid on its fang hanging on by a thread and as soon as that thread broke a burning sensation hit my forehead. My whole body flinched along with my wife’s. She moved quickly and caught the drops of venom with her bucket to preserve my health and spare my agony. Our eyes met and I said thank you with the slightest of smiles. Seconds, minutes, almost hours go by of this venom slowly dripping onto what’s supposed to be my head. I could tell my wife was getting tired of holding the bowl above me but she held strong. She was watching the venom very closely until she looked down at me with such an immense amount of sorrow in her eyes. “It’s about to overflow” she nearly whispers. I tell her it’s fine and that I will be okay. It takes her a second to process and once she does the bowl disappears from my sight and is replaced with torture. Each drop brings excruciating pain to my body and my soul. The death of Balder replays in my head over and over again as an attempt at a distraction. Still, even with my skin burning there is no regret under the surface. Sigyn had left the vicinity to pour out the venom and I was trying to listen for when she would come back. The suffering was beginning to be unbearable; I needed to get out. I thought of a plan and waited until I heard the echo of her footsteps inside this cave. I was tied up whilst Ragnarok was accompanying the world; I needed to get out.
The air refreshed my dented skin that was just contained by the intestines of my very own descendant. I was free. I scanned the surroundings of the cave I was stuck in and spotted a lick of light. Leaving the lifeless body of someone I loved behind I found my way out of the cave and into the outside world with my loyal wife. Now that I wasn’t being held back I can now go on to lead the chaos of this world. The destruction of the gods was in my foresight and the thought of it almost made the pain go away. I would lead the monsters, giants, and all the other chaotic forces into battle against the gods. I could see Heimdall and the weapon he yielded. However, what also flashed my vision was death. Not just the death of another god that was to be slain by me but also the death of myself. I could feel my wounds from the fight trickling under my skin as my visions continued. Heimdall and I would falter from the mutilations and from there, my mind went blank. That would be the end of Loki, and the end of the apocalypse that would cease the world.

I was lying in my bed on another cold and eerie night. Insomnia had struck me again and my eyes were glued to the ceiling. My breaths were the only thing that filled my ears, other than the slight gust of shivering wind blowing through my rotten curtains every now and again. I was used to this. Almost a nightly routine now except it had only just started getting this cold. I had all my blankets wrapped around me but the piercing air still snuck through. I just wanted to drift away so I could escape this reality. I just wanted to sleep. My mind was blank and my eyes began to falter; that’s when I heard a screeching. It almost sounds like a human, but not at the same time. She was wailing. I unblock myself from my warmth and slowly walk towards my window. I slowly peeled away the curtains to examine the outside and see if anyone else was awake at this hour. Of course, it was nothing but a ghost town, still. A sigh leaves my chattering mouth as I close the curtains and I head towards my warm clothes.
Once I’m protected from the night I head to my mom’s room. I make eye contact with her door handle and I slowly reach for it. Cracking the door, I look inside and find an empty room. This wasn’t abnormal. I shut the door without a trace and head outside. The first slap of air stung but shortly after I settled in. There was little light, only the faint glow of the stars and moon. I don’t know what my plan was but I wanted to know what the origin of the shriek was. The sound had come from the west side and so that’s where I headed. I kept my focus on my surroundings and made sure I stayed quiet in case she screamed again. And she did. Although, this time it was louder and more haunting. It pierced my ears and caused a shiver to flow down my already cold body. Fear began to settle in. I continued on past all the houses and into the darker side of town. Only a few minutes have passed of walking when the wail fills my ears again. Sharper, louder, angrier. I debated turning around but I had already gotten so far. I was now on edge and startled at any slight noise. The sounds began to replay in my head, or maybe it was happening around me; I didn’t know.
I made my way over a hill and a graveyard struck my eyes. I had a feeling this was my key. I picked up my pace and got to the entrance of this city of death. The gate was rusted shut. I looked around for another way to get in and something caught my eye. I notice a small bend in the fence that I would be able to squeeze through. Once I was in, I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to move. I first looked around and studied the place. I had never been here before and I know why. This place was abandoned besides the souls that rest below my feet. The screeching came again. And again. And once again. It was starting to get too cold standing in one place. I had noticed a small building in the far corner of the yard. I made my way toward it slowly. Every step was hesitant, hoping that I would find nothing. I should have stayed in bed. Once I got to the building I turned the corner and my eyes were blinded by silver. Silver hair. A long silver dress. And then a scream. My eyes began to water as I saw the Banshee, that’s when the panic set in. My mom had been gone. The scream was the warning of death. Only I had heard the wails. I needed to get back.
I turned around and sprinted out, stressing so much I was breaking a sweat in the freezing cold. Tears streamed down my face but got wiped away by the wind. I screamed for help louder than the banshee; no one was hearing me though. My whole body was numb but I was making distance. I could see my house alongside the rising sun. From the dim glowing of the morning sun I could see a crowd. I became worried and confused. I changed my direction towards them to see what was going on. Everyone turned their head as I approached and sorrow filled their faces. The tears on my face grew more prominant. I shoved my way past everyone making my way into the middle. The sun had peaked through enough to cast a better view behind my glazed eyes. Everyone was gathered around something. Something I couldn’t yet see. I continued to push my way until I was in the middle. My eyes dropped along with my stomach and my tears. On the ground was my mother. Lifeless.

A minute and seven seconds was all that was left during the championship game, and we were down by one point. They had the ball as they marched down the court, pass after pass, driving down towards the basket. The ball went up as the time ticked down, the ball rolled off the rim and we recovered it. But then disaster struck as we heard a whistle. FOUL!!! Shouted a ref. Our hearts sank as we heard the call, we knew if he made both free throws the game was surely over. We lined up for the free throws, and the first one was a swish. Second one went up and it bounced off the rim, we went running down the court with a mere 20 seconds left on the clock and down by two points. All we needed was one three pointer to win the game. Pass after pass then I got the ball wide open for a shot. I go up and shoot the ball. BEEEEP!!! I heard as the timer went off, but the ball was still in the air. Silence then swish, the ball had gone in. We had done it, we had won the championship.

Times of joy will come
Thus the cold won’t come
A birth of a new year
without saying goodbye to the last

No winter, or restart

If the cold doesn’t come
How will I know the year is gone
How will I know the spring has begun

Times of cold are needed
For times of joy to come
Since I’m not complete
Without the sadness
That my year is gone

For you are able to speak to me with no words uttered out of your delicate lips
Which is crazy that our eyes speak a million languages when we only speak two or three
Our eyes say things we both can not comprehend but at the same time makes so much sense to us
For I understand what you speak without the need of the languages to match
You turn to me because our eyes understand each other in every life time to come and has pasted
And I have forever been a believer that eyes are the door to the heart, to the soul
And for our eyes to be so timelessly in sync it makes me have butterflies
Because you are able to understand my ever emotion through my brown watery eyes
And me to you
It is like we have a secret language
Because we do
We have a secret language through our eyes and it makes me love sight
And the eye contact I once feared from every human becomes one I yearn for

I watch and watch as that’s all I can do
Having to stay here and not move
Watching those who fought together,
Now fight against each other
Battle after battle,
Watching the ground turn red,
From those who are now dead
The fighting just seemed to never end
And as more time came
It was just slain after slain
After witnessing so many battles and deaths
I felt as if I was in a loop
Having to watch the same scenario happen to these groups
Of these groups is always a leader who ascend,
One who always fights to the very end
Once this leader leaves this world,
A new one would take place
And continues this drastic chase
Not everyone was as brave as these leaders though,
As some would run away in fear,
Oh how shameful of them to disappear
When battles started to slow down
Lands were besieged, plundered, and destroyed,
This left me with a frown
But now, someone has taken the crown
A new king so kind,
Sharing his father’s treasures with those confined
A joyful gift for the poor,
How could they ask for anything more?
The new king has made a decision!
All the men are now out of prison!
What a shocking surprise,
But who’s to question the wise?
Now,
I watch and watch as that’s all I can do
Having to stay here and not move

Sometimes when one sees me,
Jaws drop,
anger arises,
And sometimes agreed looks come upon the faces,
The memories once shared vanish,
As the future memories go with it,
Lives of many crumble apart, to one day hopefully restore,
But never to what it once was.