Category: 2023-2024 Submissions

The oil over water
A thousand rainbow fish
a-glitter in the sun,
A thousand particulates plastic,
netted lattice o’er necks,
Stuffed gills—cannot breathe—
In our blood;
We are next.
A thousand particles floating,
endless in the gyre—
accumulate trash,
from each coast.
Hideous progeny;
when flesh is gone,
Those are our ghosts.

Back in the city, we ran free,
No problems, just them and me.
Teenage days, no worries, no weight,
Through the streets, we’d celebrate.

No bills, no stress, just laughter’s sound,
In the urban night, we’d run around.
Bright lights, tall buildings, our playground,
Each moment a story, a memory found.

Free-spirited, just joy and play,
Concrete canyons where dreams held sway.
But time moved on, those nights now past,
In the city’s hum, our youth won’t last.

The city whispers of the fun we knew,
Where we raced and laughed, just us, the crew.
I miss those nights, carefree and bright,
An elegy for teenage delight.

Beneath the crimson skies, whispers dance,
Time’s tapestry unravels, a fateful trance,
Silent shadows waltz with twisted fate,
An apocalyptic ball, an eerie masquerade.

The moon weeps tears of molten silver,
Stars crumble with a cosmic shiver.
A cacophony of whispers, the Earth’s requiem,
As embers of oblivion etch each whim.

A riddle of chaos in the quantum breeze,
Whispers of despair, the ancient trees.
Cracked mirrors reflect fractured dreams,
Reality trembles, tearing at the seams.

The sun, a spectral ember, fades to dust,
Echoes of the forgotten, a sepulchral thrust.
Shadows play, born of graves and left below,
In a desolate expanse of painted ashes and painted snow.

Rivers of sorrow carve the final verse,
Unseen forces in the universe disperse.
Souls of Gods and souls of men,
Their fates have been chosen, a fading light at its end.

In this apocalyptic waltz, time stands still,
A cosmic ballet, nature’s final will.

I want to leave my mark
Carve my initials in a tree
Break a window of a house
Spill paint on the sidewalk
Spray paint my name on a wall
But no matter what nothing will last
Everything eventually fades
The tree will die
The house will cave in
The sidewalk will crack to rubble
The paint will fade away
No matter how much i try
Nothing will last forever
Graves lose their words
Cities sink into the ground
Nature takes back everything

An Ode to rain

A symphony on my rooftop plays
lulling me into dreamy haze,
quietly before the crescendo of giants bowling out my window
Oh how I love the rain in all it’s thunder

What once was desolate desert swarms life
Put ease to natures pain and strife
Quenched eternal thirst below earth’s seeds begin to grow
Oh how I love rain the way it nurtures

Tree leaves drip heavens sweet elixir
Droplets drip drop collect swell
Fresh earth, Petrichor my favorite smell

Roads grow slick, steer, slip, then slide
Crooked cars crash then collide
Silly people in a rush go here and there
Don’t consider rain has a death stare

Amidst the trees and rustling leaves,
Nature’s vibe, it truly weaves,
The birds that chirp, the breeze that blows,
Outside’s the place where peace just grows.

The sunbeams dance on grassy ground,
The flowers bloom, they all astound,
From mountains high to rivers wide,
Nature’s beauty, nowhere to hide.

It’s where I feel so truly free,
No stress, no fuss, just lil’ ol’ me,
With every step, a calming sound,
Nature’s love, it can be found.

The cold breeze,
Always makes me feel at ease,
With the calming silent nights,
Which always proves why nature is right.

It comes in waves.
Not here forever,
but never really gone.

It lurks around the corner.
Watching.
Waiting.

and right when you think you’re safe,
you think you’re free,
believe it’s finally left you alone,

that’s when it jumps out,
catches you off-guard,
throws you off your feet,

throws you back into
the deep, dark hole
that is your mind.

It traps you in there
like a caged bird,

swallows you
like a star lost in the universe,

beats you
like the ocean beats at the shore,

over and over.

It hurts,
and it haunts.

hides
and seeks

And it never leaves.
Never.

It can’t.

because it’s yours,
and you are it’s.

I don’t know if you remember me,
I know of you.
Pero no te conozco a ti.

I tend to think about you
With hope…
Esa vez que te descubrí,
You convinced me
That there could be a friend
Behind those eyes.

Regretful encounter,
No conoceré a ese amigo.
We won’t travel to each others sides
of the room, of the salón,of the class.
I don’t own any room of your mind,
you settle down in mine.

Es extraño, todo esto.
We’ve never gifted each other a word,
Aunque ha pasado tanto tiempo.
What a strange rule…
I guess it is what it is.
We barely exist.

The owls are the guardians of the moon
As they stand with composure, serenity, and grace
Keeping the forsaken moon company
Red and purple meteors crashing before them
But they are not afraid
They are blessed
Confined in their solitariness
Not another being for thousands of miles
They stand as still as a rock
They wait
Coldness hugs their feathered bodies
But they still feel warm
As they are the ones who get to look after the tender moon
The black sun shines upon them
The guardians don’t feel alone
Instead, they feel great gratitude to be able to care
For something so precious and gentle
They sit
For they know that they are needed

If you were to leave me now, the glass I cling to with a hardened stare would shatter
And kill us both
We are equally entrapped
Entranced
On either side
Of a bounded mirror of embrace
Although my grip is fading
My gaze pierces yours
I refuse to break the path between our eyes
I know why
You,
Are me,
If I were loved
Your eyes are mine,
If I were beautiful
Your smile could be my own, if my soul held such vibrant colors
I can whisper comforts of tender praise
To hear an echo
Reflecting
It’s what I live for
All I can live for
And have
You and me
Or us
And our barrier of frail narcissist disgust
There is no us without
Only an imaginary room
Filled with filth stained truths
That steer away my dream like perception
Of beauty love and youth
I have never broke our locked fixation
Or dared to peak inside
That stale repugnant room
Hidden deep inside my mind
For I fear I’ll find a different mirror
Apart from our sweet lie
And I’ll see the ugly, aching child of my haunted alienation
Detached from vain and foolish make believe
No
I would rather captivate my ignorance
I will cling to this mirror until it breaks
For it is my lifeline
So please,
Don’t leave me shattered.