Garen Sahakian // ETERNAL CYCLE

The night is bitter and static,
The calm and crisp chirping of crickets breaks the silence,
My cold breath hides in the darkness,
Surrounded by the sharp crackling of branches.

I slip through the night,
Sensing multiple eyes on me,
I quickly move along,
Only looking straight,
I do not know what will come,
Because night is full of intense shocks.

The sun destroys the night,
And the night destroys the day,
A never-ending cycle,
Both with their own surprises.

I see a shadow darker than the night,
Remaining still in the silence,
I return home full of fear,
Knowing that I’m safe.

The next morning the birds sang in the gleaming sunshine,
Each with their own harmonious melody,
All together creating an elegant song like a symphony,
One just as important as the other.

Together they create,
Alone they destroy.
The night and day cannot coincide,
The day creates the night,
And the night destroys the day,
Each necessary for their own existence.

Charles L. // SHELTER

The winter weather wears my skin,
Its bitter bite exhausts me
All life is strained by its pull,
A chandelier on the ceiling
Beautiful,
serene but heavy,
Impractical and…
Unnecessary
It pulls us down,
in strength
And in spirit

But I am lucky, for my plight is temporary
The trees must endure, but I am exempt, for I have shelter

Inside the soup filling the rooms with the scent of a salty yet savory aroma
The soup bubbles in its pot, causing the contents to dance and bounce
The fire crackles underneath the metal of the pot, turning its bottom golden
The heat releases the weight of the cold cruel air that had brought burden on me And the stew will bring back what the mischievous air had stolen from me
My home frees me, its walls ward off the wandering winter wind

Julia Carreras // NATURE’S ROLE MODEL

So generous, the apple tree,
Giving up your prized possessions.
We take them all like stolen children.
Fall. Pick your own.
Thousands of apples growing from your arms.
Climbing, hanging, pulling, picking, eating,
Sometimes just one bite.
Clunk. Another tossed to the ground.
Discarded jewels, breaking your heart.
We are so ​judgmental​, always critiquing your work;
Too tart, not crisp, nor perfectly symmetrical.
Yet you are so forgiving,
Creating gems again and again.
Every September.

Ben Kamis // THE GAME OF LIFE

I intend to learn
The wonders of science and math, Literature and history,
All subjects, narrow and vast.

I would dabble in languages,
Exploring cultures and equations,
Of past, present, and future,
For knowledge’s sake alone.

I yearn for understanding,
For comprehension,
For a feeling of importance,
For the ability to survive in the world

On my own.

But alas I am forced
To compete with friends
For an arbitrary grade,
A grade that determines futures.

They make me lose determination,
Lose hope,
Lose sleep,
Just to play in The Game.

Matthew Berhe // OVER AND OVER

Research and research.
Over and over:
This is not ordinary
fun. Nor the way
one typically spends
their summer

Store after store the Buildings
of Ann Arbor were like no other.
Long, skinny, and gray they all were
the same to me.
Morning, afternoon, evening
over and over:
lab after lab, the journey
repeats….. for another four weeks

Ding ding, evening lab
is OVER
I’ve gotten all my groceries
but all of a sudden………
ROOOOOOM CHECK!…. The message circulates
and the race to the dorm starts
I sprint, but appear to have arrived in the same location
over and over:
I’m going in circles!
Eventually I spot the
mess of my dorm.
I check may watch yet again
its passed 10:00
the instructors examine me
in a skeptical manner, as I am late
AGAIN
expecting an every day scolding from my lab leader

Over and over:
morning, afternoon, evening
lab after lab……………. the journey repeats
for another four weeks!

Libby Walter // MY RIVER

The river meanders endlessly and rises and falls with the moon
It was peaceful at 10am on Sunday morning but not 12
We waved at the homeless man who lived on the floating plastic house
Until we reached the furthest downstream paddling was easy
Caressing the water with the curve of my paddle only to plunge it down into the water
At the lock Peter drove us strait into to the crashing water and despite my fear I had to keep on
paddling to not crash
The upstream journey on the way back was a fight
My arms were tight and aching but I didn’t want to be at the back; I was better than that
The old Queen Thames boat chugged past which gave a short burst of speed
That old gray dock bounced with the wake of our slender racing boats
I almost hit a few bikers while carrying my long boat through the path into the hut
They hated us

Galen Roy // HER FACE

She wakes every morning,
puts on her face;
and her armor.
Refuses her breakfast
for it’s too early to eat,
and she isn’t hungry

It’s cold outside; too cold for comfort.
But she’s never comfortable,
something is always not quite right.
One piece in her puzzle never fits.

Hunched over her bright world
she gazes blankly.
Watches it as god watches us
scrolling and scrolling
through life after life.

She’s a beauty queen,
mistreated and hurt.
With no one to blame
she turns inward
to herself.

She fears there is nothing in this world
that will ever make her world
whole, again.

She walks through this hall,
with a hidden frown.
There is too much bad and not enough good yet the good
still hides the bad.

Some people hold an undeniable presence,
their spirits are solid rock.
Others, like her, I think
my hand could pass right through
as if tracing air.

The day ends,
she can’t call her friends,
what if they don’t want her around.
So she walks home,
alone. Per usual.

After removing her face,
and throwing it out,
She reveals herself, scars,
bruises, burns, and breaks.
It’s not long before she falls asleep.

For tomorrow she will create a brand new one,
to mask the same old pain.

Ben Epstein // BOLD

When I was young,
I was told
I should always
Appear bold

They told me to
Show my stance
And to always
Take the chance

Then I followed
Their guidelines
It put me on
The sidelines

So I have learned
A lesson
That silence is
A blessin’
Once I learned to
The improvement
Was profound

Benjamin Tibbetts // REMEMBER

Remember.
Remember the verdant needles
Of the proud pines, standing tall
Remember the warm air
Whispering through their full branches
Remember the cloudless azure sky
The sun illuminating the glittering water
That trickles merrily over smooth pebbles
To disappear beyond a tall, mossy rock
Remember.

Now the chill wind shivers through the
Bare bonelike branches
That point like accusing fingers towards a
Sullen sky gray with clouds
The stream is frozen,
a crude and stagnant
Mimicry of its former life
I shuffle through dead, decaying leaves
Blissfully ignorant of the bitter, biting wind
Remembering.

Henry Xu // SEESAW

Life is like a seesaw,
Our journey is just like walking on the seesaw
From the bottom to the top side,
You begin with your first step on the seesaw.

Every step that you took,
It became more threatening,
The higher you grasp
The more intricate it is for balancing.

When you think yourself is progressing towards the top,
You realize you are falling,
Like a rollercoaster speeding down the tracks,
Towards the unknown.

Then you find out,
You cannot always reach the point that you want to reach,
Struggling back and forth numerous times,
You perceived the intricacy and started to screech.

However, you afterward become discerned,
That you realize standing at that peak,
Is the balance point of human life,
However, how would you streak?

There might be another method,
Where somebody is holding up the seesaw for you,
It might be your family or the people you love,
Or the enemies that you had successfully couped.