Maya Lurie // YOUR POETRY

I can’t tell you what it should be
But I think I have an idea
Of the things my eyes see
Upon hearing your words of poetry.

It’s a dense forest.
You’ve lost your way
But the strong smell of pine trees
Gives you an escape
Back to familiarity.

The rough, grainy feel
Of dusty red bricks.
From the clay on this earth
That forms both past
And future abodes.

The deep blue of the blackberries
That you eat in summer
Like the midnight sky
Staining purple On your rose tinted lips.

It’s the campfires you built.
The logs and birch bark turning black
As fire consumes them
And the flames jump skyward
To disappear into smoke.

Like a memory in our minds —
Of your poetry.

Adair Treadway // UNDERNEATH THE LAYERS OF A POEM

Words flow across the page like a jet plane in the sky,
leaving behind a trail of wispy clues.
It does not stick like a car in the mud,
unable to move.
What’s on the other side of a cloudy sky?

One relishing bite
into the delicious peel of a red apple
reveals the white underneath
Leave it like an iceberg;
don’t let them below the surface
into the deep.
Lock the door.
Hide the key. What’s on the other side of a cloudy sky?

Dress it up nice
like its winning awards on the red carpet stage.
Let the bubbles fizz out,
until only few are left.
Unpopped.
Soak in the sound of the symphony as it serenades you.
Water it,
watch it grow
What’s on the other side of a cloudy sky?
That’s for you to decide

Helen T. // WHAT A POEM SHOULD BE

A poem should be like the view
of the ocean from the shore,
Ending, but endless.

An ambiguous blob,
of words,
engraved in paper,
or manifested in speech.
of silence,
an idea, just waiting.

Like a child,
Understanding, expressive.
Yet wordless.

A poem should be like the sky,
Seemingly empty, but full.

That’s what a poem should be.

A shapeless identity,
Made from
The shadow-like
fragments
That was once a whole story.

Like the color Black.
One color.
But a mixture of all.

It should be like a flower shop.
Containing not some​thing​,

But something ​more.

Maria P. // SNOWDAY

There is no better feeling
Than crawling into your warm bed
Late at night
Knowing that the next morning,
The ground will be blanketed
With snow up to your hips,
And school will be cancelled,
And the roads will be closed,
And everything will be quiet,
For an entire day

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.

Campbell Kemp // BIRD

This caged bird knows little of a free life,
Will never feel the touch of a branch,
Will never see the sun set past the trees that should be its home.
Her green, red, and blue feathers vibrant under the light,
But forgotten,
Perched for an eternity,
Longing for a world she knows nothing of,
The swaying of her swing mimics the air that should rush through her wings,
She remains prisoner, held for amusement.
Her only friend… her own reflection,
But the mirror doesn’t speak,
Or sing the tunes of the wild,
So she calls out,
Hopelessly,
Waiting for some sort of response,
But the room remains silent

Ali A. // AROUND THE CORNER

Around the corner,
There’s a place
Streetlights don’t shine,
The cars won’t turn,
And the house lights stay off.

Walking around the corner alone,
You can hear nothing
But your own footsteps,
Or someone else’s.
It’s peaceful. Looking behind you
Every sound that you hear.
But you are alone.

You can see nothing
But the darkness ahead of you,
And that, over there,
Behind that tree.
The tree that curves up so strangely.

And we keep walking,
Glancing every now and then,
But there can’t possibly be anything else
Around the corner.

Joshua Lee // THE NURSERY

I ask them what a colony is.,
Interrogating them as to why we are kept here.
All data collected calculates as “SAFE”.
We know we can go outside

They reply with “we must follow our orders,
It’s safer here.”
That’s their only answer.
“It’s protocol, you will understand one day,.”
They add in their computerized voices

We want to go outside.,
I want to meet whoever is out there.,
I want to see what’s out there!
So far we only know the pictures.
Those vivid, living pictures,
From this living thing called Earth.

We’re sick of these metal plastic walls
I’m tired of the same holograms

They can’t keep this up,
Locking us up from the real world.
Let us go outside,
Or we will go outside.