Poetry

To My Unattainable Idol

By Natalie Parker

To my perception of a thing divine
which I have mentally imbued with perfect design
who is, by all other accounts, a figure of man
but mine eyes see what no others can.

When first we met,
our friendship was set,
but cracks appear even in stone
when your superiority I bemoan.

Your optimism pricks as a thorn,
as my lost dreams I mourn.
Your smile glides through life
While my struggles pierce me like a knife.

Your energy is boundless and bright,
while pessimism clouds my sight.
And when you dance, I feel my world crumble
because not once ever have you stumbled.

Your singing voice is clear and loud
Just to laud it, people form a crowd.
Your writing is ornate and wild
By its beauty, I am reviled.

You see what the world can be
Your imagination is as boundless as the rolling sea
Your world is one of beauty,
And every day you resoundingly defeat me.

Though you may not believe my word,
You are perfection on earth, with talent unheard.
Your spirit towers over mine,
and it glitters in the sunshine.

Forever, you will stay unaware
of the source of my despair.
If I told you, you would deny your godliness
and such modesty would make me seem like even less.

So I sit and stew,
wishing I were as wondrous as you.
I am inadequate, it’s true,
and the poison green of my heart slowly turns to midnight blue.

***

Submitted May 31st 2020

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My Thoughts in Seventh Grade English

by Kaitlyn Schechter

“New Orleans” I think as my teacher babbles on about grammar.
 Now that’s a place I’d rather be.
 I’d like to be there right about now.
 I'm just stuck in a seventh grade classroom that has the smell of B.O trapped within the depressed walls.
 How the walls could be depressed, I don’t have a clue I’m just so bored.
 Am I hallucinating?  Is that a valid excuse to go to the nurse?
 Oh yeah, New Orleans …
 I just makes me think of jazz and brunch
 And expressos
 Don’t ask me why
 It just does.
 Don't you know how certain words just remind you of others?
 Does that make sense?
 Oh no- I have a French test next period…
 How do they expect me to learn French when I can’t even speak English correctly?
 I need a soda or something.
 They better not run out of black cherry or I'll have to get watermelon again.
 Oh yeah,
 New Orleans—
 It just seems like a cool place.
 I think I’d rather be in New Orleans.
 Now I better head to the Nurse for my case of hallucination.
 What does hallucinating mean again?

***

Submitted November 12th 2019

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Roller Coaster

by Daisy Labella

Locked in
Strapped down 
Nervous smiles 
Hearts pound 

 The engine rumbles
 The climb starts
Sweaty palms
 And fearful farts    

 At the summit
 Eyes shut
 Noses wander
 Put, put, put  

 Clenched teeth
 Swinging feet
 Screaming laughs
 Hurling berry-bomb-blasts  

 Cotton candy curse words
 Passing by blue birds
 Arms out and flailing
 Forget about “hold onto the railing”  

 Rounding the next turn
 Another stomach starts to churn
 The first loop ahead,
 Followed by a second and third 

 Once again the tension is stacked
 The flip is in motion
 People lean back  

 Shouts fill the air 
 Along with burps and gasps
 The pace is getting faster
 Fast, fast, fast 

 The tracks beneath screech
 As the carts twist and twirl
 Children begin to pray
 As their insides unfurl  

 Quick break left,
 Quick dive right,
 Then the wheels began to slow
 Like the end of the night  

 Boys and girls turn to families and friends
 Devilish smiles appear and they say:
 “That was fun, lets go again!”

***

Submitted September 19th, 2019

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