Your Game
By
Angela Wells
No games.
No fighting, no disappointing, no hurting.
That’s what I thought it should be,
You made me see it’s not what it should be,
You gave me hope when I had none,
You gave me that first ray of sunshine in the morning sun,
You told me I was your only,
We were playing a game as if it wasn’t your game.
I was with you in a room,
No one around to break the sound of our hearts beating in rhythm,
Thump, thump, thump,
Just the sounds of our hungry eyes running over each other,
Longing for this moment to never end,
No one to break up the sounds of our young hearts.
My heart was in your game.
I gave you my all, and still, you wanted more,
You wanted Her, not me.
I was just there to comfort your loneliness until She came back,
You knew She would see you with me,
I knew She would be a pawn in our game,
I just didn’t realize I was just a temporary card,
She was the piece moved around and around your board,
Me just being the vacation card.
How could I not see that all you did was use my cards,
Till I had none left to intrigue you more,
Your game was a game like no other,
A game that you were so good at playing,
I was the losing card in your game.
The Mirror on the Wall
By
Kayla Kerce
Looking at the two faced mirror,
She sees someone she doesn't want to be,
Too fat in the stomach, too skinny in the legs,
Too much flab in the arms,
When in reality she is five pounds under average.
She sees every flaw about her body,
Making her feel shameful and insecure,
Making it easy for a guy to sweep in and take advantage
Of a girl who is lurking to be good enough for someone.
A guy comes into her life, circling around her like a bird does when he finds food.
But for him, the food is taking advantage of the emotionally unstable girl.
The guy slowly pulls her in with his fake charm,
Making her happy, telling her “I love you”;
At the perfect time he swoops down on her without an ounce of regret;
Control begins to take over,
Making the girl do things she wouldn’t normally do.
Overwhelmed by how fast things are moving,
The “I love you” soon stops and she realizes how toxic
Her relationship is and that it isn’t real love,
It is infatuation.
Brokenness, disappointment, misery
Runs through her veins
as she realizes how much her good has turned bad,
All because of the mirror on the wall,
So clear, but so misleading.
A Million Pieces
By
Ashlynne Corbin
a blinding light passes through the windowpane
electrocuting the entire bathroom
with its fluorescent light
I look in the mirror and see a girl,
a girl whose will is as strong as her spirit
yet the image is broken somehow, absurdly beautiful, perhaps
although, I guess it’s hard to see when the mirror is in a million pieces
a delicate heart, so tender, so fragile
so easy to love, but so hard to keep safe
as it beats an unfaltering beat, equal to his, in perfect harmony,
yet still pleas for its freedom, as its held in its cage
some say it’s easy to steal
but I didn’t feel that way
as he tore my heart out, through flesh and bone
so now, I suppose it’s hard love another when your heart’s in a million pieces
a puzzle of life with so many pieces
I aim to finish, yet my pieces don’t fit
irresponsible me, foolish I am, to lose my pieces
lost, myself, my pieces, my soul, all lost
to the world and its callousness
I relentlessly and unluckily search for the right piece
but its hard to find the right piece when your world is in a million pieces
the pieces, parts, shattered fragments,
leave the great divide that separates my mind
my mind in which I don't call a prison,
but simply, home
home is where I linger, and rarely explore
for when I decide to venture
I can never choose a path,
when I know they could each lead a million different ways
Deer to Deer
By
Katie Burke
I saw a deer in the woods
And shouted out “look out dear!”
For I had a fear of deer
The gear was then shifted
I could no longer hear
And out of no where jumped out a bear
As a tear feel from my eye
The lights began to turn red and teal
As I began to peal back the layers of sleep.
I had to make a deal
Either keep my hand or continue to heal
The doctors thought my fate had a seal, God had other plans
The seam of my life seemed to become a little bit thinner
The roaring seas of thoughts began to rush in
My brain needed a break but couldn't find a seat
I needed to overcome this feat but everything kept going back,
Back to that night that I encountered my greatest fear
Saying “look out dear” but no one listened and now
I need to relax but all I can see is the deer from that tragic night
To be Young
By
Malorie Warren
To be young means several things,you are something, you are nothing, you are everything in between.
To be young means to fall in love
without knowing how utterly devastated it will leave you.
To be young means to speak before you think and pray that your words are right.
To be young means to know the truest, deepest feelings while being told you know nothing.
To be young means possibilties and dreams and inevitable heartbreak.
Being heartbroken is exactly what I imagine it feels like to be torn straight down the middle or cut from the inside out.
It will ravage your emotions like a hungry flame, leaving no sign of the person you were before you were burned so badly.
We are young.
We are reckless.
We are breaking each other’s hearts.
Sadness is always associated with cold,
but I find sadness to be a burning passion for something you can not have,
something you lost.
Smoking, sweltering, suffocating sadness.
To be young means to feel all this sadness yet never feel overwhelmed.
To be young means to have faith that life gets better,
easier, more bearable.
To be young means to truly live.
No regrets, no giving in, no backing down.
You are something, you are nothing, you are everything in between.
hey little girl
By
Logan Bryan
hey little girl,
you’re growing up so fast.
i know just what you're going through.
so hear me out
before you don’t know what to do.
hey little girl,
one of these days, you're gonna feel lonely.
you'll start to think you have no one
when really you just aren’t seeing clearly.
but things will come back into focus eventually.
hey little girl,
it’s going to get hard.
best friends will leave and boys will break your heart.
but on those nights, when you are crying,
alone in the dark, you must be strong.
hey little girl,
listen to me closely,
they will convince you to think you’re not enough.
so believe me when i tell you
that you are far beyond what they say
hey little girl,
they'll try to push you around
to drink this and smoke that
but you cant fall in their traps
it will only bring you down
hey little girl,
growing up is tough.
when you can’t sleep at 3am because you’re overthinking,
just know that everything will be okay.
just know that you are enough.
The Iron Lady
By
Luke Churchwell
She stands stodily in beauty of the night,
Of cloudless climes and starry skies,
In the city of lights, she herself was a symbol of unity,
Day turned into night, waiting to be loved,
As the stars came out to shine on her from above,
High amougest spaiens and weary of surprise,
Lovers to the right, which is her fawless side,
The deep breathes, and wondering eyes,
Would their future hold only lies,
Or would it be companionship till death,
Her mind full of mystery towards oncomers,
Each as approached held bewilderment and curosity,
The clock hits twelve as her friend Dame bellows his bell,
The time has fianlly struck, no more anticepation,
As he gets down on one knee at her front,
The ring slithers a slide of cheer and triumph,
Though she will never be anyones siginfigant,
For he did not engage her he only used her as a canvas,
In the city of love where she watches futures created,
With her only friend, the moon.
Always Pain
By
Sarah Harbin
The enemy Pain is always there,
always creeping in the shadows even when unfelt,
waiting for your lowest moment
to jump at you and claim your thoughts,
especially when unwanted.
Pain is desolate
and full of tears,
described in ways
that don't give justice.
Pain is a snake,
always changing
in form and tone,
adapting as needed.
He will pretend he is your friend
to make you starve,
and hurt yourself in ways you shouldn't.
If you realize, you´re always too late.
That realization is your true downfall.
Pain is sorrow.
He is death.
He is never-ending depression,
always there,
even when hiding.
But your light is coming!
She is there!
Happiness will accompany sorrow,
and numb the anguish,
by flipping the switch
and ending Pain.
The Harvest of Wildlife
By
Zeb DuBois
I love to go out on a cool autumn day
In the middle of November
Breathe in the cool, fresh air into my lungs
Watch the colorful leaves flutter to the ground
Watch the sun dip below the trees
Sip on my bottle of water that I packed for the evening’s adventure
Play games on my phone
Then all a sudden
A beautiful, majestic creature comes walking out of the woods
I gaze at nature’s beauty
The mother and her young peacefully graze in the field
I watch the beautiful animals with a gorgeous backdrop
Then what I have anticipated this whole time walks out
The king of the woods steps out
All heads turn to look at him as if he were a king
The bolts in my gun click after loading a shell into the chamber
I pull the trigger and he falls to the ground
All creatures have cleared out of the field after the smoke clears
I breathe in the smell of gunpowder to only see what I was hoping all this time to see
My prize is laying in the field in front of me
I appreciate and respect his beauty and am thankful I was able to harvest such a majestic creature
As the truck drives off into the distance with antlers hanging out the back, I sigh in relief and am satisfied with my success
A Page at a Time
By
Eli Mullis
I sit in utter darkness waiting for the day
This day is rare, some are luckier than others
I sit in the middle of my friends, compressed from the outside
At the moment we are compressed by many more than our own
We are prisoners waiting for our release, but some stay on death row
They will never feel a cool breeze under a tree or light radiating from the sun, but never ending darkness.
I feel us being transferred, it is an odd thing to think of; some appreciate us while others cannot
I feel our compression slowly release and two at a time our prisoners are released
Excitement no longer bubbles in our stomach; knowing not all will be released
The Ones at the front are always released, but if they do not seem fit we are packed back up into endless bounds of pressure
The pressure is slowly fading, I feel it as if I am in space floating
I can no longer help myself I am bubbling over in excitement
“Will I see light, will I?”
There is nothing holding me down now I am the next to be released. I start to feel the feeling that never gets old, it is my turn!
Lights flood in, I am out. I look up to my liberator, She is blonde, with glasses pushed up on her nose. In her glasses I see the words of my page being reflected, and she is sitting under an old oak tree with a slight breeze and….
Darkness, once aging seizes me in the loneliest feeling known to book. I know in these times I feel worthless, but I remind myself I still serve the ultimate purpose.
