zazu's blog | Young Writers Project

Dec 08

zazu

Thoughts on my sleeve

I sit on the steps in front of my house.
Doing absolutely nothing except breathing, (obviously), and chewing a piece of gum that is beginning to lose its flavor.
My dog runs across the front lawn, for seemingly no particular reason, barking like crazy...probably at the neighbors' ghost from next door...but that's just my theory.
I look up into a piercing blue sky. Speckled here and there with little white clouds.
I drum my fingers against my thigh, and pull my baseball cap lower over my eyes, looking at the random words I've written in sharpy on the underside of the brim.
Done,
Run,
Pun,
Sun... Wow, the sun is bright today.
I hear feet tapping on the sidewalk and look up briefly.

Posted: 12.08.19

Oct 03

poem 1 comment

zazu

When I saw you

I saw you last September,
No one remembers why.
No one remembers why you left,
No one will even try.
No one pays attention,
That you're not even here.
That words run dry right off their lips,
Because they ive in fear.

Posted: 10.03.19

Oct 03

poem 0 comments

zazu

Away

Words will chase me down.
No matter where I run to.
No matter the rays of sunlight that pierce my eyes,
And sparkle on the water.
Trying to be noticed in the early morning.
The turn of an absent smile.
The reflection of a strangers eyes in a mirror,
Staring at me.
No,
Staring at them.
Someone else.
Drifting away under the fantasy of a spotlight,
Losing ground,
With sneakers resting on starlight.
Even then,
Words will chase you down.
Even then,
You never stop running.
Running, into a blinding light, edged with fear,
Edged with hope.
Longing for something to change,
As words pound in my ears.
As feet pound on the pavement.
As lies pound under the surface of your gaze...
I understand.
But words will never leave me,
Scarred and bruised,
Even as I turn,
And walk away.

Posted: 10.03.19

Apr 13

poem 2 comments

zazu

stay

No one knows how long they'll last,
Sometimes a fire is extinguished too fast.
Sometimes the world stops turning for moments,
And the people who capture it are the artists and poets.
Sometimes your walls start to crumble away,
Because the people around you, have nothing to say.
You wish they're was a world where you simply fit,
But the puzzle is rigged and you'll never get it.
Don't play by the rules that are set in stone,
when it's the chances you take that move you along.
Don't fueled by the world that you live in today,
Tomorrow could be a new one just waiting for you to make way.
So, please stay.

Posted: 04.13.19

Mar 23

poem 3 comments

zazu

Rainbow at night

An ambulance siren wails through the night,
Its pitch rising and falling in the crisp winter air.
Pedestrians scurry on the sidewalk, many floors below my bedroom window,
And I could wonder:
Where are they going?
What are they thinking?
But I will never know as I sit and gaze out over the city.
The city that never sleeps.
An explosion of light in the darkness,
With shimmering skyscrapers,
And tall buildings, that glow over streets, shedding their light.

I zip up my jacket, and open my apartment door.
My boots tap softly on the hall carpet.
I ride the elevator down to the lobby,
And then go out into the street.
Outside, where the only view is at eye level.
It makes me feel small to know that someone could be looking down at me right now,
The way I looked at them.

Posted: 03.23.19

Mar 19

fiction 1 comment

zazu

Why would I care?

Scene 1
The spotlight shines on Finch Larson, a high school student, as he stands alone center stage. Everywhere else around him is dark.
FINCH: (fidgeting nervously) Hello? Is anyone there? It’s me. You know it’s me because... (pauses)... because....
Finch’s step-sister Olivia has the spotlight on a different part of the stage.
OLIVIA: You’re such a loser!
Finch’s dad appears too.
DAD: I’m disappointed in you son!
Then comes Finch’s X best friend Ethan.
ETHAN: Chill, dude, it was just a joke.
Next, there’s Finch’s mom.
MOM: Ignore them Finch!
There is a brief black out, then the stage lights back up in Finch’s bed room, where his mom is waking him up.
MOM: Finch, wake up! It’s time to eat breakfast.
FINCH: I’m not hungry.
MOM: I don’t care! We are not having this discussion again. You are going to get up, eat breakfast, get dressed, and go school just like every other kid your age in this town.

Posted: 03.19.19

Feb 19

poem 0 comments

zazu

done

I see the smile linger on your face,
The glimmer in your eyes on the cusp of satisfaction,
As you run your fingers through wind swept-hair.
I know that you're not laughing with me,
You're laughing at me.
It tears me apart on the days I thought you were my friend.
But not today.
I take one last look at you, smirking.
I should be hurt, but I'm used to it.
Turning away, my figure fades into the sunset,
As I wordlessly tell you, that I am done.

Posted: 02.19.19

Jan 26

poem 2 comments

zazu

Soar

A single bird rises from the ashes of a fallen city.
Not a powerful bird,
That flies smoothly on the relentless wind,
But a small tattered bird with an injured wing.
That cries out feebly to its suroundings,
As it begins to fall once again toward the earth.

A child draws up short,
And listens to the cry of despair, seeing the little bird, crumpled and alone.
The child reaches out a grimy, small, hand.
A hand that has been through so much pain, and hardache, and suffering,
And helps the bird up.
Once again, the bird attempts to flap its wings,
As the sun sets on a far from perfect day.

That brief moment where the crimson sun illuminates the landscape, before falling behind the mountains,
The child let a brief smile escape.

Posted: 01.26.19

Jan 10

poem 0 comments

zazu

rise

The sun had smiled down on you,
But not kindly.
It burned your face with a hard fire, as you worked outside all day.
It left it's mark,
A scorching red that ran from your neck up to your forehead.
As I imagine an eskimo out in the Artic, their nose irritated and frost bitten with the cold.
You work tirelessly every day, you where your wounds without shame.
I wish everyone did that.
I wish everyone excepted eachother's differences, instead stead of freting over their neighbors imperfections.
But it isn't enough to wish...
In a night without stars.

Posted: 01.10.19

Jan 08

poem 0 comments

zazu

The bully

Did you see me in elementary school?
I was a wreck.
I want to earn respect,
And you're an easy target.
People don't mess with me anymore,
They know what I've done to you,
But...
I wish life was less complicated.
I'm sorry.
I'm not to make an excuse,
But things have been really difficult at home lately,
Whatever, you didn't need to know that.
Like I said, I'm sorry.

Sincerely, the bully

Posted: 01.08.19

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