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Jan 20
nonfiction 0 comments challenge: Inauguration
roxyforthewin

An Election Reflection, Part II: On Patriotism in 2021

I watch the inauguration live on TV in my school library. The clouds literally parted in DC right when Lady Gaga started singing. I felt my heart pounding along with the beat of the "President's own Marine Corps band". When I was young, one of my first words was flag. I loved American history ( still do) and was very patriotic. These days, that feeling is harder to dig up the way it used to be. It's hard to feel patriotic especially during the difficult year we have had and especially during the weird pomp and display of the inauguration. I don't know, though, I guess for a moment there I was hopepful. Hopeful for our country and for the future and the new administration. Some say hope is a waste of time in this dystopian world of ours, but in that moment – in that moment – hope was all I had to go on.
Read More
Posted: 01.20.21
Jan 19
poem 2 comments challenge: Inauguration
IceGalaxy's picture
IceGalaxy

America, Part 1

I am a kid. 
I am just a kid.
Who has done nothing wrong,
but is afraid for 
my life & the 
lives of the peolpe around me.
I am not normal.
No one is, but I 
am not a 
standard person in 
society. Sometimes I
get scared and I can't breathe. 
Other times, I 
can't focus on anything.
& even others...
I convince myself (somehow)
that I am not worth it. 
That I shouldn't be here.

Because America is telling me that. 
America, you are a little voice,
stuck inside my head,
telling me 
I do not &
will never belong in society
as I really am.
I really don't want to believe you,
but I feel like I
have no choice.  Because you are
"The Promise Land,"
"The Melting Pot,"
all that crap that you 
claim you are.

An apron does not
a waiter make.
A crown does not
a king make. You need
Read More
Posted: 01.19.21
Jan 18
poem 2 comments challenge: Photo-Slanting
Treblemaker

Light

I love the light this time of day
The way the raindrops dance and play
The gentle shadows on your face
The way the darkness leaves in haste

I love the light this time of day
The flowers' colors on display
And birds like rockets soar so high
And yet I see them in the sky

I love the light this time of day
The pure eclectic gamma rays
Saturn, Mars in strongest bond
A sweet guitar now plays along

I love the light for it is there
Thank you sun for being near
Unto my arms, my face, each day
The gentle rays kiss fear away
Read More
Posted: 01.18.21
Jan 16
poem 5 comments
Silent Wolf

Ode to Writer’s Rage

Anger! 'Tis the Fuel of Poetry
Burning within my Soul—
Igniting my blood, my veins, my eyes
And will not stop at All–

Because, as all my friends know 
And as I call to the Night—
Anger me, and I will explode.
Anger me more, and I will fight—
Anger me enough, and I
write.
 
Read More
Posted: 01.16.21
Jan 15
poem 4 comments
roxyforthewin

The Horseman

The horseman rides.
He rides through valleys of smoke and hills of shadow.
He rides through empty cities of gray concrete and twisted metal.
He rides into the barren plains until they are no longer barren and suddenly, life is all around him.
He rides, onwards, onwards, towards a small town nestled between a stand of pines
And the sea.
The dunes are windswept and worn away.
The plants hold them down against the sea.
In the town, the houses are small and storm-battered, storm-battened.
The people are tanned with weathered hands.
The horseman rides through the town, but no one sees him pass.
The hooves of his great, black horse do not stir the fine layer of sand that coats the cobbled streets.
The horseman rides, and he watches.
He watches a child play just outside of her mother's reach.
He watches a young girl collect shells in her blouse at the seaside.
Read More
Posted: 01.15.21
Jan 14
poem 2 comments challenge: Impeached-Part 2
IceGalaxy's picture
IceGalaxy

1/6/21

One week & 
one day ago, I watched the
Capitol collapse on
CBS Live. 

The day began normally:
Zoom classes that make
my eyes sore & send
sparks of white
dancing across my 
line of vision. Then 
Art came, my 
twice-a-week escape
from reality. Suddenly, someone 
went off mute & said: 
They entered the Capitol.
Four words & I change, 
along with the 
rest of the world. I 
didn't know what had happened, or
what the heck was
going on. So I
turned on a live newsfeed
& just couldn't. 
Couldn't think.
Couldn't feel.
Couldn't breathe. 
I could only watch.

P.E. was cancelled that day 
(Thank you, God),
giving me more time
to watch the news in
the privacy of my room
for more than 
two hours. I called a 
friend of mine that
I had known since
Kindergarten; I 
Read More
Posted: 01.14.21
Jan 14
poem 4 comments
eyesofIris

"i want the ocean"

saltwater is sometimes
the only safe place to hide,
sunken under miles of ocean,
hiding between the corals and
schools of zebra-striped fish.
i whisper your name again
and again like a prayer
but there’s never any response.
all i hear is the echo
of lovers who drowned.
i can’t build stepping stones
across the Atlantic
but i could pretend you’re
sitting next to me beside the
seaweed.
the shadows of my feet
kick up clouds of sand
from the ocean floor.
i feel sorry
for the salty creatures
who watch me from the abyss
in the same way that
i feel sorry for people
who have never seen
the world from above,
when the cities become toys
for the clouds to toss around,
and the cars and the people
vanish as if they never existed
at all. it’s the same way in reverse
underwater, the world lifts or maybe
you fall, there’s no air to breathe,
Read More
Posted: 01.14.21
Jan 13
poem 1 comment
IceGalaxy's picture
IceGalaxy

Sunset

Driving west to the
open-mouthed sun, waiting to
swallow us whole. The most
beautiful shades of
orange, pink, & blue
swirling around a ball of
literal fire. Clouds
scattering and the sun
running away to make
room for the
moon & stars. Now, 
darkness rules the
Earth, & its 
sleeping subjects hardly
notice how the
world keeps spinning
without them.
Read More
Posted: 01.13.21
Jan 12
poem 1 comment challenge: America
blue_potato

Dear America

Dear America,
I have lived here most of my life,
Watching from the comfort of home,
Listening to you speak over the radio of our old Volvo's stereo, 
Hearing things I wish I had never heard.
When I was younger,
I never paid attention.
I never listened
Or watched
Or read,
Back then I wasn't ashamed of you.
Now I turn away,
Scared to look back,
Scared to turn the radio on.
Why do you not learn,
America?
You are my home.
You are home to 328.2 million,
America.
You are supposed to be a dream,
One that so many seek,
And when they do find it,
You push them down and tear them apart.
When I was young I believed America was an amazing place to be.
But when I see
Innocent lives trampled in the wake of fear,
When I say to you,
When will it be enough?
6 million was enough.
It was way too many.
Covid does exist.
Dont be stupid.
Read More
Posted: 01.12.21
Jan 11
poem 0 comments
Frostbite

Princess

I am a princess
Not across some faraway sea
I am here at home
With no one to rule
Yet I am a princess

I bounce around the house with ease 
Careful not to catch the disease
That spreads so fast
Yes, Corona

I do my royal duties
Such as school and walking the dog
Then I text some friends in boredom
And write poetry for my blog

I sit and watch the television
Awestruck by the news
Then I go back to my bedroom
Overtaken by terrible blues

I pet my royal puppy
Asleep on her royal throne
I hum along to the radio
As my family surf their phones

I really can't help it
Maybe someone else was better fit for the throne than me
Someone in a third world country
Someone far away across the sea

I was hurt and broken
Full of pure dismay
When terrorists were let go
They just walked away

People in this country 
Read More
Posted: 01.11.21
Jan 10
nonfiction 0 comments challenge: General/Free Write
Peter Gustafson's picture
Peter Gustafson

Little ideas

Little ideas.
When I draw, I draw ideas that pop into my head.
Little ideas.
They become pictures.
These little ideas become big things.
Calvin and Hobbes started out as a little idea.
Now, it’s one of the most popular comic strips ever.
Skateboarding began as a little idea.
And now it’s an Olympic sport.
Heck, even energy was once a little idea.
Then Edison invented the lightbulb.
Every manmade item on Earth started out as a little idea.
Scientific theories were once little ideas.
Like, ‘Maybe the Earth is round.’
Or ‘Maybe we revolve around the sun not vice versa.’.
Or ‘The Earth is heating up. Maybe it's because of the gas we’re putting into the atmosphere.'
Most big things start out as little ideas.
- Written by Liam Wood
Read More
Posted: 01.10.21
Jan 09
poem 4 comments
charvermont

Responding

I'll write you all responses on paper
      but struggle for the courage 
      to send them because 

To be like you is all I want –
      smelling of ashes and pine wood.
      The moon is glaring at me from above.

All of your words are hozhó
      (beauty). I wish I could feel
      to the extent you all do. 

How to articulate everything I am thinking?
      I have no memories of the place I
      was born, unlike you. Maybe I envy that.

Can I hug you? Let's talk 
      over some hot coffee (or tea!) and
      you can tell me whatever you like.

I'm your friend, built to listen.
      We are all diné (human) and I realize now 
      I am writing that from the Abenaki's land.

Your voices are beautiful; I love 
      your jean jackets and ruffled blue 
      shirts and red lipstick. 

Sometimes it feels like I don't have the courage for
Read More
Posted: 01.09.21
Jan 07
poem 2 comments challenge: Insurrection
Batman

The Capitol

At three o'clock he picked me up from school.
The quiet seeped through the radio,
defining his breathing,
breathing, like before you cry,
like he was on the edge of himself,
of his self control,
because he couldn't cry.
I had asked him what was wrong,
and he answered in a stuttering, red burst.
He said that there was a riot
a mob
a coup.
On the radio they call them protesters,
but I knew.
Protesters don't carry guns.
protesters don't hide bombs in buildings.
protesters don't use teargas.
At home we watched grimly 
as a mob of ugly 
red-faced apes, waving flags 
and wearing red hats and military uniforms
broke windows.
And watched as police officers
stood by, watching,
and opened doors,
and gave out bottles of water.
How could this be?
That when peaceful BLM protesters
were shot and tear-gassed
Read More
Posted: 01.07.21
Jan 06
poem 5 comments challenge: Insurrection
Nightheart

Matar (to kill)

I am doing history homework 
when I watch the Capitol Fall. 
                  (Ironic, isn't it? History always repeats itself) 

We were trying to watch the 
electoral votes being counted and suddenly 
a push           no a wave 
of red, exclamations about gas masks 
and armed rioters and for a second 
I thought we had been transported 
right back to where we came from
                  (god! my mother exclaims. it reminds me of iran!) 
please tell me what to do 
I am fifteen years old and I am watching 
democracy burning, burning. 
I am fifteen and I am watching a red man sprawled over
the vice-president's seat, confident. 
                  (it's funny, the smoke kind of smells like spit & passion, 
                   like hurt & tears, like treason & smashed glass) 
there are pictures, guns drawn 
and I watch the news anchors repeating 
Read More
Posted: 01.06.21
Jan 04
poem 2 comments
Zorro

No moon

Cool dark air whispers past
my cheeks, chilling them.
As I look up into the night sky 
I see no stars, no moon.
Clouds blot out all light
except the occasional headlights
that crest the hills before
and behind me, shining on the 
telephone wires above.
As I jog down this tree-lined road
I glance down at the barely visible
cracks in the pavement.
I pass farms with cows dozing silently
in the pastures, or watching me from their barns
with sleepy confusion written across their faces.
A truck is passing me
as I start down a gently sloping hill
when out of nowhere
two long-legged deer jump out
in front of its headlights.
The truck slows down
as the deer leap and bound
to the other side of the road
disappearing over the barbed fence
of an empty cow pasture.
The truck picks up speed and
putters off into the night.
I turn back to the pasture,
Read More
Posted: 01.04.21
Jan 04
poem 0 comments
NiñaEstrella

Cold - A Tiny Writes Collaborative Poem

These awesome YWP writers describe what being cold is like: Roses, Mysticat, dogpoet, Treblemaker, LadyMidnight, laurenm, Moonsand, Yellow Sweater, Ice Blink, infinitelyinfinite3, amaryllis, Crescent_Moon, Whitney, cedar.

Frigid
Glacial
Frozen
Yeeep!
Unfriendly
Squirmy
Chilly
Determined
Bitter
Apathetic
Frost
Confined
Numb 
Exhilarating 
Read More
Posted: 01.04.21
Jan 04
poem 0 comments challenge: Unexplained
Stargirl

In the afterlife

In the afterlife
we live in a place
filled with swirling
silk clothed dancers
light on their feet
around trees dripping
with white Christmas lights

We drink green tea while
petals from cherry trees 
blow around us
we all hear the same music
but it never sounds the same once

In the afterlife
we sleep in open air houses
white gauzy curtains billowing
in the lavender wind
colorful cushions
scattered all through the house

We fly kites with
long streamer tails
against the sunset
and drink moonlight
from water lilies

In the afterlife
everyone talks in colors
walks cobblestoned streets
lined with blooming apple trees
and clear canals

The rain smells like wild blueberries
and the thunderstorms over the
dark evergreen mountains
like crushed ginger

In the afterlife
Read More
Posted: 01.04.21
Jan 02
fiction 0 comments challenge: Tone
Mary's picture
Mary

Carrot sticks

I take a large inhale as I step off of the platform of the long school bus. I watch it screech away and then turn to look at the entrance of the school. The building seems to tower over me. As I adjust the straps on my new backpack I realize that my hands are sweating. I wipe them on my skirt, careful not to ruin the blue ruffles that are sown on top of the orange fish pattern. It is my favorite. 
Read More
Posted: 01.02.21
Jan 01
opinion, rant 3 comments
amaryllis

Happy New Year! :)

Lately, it feels like time has left me behind. A finals week apparently doesn't feel like finals without the exchange of small gifts and warm words between stressed teenagers, and Christmas doesn't feel Christmas-y without the being a tad more than fashionably late to an obligatory family get together at Mà's house where we smile and get presents that will be returned the next week. 

This winter break, like the majority of the year, has been different. Not necessarily good different or bad different but like many things, a healthy mixture of both. I can't hate 2020, and I won't hate 2020. Because, though bitter, quarantine gave me YWP. It gave me a better sense of self, and it gave me many realizations that, though many led to more journeys than actual ends, was more satisfying than anything I had found before.

Read More
Posted: 01.01.21
Dec 30
poem 0 comments
NavaRae's picture
NavaRae

Let me tell you a story I know nothing about


It is always the most simple advice that we all fail to heed to
Everyone told me,

When someone shows you who they are, believe them. 
But why is that so difficult? Why do we fool our eyes into witnessing the reality we create inside our heads?

 Why do I easily slip into a role of ignorance regarding his character, despite being proven so many times to believe otherwise? I am out of excuses for him, no more room to bend over backward

He told me “you don't really know what I think”

 those 6 words and 11 syllables rained on me like standing under shattering glass 
As I realized 

That he

 was 

right

He is right
And instead of anger at him for withholding,
I only feel embarrassment for not seeing a truth so plain I could draw it out with my thumb,
I am drowning in a pool of my own ignorance 
Read More
Posted: 12.30.20
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