Daily Read | Page 2 | Young Writers Project

Jan 03

QueenofDawn

Serotonin

If I could
I would feed you serotonin on a spoon.

If I could
I would pin daisies to the windows of your bedroom,
soft as you fall asleep,
but chest-deep is too far for placebo sweetness,
and I love you too much to lie.

You will not say goodbye
to your red-speckled eyes,
and it hurts
my love,
but I cannot promise
an end to the empty nights.

Your heart cannot stop its rabbit-quick convulsions
any more than your lungs can give up air,
and the only spoon-fed serotonin
will leave you more hollow than before,
I know.

I know you need a final day,
to count on, to count to,
to scratch onto the floorboards with your fingernails
but the best I can do
is tell you
that you will get better
long enough
to breathe.

You will get better
long enough to wake up with a light chest,
rested
in clean sheets.

Posted: 01.03.22

Jan 03

poem

murious_w

What do people do?

I'm standing in a bookshop
My fingers graze over the spines of the books, sending a tingling down my spine
My heart is alight and aflame and I'm free
Lost, never to be found again

I pause in my journey through the endless maze of shelves
My eyes flit over titles
I see something
Something incredible-

I hear a noise
A creak of floorboards
Startled, I turn at the noise, darting backwards
I hit something solid, and tumble toward the ground

Mumbled apologies swarm the air, as I fumble to regain balance and collect my fallen books
A foot away, the other figure does the same
I shuffle through the items in my hands, and notice a cover that doesn't look farmiliar

"Is this yours?" I ask, holding it out to her

She affirms with a stiff nod and reaches for it

I glance at the title before it slips out of my grasp
Then my gaze moves to the girl standing before me

Posted: 01.03.22

Jan 01

poem

Lucylemon

Daisy queen

She said she was the daisy queen,
and I thought it suited her.
So joyful all the time,
so innocent and sweet,
and always reaching for the sky.
One time she made me a daisy crown.
Gifted by the daisy queen,
I kept that crown in a glass box.
All dried up but still beautiful.
Perfectly preserved in time just like the memories of her.
A daisy is so cheery
but suddenly this daisy wasn't so lively anymore.
The petals started wilting.
The daisy tried so hard to stay happy and energetic,
but the weeds battled with this daisy,
and not all daisies are destined to be preserved and here forever.
This daisy succumbed to the weeds,

and then there was no more daisy.
Every night I would look at the dried daisy crown
and remember the daisy queen,
but unknown to me,
a seed was planted in me,
that seed grew into a daisy.
So I am more positive and bright,
Just like the daisy queen.

Posted: 01.01.22

Jan 01

poem

Lizzy_Rights

Moonrise

As the sky began to fade,
Into its dark dreamy depths,
We sat with the fireflies,
In the long green grasses,
Together,
You and me,
We watched the sun fall,
The clouds fade to dark plumes,
And the stars twinkle into sight,
While they set their gaze upon us,
We looked to the moon,
Braving the descent up into the night,
Reflecting the hidden light of her lost love,
And lighting up the darkness,
We sat,
You and me,
With the stars and the fireflies,
Lit up with the showering stare,
Of the ascending moon.

Posted: 01.01.22

Dec 31

poem

Scarry Night

Another Year Waits

Hundreds of days have passed,
hundreds of seconds,
of words,
whispers,
glances,
since we were faced
with trouble.
Maybe more than that,
for some.
And,
we have been able to
continue on through
these troubles,
no matter the effect
on our lives.
We have confronted
every moment
with answers,
questions,
emotion,
and still,
another year waits for us.
Another year waits
even though we have been
chosen by challenges.
Another year waits
even though we have
made mistakes.
Another year waits
even though we are
tired of fighting so hard.
And no matter
how unsure,
or scared,
or exhausted
some may be,
we still have to keep going,
keep trying,
keep living,
because another year waits,
with intents of fresh starts,
resolution,
and perhaps the occasional stressful night,

Posted: 12.31.21

Dec 30

poem

eyesofIris

Monopolized

You always took Park Place,
cobalt tile weighted by your viridian buildings
and crimson hotels.
Meanwhile,
I stumbled over the borderlines and railroad tracks,
toppled over Baltic.
Wheelbarrow balanced on one side, you
skated seamlessly through the boulevards
and avenues.
Reckless pass while garish notes gathered
under your corner,
neat, muted stacks lined up bill by bill.
Alabaster hills sliding beneath the couch,
crumpled roseate you passed conceitedly
as I reluctantly traded tangerine trophies
and another accolade
for an arrogant –
I paid my dividend,
dissidence dismissed by
unofficial bank teller
who slickly slid gilded notes
under palms as you and I bickered
over ownership,
until a misstep cost you
your capital, and
I cheered gleefully
as you claimed bankruptcy
and I claimed Boardwalk.

Posted: 12.30.21

Dec 29

poem challenge: Inside Cat

AutumnSkyes

The sweet, fresh grass

I looked outside the window
it was morning, just after ten
the grass was a bright green
it looked almost liquid as I watched it ripple in the wind
I wanted to feel it so bad, but I couldn't
I just couldn't

every time
I try and try
it never works at all
I long to touch the sweet fresh grass,
but my paws won't let me move

my human does it every day
before she goes to school
I see her jumping, leaping, giggling, playing,
but I just wait inside
I try to think up ways to trick myself,
but will that work?
yeah ... probably not

every time
I try and try
it never works at all
I long to touch the sweet fresh grass,
but my paws won't let me move

it's nearly afternoon
and my human is outside
jumping, leaping, giggling, playing,
but just as I begin to turn,
I hear a scream!

Posted: 12.29.21

Dec 28

nonfiction, essay

Yellow Sweater

Prayer Wheel or Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone

At the beginning of December, I found myself on Capitol Hill for a poetry reading. I had some time to spare, so I walked around the neighborhood’s green-space, Cal Anderson Park. If you were paying close attention to the news, you might recognize the name as the heart of the former Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, a self-declared anarchist community in the middle of Seattle. Ground Zero of the Culture War. A Beautiful Desperate Experiment. A Necessary Disaster. America.

The park was a little rough around the edges: graffiti on the cement, empty soda cans and drug-needles underneath the picnic tables. There were only a couple of people, wrapped in their puff-jackets, trudging through the puddles. The rainbow crosswalk, the rainbow bridge leading over the scarred road, had a fresh coat of paint. The grass was dulled by winter.

Posted: 12.28.21

Dec 28

poem, fiction

Lae_GALAwolf

A late night in Dawnscape

'Tis a late night in Dawnscape, the moon well past its prime. Few people walk around the streets with nothing to do with their time.

'Tis a late night in Dawnscape. Not a single soul is awake. Not a carriage nor car passes by. Even the stray cat has found somewhere to lie.

'Tis a late night in Dawnscape. Not a single soul is awake. Save me. Who, even at the most tiring times, refuses to sleep.

'Tis no longer a late night in Dawnscape, as the sun starts to rise, and a bright new day is planned. The time of night requires no mourning. That time is gone, it's now –

Early morning.

Posted: 12.28.21

Dec 26

poem

Stargirl

Never gonna forget

12/22/21
I will remember these numbers forever
and not because they're a palindrome...

Took a few tests
a few weeks back
Sat on a table covered in paper and watched blood
drain out of my body into tubes.
Four of them, all different.
Different colors for
different things but all of them
were filled with the same blood.
Mine.

I watched this happen, watched
as the needle was pulled out of my arm
and cotton was pressed down against my skin and
a bandaid was placed on top.
I was told not to remove it for at least a half hour.
Finished the appointment and walked out.
It hadn't even been five minutes.
I ripped off the bandage.
"Let me bleed",
I thought.

Then
12
22
21
The test results came in.
I never got my blood back.
But
I got something else instead.

Posted: 12.26.21

Dec 24

poem

Geri

Jingle Bell Jazz

The whole club's in a yellow, mellow mood.

Reindeer rattle through rhythms
while Frosty glides on sled strings.

Chestnuts pop in syncopated patterns
while gingerbread men take the stage.

Hot chocolate spirits blur the room
and eggnog ghosts stain the tables.

The Christmas Boogie hops inside
with a jolt of snow and sugar.

The whole place is mistletoe madness
and holly highs
until Ol' Saint Nick
says goodbye.

Posted: 12.24.21

Dec 23

poem challenge: Reach

Garrett Spelman

The palace in the sky

There’s a palace in the sky,
Peacefully drifting,
Swaying in the breeze.

Its tall, vibrant green trees
And the many houseplants
Sitting in pots on the sills
Have their leaves ruffled
By a warm spring wind
That brings sunshine
And hope for the future.

The clouds are like pillows,
Far away, yet closer than ever before,
Like giants dancing in the sky.

There’s a palace in the sky,
Peacefully drifting,
Swaying in the breeze.

I visited the palace once
In the spring, I stayed with a family,
They were bakers.
Their smells were carried on the wind
Carrying their love and kindness
To the entire city.

When you’re in the palace
Everything seems so small
But when you look outside the window
Giants wave and dance
And vines rustle gently
Against the windowpanes.

There’s a palace in the sky,
Peacefully drifting,

Posted: 12.23.21

Dec 22

poem

Penelope

The Green-Eyed Girl

If you happen to come across the green-eyed girl
And stare into her emerald eyes
You’ll see they are two infinite holes of sadness and anger
But also passion and fire
You’ll see hidden behind the emerald layers
She has secrets
And she’s buried them deep enough
Where even she doesn’t want to find them
The green-eyed girl
Might say she loves you
Might even think it
But she knows deep down she doesn’t
Because she doesn’t truly love herself
She hides behind those layers of eyes
Not wanting the world to see her
Not wanting to see herself
Nobody truly knows her
She barely even knows herself

Posted: 12.22.21

Dec 21

nonfiction

Whitney

Letter To Santa 2021

Dear Santa,
It's me again. Whitney. I’m writing to you today in a suspended moment of frustration and disappointment. This world has become so messy I can barely walk without tripping, gagging or falling. I’m sorry to say but this year my list is much longer than in years past. Life has been insane. And not in a good way. The creatures that roam this earth are anything but human. At least they must be, for I don’t understand how any human could treat another the way they treat each other. So in this season of miracles and magic I write you this letter in unbelieving faith that maybe just maybe… one of the many wishes on my list may come true.

1. I want Christmas cheer to be ignited in the hearts of all. May they spend the holidays with a smile on their lips and a heart oozing with love.
2. I want those sick and in pain to heal so that they may spend the holidays with family and friends.

Posted: 12.21.21

Dec 21

poem

LunaMoonBox

Platinum clockwork

Tick-tock tick-tock

Time goes on and I can’t keep up
As my mind goes blank with that ticking clock.
God himself likes to wind it up
To make our lives always end with tock.

Tick-tock tick-tock

The undying rhythm follows free
There’s no time to waste, there’s no time to lose.
The metronome is attached to me
The beat is the same, I cannot choose.

Tick-tick tick-tock

Time is slipping out of my veins
Why is it fast? Why am I slow?
The tickety tickety burns like flames
How far will this rhythm go?

Tick-tick tick-tick

Why can't I stop the movement of life
From going around to steal us again?
"Time" stabs us with a platinum knife
For souls that time will forever gain.

Posted: 12.21.21

Dec 20

poem

ZoeBee

1923

I fell in love with a French mime-girl in 1923
And as enamored as I was with her, she also was with me
We would row down the Seine in her palm-traced box
Wait 'till night had come awake and kiss beneath the docks
Our skirts would swish and gloves would mix, never beneath the sun
And when I'd leave she'd mime a tear trickling down her cheek, just one
The way we would communicate, no one really understands
How her throat-strings never said "I love you"
But I heard it through her hands
How she didn't speak a whisper
But I could hear what she said
How she moved her hands at lightning speed
But I never was misled
How when I had to board the train
In 1932
And she kissed me slow
I knew to whisper
"I'll miss you too"

Posted: 12.20.21

Dec 19

poem

Sunflowergirl

Winter mornings

Move slowly
And find your footsteps crunching in the snow
Whisper to the wind
Who you love
Finding the hemlocks
Bending to embrace you
Winter woes
Are buried deepest
But will we ever find anything else?
The world so never-ending
Has me dizzy

Posted: 12.19.21

Dec 17

poem

GreyBean

the girl who plays ukulele

you watched me cry,
seeds running in narrow
rivulets down my cheeks.
we are swollen
like bright pearls scraping along the edge of a
shell;
we are beautiful.
my little wooden heart
molds with wet,
and when you take a step—
it creaks.
my tiny mind, you say,
my tiny mind is filled with the world,
so be good, do good, you say,
and please, little mind, be dutiful.
i almost forgot
(but then i didn’t)
to say goodnight to
the wilting peonies outside my window.
she is the girl who plays ukulele,
dancing in empty halls
and wearing dresses of yellow.
we dance out in the rain
(as we laugh and cry and die)
because we are only human.

Posted: 12.17.21

Dec 16

poem

Blue Bear

The Things That Children Lie About

You didn't grow up together
but she was always there

She was your best friend
that you imagined fake memories with

like the time you hopped the school fence
in the middle of the night
just to see if you could do it
and you scraped your knee
and still have the scar

except that's from the time
your enemy tripped you on a run

and she wasn't there to help you up
because she was gone
in her new town
with her new friends

at least you have the summer
that you spent together in the mountains
swimming in jeans,
catching crayfish
and calling them yabbies,
climbing rocks barefoot
naming caves and coves
an imaginary town
or a pirate ship
like children

and playing hide n seek
on empty ski slopes
hours after the sun went to bed

and dancing in the rain
not like the movies

Posted: 12.16.21

Dec 16

poem

Sunflowergirl

The Fog

The perfume bottles on my dresser
Are waiting for me to spill them
And my pink Converse
The ones with hearts drawn on the soles
Are anticipating the next time I trip over my own feet
Things are interesting here in the fog
Dreamy
But somehow
I still feel the blood pumping through my body each minute
As it rains today
I’m choosing to believe
That I’ll be washed away at some point
And fall asleep on the forest floor
Until trees curl around me
And pull me into their tangle of roots
So I’ll vanish
And maybe that will be easier

Posted: 12.16.21

Search form

Serotonin

What do people do?

Daisy queen

Moonrise

Another Year Waits

Monopolized

The sweet, fresh grass

Prayer Wheel or Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone

A late night in Dawnscape

Never gonna forget

Jingle Bell Jazz

The palace in the sky

The Green-Eyed Girl

Letter To Santa 2021

Platinum clockwork

1923

Winter mornings

the girl who plays ukulele

The Things That Children Lie About

The Fog

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