Poetry

Eighty-three

out of

one hundred

and ten.

One hundred 

and four

out of one hundred

and ten.

We contrast starkly

I look like a beginner on paper

I am scared

Because my best friend is not ok anymore and is moving across the country

Because I don’t know if I will succeed in college and I ignored so many things on my to-do list

The snow was melting

when you talked to me

when they talked to you

when we stood with them

and their thinning perfume

their black backpacks

their straightened hair

their plans of the ride home.

In this whole world,

Snow and sun and metal and yet

You pick me?

Your favorite,

first in the morning and last at night

sometimes I think you’re foolish

the way you’ve placed me among the stars

Why can’t we all just love each other?

Why does there have to be so much hate?

Can we ever learn to trust and accept those who are not like us or believe different things?

Claim your rocking chairs and
Your solipsistic sunsets,
But close your eyes and listen.
The cicadas have silenced, and listen!
Is it quiet?

How do we live 

Knowing others cannot?

How do we breathe 

Knowing our comfort is at the hands of hidden devastation?

How do we laugh

when all around us Tears seem to be the only logical response?

Pretty. 
A word I have been called a few times. 
But why can’t I see it? Why do I look at others and think they’re beautiful. 
Why can’t I see myself the same way? 

Blood spills onto our streets too much.

The streets were once safely kept

but now they're permanently stained

with cries, sirens, and death. 

The harrowing cold of the family house,

You said today-

today was supposed to be a day of unity.

A day of unity for her.

But instead of having a day of unity 

that won't do anything in the long run-

Just stop!

I think there is a glitch in my processing unit; 

when the letter 'A' enters the system, 

it doesn't just register as a character—

it spills out as a deep magenta that dyes the rest of the word.

Justice must be served.

The man who shot her must pay the price.

Doesn’t matter if he was scared or not, she didn’t deserve this.

Nobody does.

That man needs to be brought to justice.