Combine in a large metal mixing bowl:

One wooden spoon or ladle, tucked underneath your pillows

before bed. One pair of old pajamas turned inside out

(backwards may be substituted.)

Eighteen coins stacked in twos upon all the windowsills

in your house, yes, even in the bathroom. Two

ice cubes in the toilet (optional)

and a white crayon in the freezer, hidden between

the strawberry & lime popsicles. One pair of hands

gripping the sheets before bed in hope

and triumph. One official school board notice

(thawed three hours, posted online) reading

SB: SNOW DAY TOMORROW!

and two girls shrieking in delight 

at opposite ends of the street. Three group chats

chaotic with snowflake emojis.

Twenty-four million (eyeball it) actual snowflakes

falling heavy and thick outside. 

Bake at -11 degrees Fahrenheit for one day;

it's done when a toothpick inserted into the middle

comes out covered in white.

From what I remember, it was born growing.

It was born hot, expanding, glowing,

And the people were made of gold 

and of fire.

And it kept growing, it kept burning hot, bright,

And Luna came soon after to draw the waters around the shores at night,

As well as magic and childhood and mystery in the air,

And smoky towns with tiny mirrors in the sky.

Human Beings looked up and died looking up.

I walked the earth long and happily in those years.

Where I came upon folks singing, I sang in their midst,

And where I came upon folks weeping, I kept my distance but wept with them,

so they would know that I was a friend, which I was.

Then, while the moon set on the first age, I crawled back up to the stars, and I never really came back down again.

Cities came soon after that.

(That was when the world had only just begun to grey.)

I barely remember the first cities -

They were not cities in any modern sense.

Human beings had not yet figured out that you could live in cities.

What they did, you see, was that they gathered great stones and piled them on top of one another.

and kept piling and piling on top of each other.

Where one died, their body was picked up and molded into several new babies,

so that one day the work could continue.

Their intent was to reach heaven. They almost did a couple of times.

There was one man among them, I remember, Cartaphilus. He refused to die after the rest. 

After the Human Beings had used up all the stone of the earth in their tower, he sat at the top and looked past the stars and into my face. 

He vowed he would never die as long as the earth still faced the heavens.

I can see his bones even now, dried on that tower to the north and south and east and west of where I sit in the sky.

My memory fogs over after that. 

Human beings harnessed the early and ancient mists and magics and childhoods 

Given to them in moderation at the beginning, 

And condensed them into fuel and sugar to eat and snort and run their cars with. 

A curtain was pulled about the globe so that no more light reflected off it.

I have lost it in the night sky now. It could be wandering anywhere down there.

My final memory of that place is one from a waking dream of mine, or maybe it was something real that woke me briefly from a deep sleep.

I was standing on a cliff over the North Sea, 

And I was pushed backwards off of it by a flood of Human Beings

Spilling over the ledge.

I flailed in the hordes of Men and Women, trying to swim up the wave.

I only gave up when I realized that they never ended.

It was people, people, people, all the way from the sea to the sky.

America.

“The land of the free and the home of the brave,” they say,

But behind the mask, does freedom truly stay?

Tell me, America, are you proud of what you have become?

Once a place of hope, where dreams coincide, 

People came here in search of a better life. 

America,

Do you see what you have become?

Whispers turning into cries, lost in the sounds of shots being fired,

Freedom’s flame flickers as the light dims.

America,

Democracy flickers like a lone star in the night sky.

Voices in protest across the country,

In streets, shadows snatch and steal, 

For the price of resisting and fighting for our neighbors. 

America, I fear for your future. 

Can hope be rekindled for the damage that has been done?  

Yo quiero un mundo

de felicidad para todos.

Donde hay no fin de cuánto

tu puedes amor

todos las cosas

tu quieres.

Cree tu eres el sola persona

en el mundo,

y cierras sus ojos

para sentirte tranquilo.

I want a world

of happiness for everyone.

Where there is no end of how much

you can love

all the things

you want.

Believe you are the only person

in the world,

and close your eyes

to feel calm.

A tree is downed in the forest

It appears as a skeletal hand resting upon the snow covered floor

Brown beneath, like ivory rotting away as it ages 

And pure white on top, bone bleached by the sun.

I sat down to write a poem about politics,

About how our country is tearing itself apart,

About how we’ve tried to glue pieces back together,

About how somehow it’s already been a year.

And how we still have three more to go.

I sat down to write,

But I couldn’t.

I could only sit here in the corner of the school library,

Frozen.

Covering my face as tears streamed down my cheeks,

As a lump formed in my throat, threatening to choke me.

I sat down to write a poem about politics,

And the insanity and suffering finally caught up to me.

Even as we carry the whole world

On our backs, we

Breathe our girlhood through

Whispers and giggles at the lunch table and

Stars brushed across eyelids that have

Scattered themselves onto cheeks, and

Sparkles in our eyes as we

Watch the snow squall outside twirl

Into a slow, fluttering waltz;

With hard-earned muscles, we

Grow stronger with every stroke, tired but

With the determination of a six year-old trying

to fly (as we truly do), colorful

In our rainbow tie-backs and water bottles lining

The edge of the pool, six

In the morning and

Swimming strong to Beyoncé;

We write endless papers and

Streak whiteboards with questions we’re

Not sure we’ll ever

Find the answers to, but

Smile still into notebooks and 

Painted nails perfect and chipped (they’re

Obviously all beautiful);

We carry so much weight and yet

I sat in pre-calc today with

A gum wrapper heart from my friend, and

It matched my heart as it fluttered

With girlhood: both

Frivolous wishes and

Dreams I’ve hard-earned won, with 

Tears and grit and

Every time I’ve refused

To give up.

It started off with two moms, two best friends,
with two young girls with the biggest smiles.
Making handshakes that would last a lifetime,
listening to songs we would sing and dance to,
sharing our laughs and giggles,
playing with Littlest Pet Shop right after school,
having a late afternoon snack.
Until it was time to go back home.

We have seen each other’s ups and downs.
The saying, “I’ll be here for you,” finally has meaning.
Laughing together, crying together, failing together.
The feeling of your presence gives me comfort.
We grew taller, braver, and crazier.
Each moment becomes a new memory to replay.

And just in the blink of an eye,
we will see each other across the stage,
achieving what we once thought was unachievable.
Always looking back at how far we’ve come,
to receive our diplomas and throw our caps.
You, would be the first person I would turn to.
And now, it’s two best friends,
the two young girls with the biggest hearts.