POETRY
Vagabond
Zachary Lovell
I tell you now I am just a passing fancy
Dusk was swift upon the children
Chilled feet and runny noses they scattered
The valley chilled by a cool radiant moon
Looming clouds my friend, clouds with the intent to drop a frozen inconvenience
The wind does not whisper but scream a frosted song to the tip of my nose
Scent itself has frozen and fallen
Ice dams have halted the once sprinting rivers
I can hear it calling me, the way it used to, the way it always has
Swift feet carry me, much like the loon who wallowed in the bounties of spring
I must leave
Much like the yellow finch, I have performed my last song of the season
Much like my father before me, I must leave this waste land
I keep nothing but memories and leave nothing but footprints
Off to the perimeter, I must go
Mushy Raccoon
Sydney Garthus
In my yard, next to a rock,
there lies a dead raccoon.
Its fur is matted down
with dirt and bacteria.
It sits like a lump of an old man,
too tired to open the fridge.
Its ears are mushy
like the mashed potatoes I eat at dinner.
Black eyes are frightened,
yet hopeful because of
the promise of reincarnation
into something that doesn’t dig through trash.
Missing in the Music
Joe DiFrances
Through space flying by
fly by planets that change colors, textures, and shape in an instant
deep red planets morph into light green cubes, rough into smooth, holding them
By the sun’s rays, that keep warm from the chilling cold
shining light, keeping dimly lit
Feeling fast but moving slow, a haze in the empty air
With a guitar in my hands
playing to the beat of the stars, notes can be heard
Never stopping always moving
not by choice, there is no gravity
Drifting in space, no path, just endless
space
Friendship
Claire Meeks
The meaning of friendship is something so much more
Something both should love and adore
Friendship is a beautiful gift of love
It’s something many dream of
Friendship is the mutual trust you share
It’s something you hope will always be there
Friendship is encouragement in difficult times
It’s someone to have as a partner in all your crimes
Friendship is when you have someone’s back
It’s someone who helps you keep on track
Friendship is something many search for but never find
It’s something with someone who is gentle and kind
It takes two people to make it work
And usually, both people come with some crazy quirks
So when you find that special friend
Remember to keep them until the end
Never give up on them before they give up on you
Even they need someone to say, “I love you”
For Her:
Edgar Allan Crow (anonymous submission)
Her eyes were colored like perfect blues
Gazing into those appealing eyes will leave a stain
Her mind left wondering without a clue
Finding a way out will only keep her sane
and with a world full of hate she was lost
Her voice had left a melody
Her love had left a heart-rending cost
The love she gave had left remedies
But at what point of moment will it be time?
However a way out will give us hope
She was always there and always kind
Loving her was my way to cope
So maybe the love here isn’t so lost
And maybe her love will be worth the cost
proof i've been
Edgar Allan Crow (anonymous submission)
footprints
in snow
made by someone who couldn’t
remember the place they needed
to be
a branch snapped
in half
by someone who couldn’t
be bothered to remember what it
had been
shards of glass
the remnants of a mirror
containing someone’s changing reflection and
something hated or loved but
certainly, something that was and
something that
will be
the perfect snow and
imperfect branch and
a mirror like any other
broken by someone
who was and
has been
for however long they’ve had to
without knowing myself
i wouldn’t know
how much i’ve existed and
i thank every piece of evidence
that i’ve left behind
having been here and there and nowhere
there’s proof somewhere
that i have been
We are the Witches
Edgar Allan Crow (anonymous submission)
I am mad at the world I live in
I am mad at our past
I am mad at our present
And I will march into the future
screaming at this world.
I will not file a complaint
I will not make suggestions
I will demand change until society stops screwing with my community for one second
And listens and absorbs every word like gold is dripping off my tongue
and my words hold the keys to the universe
Until that day comes I will scream until my throat is raw and burning
And I will march along with the witches
We still are witches to them, by the way
Our names have changed, times have moved on,
but the witch hunt continues
Witches were burned
Because they dared to have a voice
While also being women
And society burns what it does not like
And society does not like witches
We are still attacked for having an identity
If we wear a short skirt we’re distracting the boys
If we go dancing with our friends
We’re asking for it
If we play it safe
We’re prudes
We cannot exist without criticism.
We cannot exist without someone, somewhere down the line,
telling us
that our brain is worth less
because of our bodies.
I was only twelve when I was told to keep an eye on my glass
My brother is nearly twenty and nobody has ever told him to ask for consent
Because we would rather tell our daughters that they could be victims
Than tell our sons not to be predators
We would rather say “make sure he assaults the other girl”
Than say “don’t assault people, period.”
Because that is what we’re saying, when we tell our daughters to be careful.
There will always be someone less sober and more alone
There will always be another girl
And she won’t be a victim because nobody told her how not to get assaulted
She will be a victim because nobody told their son
not to assault people
Walking at Night
Edgar Allan Crow (anonymous submission)
When I wander the streets of my neighborhood,
the streets where I learned
To walk talk play sing cry and write,
I empty my mind of maggots,
Shake the bees from my arms,
and walk until the sun leaves the sky.
I walk from streetlight to streetlight,
and marvel at the gold spilling into
the darkened streets.
I’ve always loved streetlights,
the gold against the blue black sky
was always calming to me
and my friends think I’m weird
and my neighbor
tells me not to walk at night.
and I tell her I won’t, but I do anyways
because I have places to be
and past lives to grieve
And even though I always tell myself
I’m walking to walk
And I don’t have a destination
My feet see through me
And carry me to my old middle school
An emotional gravestone
And there’s a twelve year old girl there waiting for me
And even though I have other places to see
And it’s getting late and I told myself
And I told my neighbor
And I told my friends
That the past is in the past
And I’m moving on and I’m not going to visit her anymore
No matter how long she waits
No matter how much she cries
I’ll let her be
And walk to newer places
And yet every time I find her
And I sit down with her
Because she’s waiting for me
And it’s rude to ignore people when they’re waiting for you.