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A field of for Forgotten Memories
By Jordan Roberts

Walking down the Battered path,
A field of forgotten memories,
An ancient man with dreams of childhood,
God, I've changed
The Scent of garden caresses my nose,
A forest of amber at my knees.
Long ago the weald overflowed with monsters.
Soldiers, dragons, vampires,
They fell to the fury of my unyielding sword.

Walking to the schoolyard
The rusty swings
The worn handle bars
A slide,
Susie Mabrie Embarrassment
The school spies as she leans forward,
The rouge lips peck at my cheek
A red blanket engulfs my face.
With butterflies in my stomach.
Oh! To erase a mortifying kiss from my face.

I sit on a barrel
Nervously twiddle the Prime Time in my hand
The thugs shout, "Don't be scared”
Sulfur tip is ignited
The flame lights the tobacco
A drag, it burns my lungs,
I want to stop
Will the disappointment end.
But I can't let them down
Another drag
The haze of my childhood is
Lost.

I cross Renee Drive and see the house
of failed dreams
of sorrow
of my life coming to an end
clutched fists
Sweat running down my forehead
Pills of pink and baby blue spill across the floor
The stomach lurches with fear
A breath that won't come
Death lurks,
Waiting,
for me to hit the floor.
And sleep, that brightening mistress takes me
An ominous shadow looms above
With a gentle voice and a question
A bleak reply
Almost lost
Then reborn from the ashes of memory
From the ashes of my previous lifestyle.

I stroll, and ancient dieing
Walking to a field of forgotten memories
I remember,
The kiss, the slide, the shadow,
But,
I forgot
that I have been awake this entire time.



My Name
by Jeremy Jordan

What's in a name? What's it mean?
Jeremy: Uplifting.
There's so much more, yet so much less.
What few words describe me best?

Determined, decided, and most of all real.
I'm unafraid to show the truth, yet afraid of what I feel.
The paper says uplifting, what words come with this?
I may be inspirational, but can I uplift?

The biggest concern I face every day
Is will the world remember me, when I've gone away?
It's not the fame I reach for, it's the importance that I need.
So I ask myself one question: How can I uplift me?

I've always been focused, but focused is not me.
I let my mind wander, because I love to dream.
I chase the dream and live the life, never looking back.
It hurts to say through trial and strife I'm defined as being black.

Uplifting is just a word, and I am just a kid
Living his life trying to fix the strife, and forget the things he did.
So what's in a name that means so much?
It can't be seen, can't be touched.

So I ask myself, if anyone cares
Or if they only look because they love to stare?
Insecure is more like me
But you'll never know because I'll never let you see.

A showman at heart, a soldier in my head
A pathological liar, but believe what I've said.
I'm obsessed with the truth, it almost ruins me,
Because I need to see proof before I believe.

There's almost too much, I almost don't know
My name is Jeremy Jordan, Most call me J. Jo
Definitions are seamless, they fall apart fast.
But a name is forever; I intend to make mine last.

Reach for the stars... Touch the sky.
Live the dream, reveal the lies.
So what's in a name? What's in me?
The best word to describe me: Poetry.

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Wings of Gold
by Cami Scovotti

You went way too early,
You died just too soon.
I still don't understand,
Why death had chosen you...

For death lies upon you,
Like a white rose, soft.
But awaken in morn,
coated with ice, sharp.

I'm so sorry cousin,
I left you behind.
Taking you for granted,
I never said goodbye.

You were there in summers,
Always smiling, light.
Never leaving my side,
Fishing in the dark, night.

Crying for you in mourn,
In loss and sadness,
The morn I was first told,
The world short, one soul.

No day shall pass again,
When I don't miss you.
For you always being,
My cousin, my friend.


I hope I find you there,
Having wings of gold.
Sitting upon a cloud,
No longer cold.

And I will sing you a song,
In joy, I have found,
Your smile, here at last,
A memory re-found.

In loving memory: Ryan

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Still Hurts
By Kathryn Sullivan

Months, years
Interchangeable, in Time's long stream
You walk away
farther, farther
Your face no longer in my mind
All that's left is a thought
The memory of your eyes
Your laughter

I can feel the tears start up.
(I hate crying)
Why do I always have to cry?
You would think, with all my tears
¬All the tears I've cried so far
You would think, wouldn't you,
That I'd have none left
Just this, my pain:
A dull ache,
Like an old bruise
That won't go away.

I spent months
Months like decades
Fighting off tears
Because they were wrong
Even childish
And I had a job to do;
I had to be strong.
So I made sure
I tried not to think
At least, not of you
And my loss, because
That hurt too much

Because other girls
They get the aisle
And the arm
The loving support of a dad
not me;
I only had you
And you left.
But I can't write to you,
Can't visit,
Can't even dream
Because you're gone
Really gone
Far beyond anywhere I've seen
And that's it
There's nothing left,
Nothing but ashes
And memory.

So how could this still hurt?

 

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A History of Literature
by Tim Biegel

Writer sits within his mansion
Dogging on his mind, with passion
He detaches several words and
Puts them down upon the page

And the dreaming of the mass of people
Over hanging churches' steeples
Gray green rocks of never ending May

While at ease his mind dispensing
In a rage and never venting
What he really means to say
…
Another day

Look at all divine pretention
Never sorrow never mention
All the fears
The inner fears
That it was meant to quell

Erratically the forests thicken
Wildebeests within the mansion
That is crawling on the ground
Swelling to a mound in the ground
Where his anguish can be found
In a mansion in the ground

"Where. thead lig tah go? me hardies"
To visit dialectal parties
Going down upon the grass
It's really hair of graves

In a silent rage
The writer sets the stage

The hardened men in blackened leather
Riding forth in every weather
Journeying upon the roads in this never ending
land

Men and girls at ease are dining
Fancy parties, velvet lining
A young girl reaches out her hand
A choral band

Drinking scarlet wine and singing
Soft elusive lines
To an older man, who can hardly stand

And bulbous people walk depending
Fullness in to walk unending
Toward a certain satisfaction
Never here to stay

Dropping out the boys agree
That only now will they be free
While freedom waits alone for those who die

Idleness, no way to satisfy
But the writer sees,
And can rectify

They are slaves they are slaves
To themselves, their desires
As is he
As am I

For he knows that he would love to sit
A thousand years upon a mat
His thoughts never flitting
From his mind

... but he can't.
So he goes out upon the mountain tops
Shuffle stepping in the danger spots
And singing in the breeze

Where may he go to find the loving of today
And where may he find it on the morrow
Traveling an endless journey searching

For his heart's desire, lurching
To the nearest burning fire

Now he can expect to be
Absolutely fricking free from thought
... but not
From the hypocrisy of jealousy

The anarchy, of his stream of thought
it's river flowing always to the sea.

And the hero returning from his noble quest
His spurning of the rest

So he says he has the answer
It's the writer's theme.
And he wrote it, in a dream

The hero celebrates the timing
Now they fix the world crying
For their days
Lived in darkness
Dying

Antipathy upon the writer's world lays
For another day,
To be healed another day

The Key
by Alex Brown

I have spent my life looking for a lost lover
Like a lost child looking for her mother,
Like a shepherd looking for his sheep
He was my world, my light, my fountain full of life,
He was my wine, he was my bread, he was the arms that held me tight
His sudden absence locked me in a cage
With bars that consumed my life,
A Jail with only one key
A key I have often tried to turn
ln an attempt to escape the madness
The madness of you dancing in my dreams
Always out of reach for my warm embrace
Today, I turned the key all the way,
Today, I completed my journey all the way,
Most people live in the fear of dieing,
I died in the fear of living
Dusk turned to Twilight
And I found your arms once more

Crying on the Inside
by Nola Freeman

staring at the mirror
smiling at herself
a teenage girl in pigtails
lying to herself.
she sits all alone in her room
with her fake smiles and tears
listening to her headphones
that are screaming in her ears.
maybe one day she'll grow up
the pain in her heart
will mend, maybe one day
she'll forget how she
wanted life to end.

Waiting
by Jordan Ostreim

Yesterday you were here to hold my tears when she left.
You helped your brother through it all.
I called you uncle and that's what you were.
I looked up to you because you were cool, and soon became your shadow.

I wanted to be you...

the fun and freedom.
the "good life."
the best family.

Yesterday you were here to hold my tears when I fell.
You rocked me to sleep and braided my hair.
I called you mommy, and that's what you were.
I leaned on you because you were supposed to always be there.

I wanted to be like you...

the arms to cry in.
the "mother goose."
the "best" mommy.

Today I'm not, but just like you.
I have the "good life" with the best family, even though you're no longer in it.
I have the best mommy, though it's not you.

I waited year after year for your return, but it never happened.
I might be like you, but I'll never be the one to leave
my family in the cold, and make them
wait like I waited for you.

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Never Think of Me
By Dev Ross

Finally, simply psychotic ramblings,
Making sense of reality’s filthy skin.
So we wear gloves to keep us content,
Made of glass, shards of ice kept smooth.
Oh God, I miss you…

Never think of me, for isn’t a crow fear?
Mortality and morality need not be seen,
Through the eyes of the “perfect.”
Leave it to me, to we, to us.
To atrophy all sense of desire
Oh, how we’ll miss you…

Anticipate and envision your passing future
One day, you’ll make us shamed.
Believe in a world without me…
Without we, without us…
Oh, what a cold, silent compassion.
Yes, you’ll be missed.

And when all is done, nothing said,
Lost in black and white, trying to differentiate
Reality from inspiration.
Overanalyzing groans of paranoia
Clawing away at the doors of the unforgiving
You won’t be missed, my dear…
Long gone and easily forgotten, I fear…
Your simple psychotic ramblings
Speak only of me.

Wake Up!
by Elli

A wolf tries to wake his mate
Who lies in the snow so still,
Although he tries his hardest,
He can't renew her will

She sinks into the darkness
Her soul flying heaven bound,
While the wolf is stuck there
Upon the snowy ground,

He whines to her softly
While tugging at her ear,
Still she doesn't move,
His heart is filled with fear.

She lays in the cold
Her body stiff and thin,
The wolf, he still licks her,
To bring her life again.

He knows she is dead,
And isn't coming back,
So he lies down beside her
And follows in her tracks.

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Turkey Scratches
By Alex Adkisson

Mr. Turkey checked the calendar and he said,
“By noon next Thursday I’ll surely be dead.”
So he grabbed a pen and a paper and hid under the bed.
He composed a letter
And this is what it said…

“Dear Farmer, O Farmer,
Please spare my life.
I have three wonderful children and a tremendous wife.
There’s another fine turkey that lives down the street.
Whose feathers are finer and he has much more meat.
He has no family and probably won’t care,
So head to his house and give HIM a scare.”

Mr. Turkey licked the envelope and stuck on a stamp.
He strutted to the mailbox though the weather was damp.
He felt in his feathers that his time was due.
His only hope was a letter or he’d be cooked in a stew.
The letter had two parts and this was part two:

“O Farmer, Dear Farmer,
Please spare my life
I want to see Christmas,
Not be sliced with a knife.
There’s another fine turkey that lives down the block.
He’s lived much longer than me and he’s from the best stock.
He hasn’t got many friends and is bored all the time.
Call on him for Thanksgiving and I’ll loan you the dime.”

By Thanksgiving morning,
I’m sorry to say:
Mr. Turkey will not be celebrating this Christmas Day.
Because of poor spelling, no letter was read.
I regret to inform you:
MR. TURKEY IS DEAD.

 

What a cruel game we play
by Risa Benvenga

What a cruel game we plan
Pushing other girls away
We’re all human
We all feel pain
We just need someone to blame

We don’t spare a passing glance
To the ones we condemn
To hate, to blame, to all kinds of pain
While we’re really the ones hurting

What selfish vile things we are
Beating down others to feel good
Feeding on the innocent
And then creating a void
Leaving everything destroyed in our wake

We don’t care if they grow dead
If their eyes dim
If their smile fades
As long as we’ve had our fill

What false lives we live
Pretending not to care
Tempting some, repulsing others
Never quite satisfied with what we have
Always needing what others can give

We don’t include anyone we don’t know
As thought they don’t exist
As thought they may break
Those carefully crafted walls that hide us

What a cruel game we play
Pushing other girls away
We’re all human
We all feel pain
We just need someone else to blame.

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Mao's Last Dancer
by Samantha Humann

The Sermon of Morality lingers
It is an ongoing song
And the song is dying
No one left to sing for the dead
And their wish,
Embrace your enemy
What blissful ignorance of a peaceful people
For the Chinese are masters of their art
They just killed their last dancer
Silence Tibet

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Mourning in Solace
by Kaitlyn Jackson

Been a long, lonely journey.
The days go on endlessly,
With not a chance to rest my weary soul.

Are the memories I claim
Just stories?
Or have tears made them unpurified?

May the mist that is confined,
Be cleared from my troubled mind.
Now, no longer astray,
I'll finally find my way.

By finding you, I'm freed
From my grief.
I just can't take in
That I'm all alone.
I cry, all wrapped up in myself.

Soft darkness offers
Solace.

Who's there? I hear you...
Do you need me? I need you too....
Don't go, stay here!
Then I'll never fear.

No? Okay.
I'll find a way.
I'll return home someday,
Forsaken.....

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Colored Red and Black
by Lauren Landes

I am not afraid
I embrace my destiny and tomorrow's memories
Colored red and black, and journey

I raised my hand to the full moon
And saw flowing blood
My immutable fate and beating heart

As if light and darkness
Is melting into one
I am guided by the story that begins here

Let us smash the horizon
And I vie together
Though our paths differ
But I am by your side
We will never part
I will protect you with these hands

A fate controls
These special feelings
And passed through
Repeating old mistakes

The reality that somehow
Always overdid things
I carve out this story that feels
The hidden future

I am not afraid
I embrace my destiny and tomorrow's memories
Colored red and black, and journey

Even though these tears dry
I will not return until I start a wind
And grab the red flame and burning feelings

As if in the embrace of time
I move forward, now
I am guided by the story that begins here

I am not afraid
I embrace my destiny, and tomorrow's memories
Colored red and black, and journey

I cannot stop time
But I will not give up
I firmly grip with fang and fist
I embrace my destiny and tomorrow's future
Colored red and black
I will protect you

If You Would Look
By Dionne Lee

It's a simple tale
to tell
one we've heard
so many times
of a girl who wanted
more
who was tired
of the world's disguise

Who she was it
matters not
only she lived, and
she could see;
she could see
the world for what it would be
if the rest of us
would see.

If you'd just look
and see a heart
not a face

If you'd just look
and see a friend
to be made

If you'd just look
and see a soul
in despair

what kind of a world
would you see
then

She saw a world stripped
of sorrow
a world filled
with joy
If we'd but look past
the outside
the veil'd be
destroyed
The proud and the mighty
brought to their knees
we all have secrets
burdens to release
but when we've forgiven,
and all is forgotten
we love,
we're all the same.

If you'd just look
and see a heart
not a face

If you'd just look
and see a friend
to be made

If you'd just look
and see a soul
in despair

what kind of a world
would you see
then

A world filled with sisters
and brothers
and sons
Mothers and fathers
and daughters all come
they strengthen
the weary
relieve the strong
this is what we could
become

But it takes courage
and loyalty
compassion too
love for all men,
whatever they do
one girl can't reshape
a world
but she may start
a chain reaction

If you'd just look
and see a heart
not a face

If you'd just look
and see a friend
to be made

If you'd just look
and see a soul
in despair

what kind of a world
would you see
then

She took the lead
put her vision
to the test
tried out her theories
to see what worked
the best

Her mottoes:
“compassion"
and
"love heals all wounds"
Her mission:
Inspire
and
help others spread their love

At first it went slowly
her circle
was small
she touched just a few
and helped
warm their hearts
but she kept reaching out
then they reached out
too
a chain reaction

when we look
and see a heart
not a face

when we look
and see a friend
to be made

when we look
and see a soul
in despair

what kind of a world
will we make
then

Sometimes it was tough
but love
always is
she never gave up
this was her life,
and her joy.

She knew she was right
all the world needs
is love
to heal up the wounds
and bring us
together
just love.

If you'd just look
and see a heart
not a face

If you'd just look
and see a friend
to be made

If you'd just look
and see a soul
in despair
what kind of a world
would you see
then

She never sought fame
She’d never done anything
special
all she did was dream
what most people
wouldn't dare to
But she'd dreamed
and made it come true

she'd put all others first
her own needs
came last
she didn't need much
a little food was enough
and though she
didn't know
there was no one quite as
loved
as that girl

when we look
and see a heart
not a face

when we look
and see a friend
to be made

when we look
and see a soul
in despair

what kind of a world
will we
make

she didn't change the world
all she changed was herself
then others she loved
changed too
it does not take much
just one little smile
if you try
you may just
change too

when we've looked
and seen a heart
not a face

when we've looked
and seen a friend
to be made

when we've looked
and seen a soul
in despair

what kind of a world have we
made?

Staring
by Alex Lestenkof

I stare at this paper.
I think of the risks
with my heart stabbed with a rapier,
but my lips kissed.
I walk up and ask to follow me.
I still my fluttering heart.
I tell myself to breathe; waiting for the dart.
The words leave my mouth.
The smile plasters my face.
I am seeing it go south
with my soul in disgrace.
Everything stops.
A kiss takes my breath away.
They said this was for sops?
My legs almost give way.
I smile.
I stare at this paper.
I can still wait awhile.
I can still put off the rapier.

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Life
By: Sarah Mattly

Do people need reasons for leaving?
Why would people leave?
Do you think people leave because they don't love you.
Or would it be because they love you so they don't want to hurt you?
Is the life they lead, what is the best for them or what they think is best for you?
People are the most complicated thing on Earth.
You never know what they are going to do next or any thing.
You only know you, but even sometimes you can surprise your self in your own life. One
second you feel like you know everything that is going to happen but when it all boils
down you don't even know the beginning.
Life can show you how to Learn, to Live, to Love, and just being you that's all is
required of life.
If you never experience those things you might think there is something wrong with you
but there's not.
You are just taking your time to find yourself.
So you can get the full benefit of LIFE.
Life can bring you all sorts of emotions, but you just never know what those emotions
can bring to LIFE.

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Virgin hearts are for cupid
by Kaela McEldowney

Lips of crimson
Pursed full
Brimming with intoxication melodies
Ready to spill forth your words
Into my arms
Where unfulfilled dreams
Are finally attained
I shall give you the moon
Without even the satisfaction
Of seeing your smile
With me, you are protected
For even the darkest of thoughts
Inside your head
Will go fleeing with the stroke of a hand
A kiss of the cheek
Speak softly now
The angels are listening
For I spoke too loudly
And cupid speared his blade
Deep into my virgin heart
And now my dear
Now, I am bound to you for eternity
Completely enamored
Succumbed to this devotion
To which I dare not question
And you
You are everything
Every and anything
That one would describe as beautiful
Divine
Perfect
And I choose with caution
The words in which I let enter your ears
For only the sweetest must be heard
And I touch gently upon your skin
For no pain must ever be inflicted upon it
And I love whole-heartedly
For your heart deserves only the purest
And most precious of love
Now rest easy my dear
Tomorrow we shall love again

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Hope
by Savannah Overturf

Guns firing people screaming it almost seems
like hope has faded into the distance of the
sunset but yet a glimmer of light caches your
eye you run and the rest bums into the dark
sea then you see it. It is hope coming back
into your bleak and dark eyes

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Daffodil Smiles
by Kiara Whitney

From where he was.
And they left the scene drowning in scarlet;
Please, can We hold hands once more?

Dancing to the tune of melancholy
When at last unbound
Eternal joy in the unforsaken smiles caused
Heart's corners
To weep...

Covered in yellow sheets of despair
WE can not tug at the ignorant silence once more,
For the material of death's sentence is far too durable

Words can not dispel these quiet nights of
Waterfalls
covering their faces-
Faces hungry for affection
Grow cold in afflictions.

Eager to escape the harrowing Hippos of hunger
Yet forced to sit in the corner of sorrow,
The meek children cry out, only shown to the world
As the River's reflection dispels burdens
Reflecting the light of
Hope
Translucent yet still intact,
Faith
Whispers in my ear
And they are set free of the yellow torture free
At Last!
To roam among
Daffodils

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