Student Work

The girl is in the car. She’s on the way home from school. Her phone is in her pocket. She looks out the window And wonders: Is he thinking of her? The boy is talking. He’s laughing with his friends. His phone is in his pocket. He stares into space And wonders: Is she thinking of him? And throughout the day, Four different thoughts over the time change. is she still asleep? is he already awake? is she still awake? is he already asleep? Their thoughts Entwined Holding on to on

I was falling.  Drifting as the air carried me down.  I remember being on the tree, surrounded by other tulip leaves. It was warm then. My stem had been steady against the tree, a sturdy connection between all tulip leaves. Slowly, it became weaker,  withering and severing over time.  And now I was falling.  There was nothing special about it either. Hundreds of others fell with me. I wasn’t the first. I wasn’t the last. And when I finally hit the ground, it wasn’t what I exp

(not the smothering heat one would expect from summer days) On sunny days I think about you. I wonder if you’ve thought of me just as much as I think of you even now – it’s an unlikely possibility. The moments where I think about all the memories we’ve shared, I smile. Not the one people take hours to practice, not the one that makes me look good – no. It’s that cheesy smile I’ve preserved only for you. On sunny evenings I wish you’d talk to me like before. Where my presence

It is July 5th in Halsey Hall Little blue ballerinas flit around the ancient building Far older than we can imagine Energy pulses in every nook of its sturdy wooden skeleton Our soft hands turn white as we grip the polished wood Because we still haven’t learned control A new piano plays an old song Still spry, it swirls around us  As if caught in a slipstream And when we push open the windows Because Halsey doesn't have air-conditioning The music spills onto the street and da

We shared a love, both spicy and sincere The juicy nuggets like a gentle kiss With every bite, your warmth would reappear No truer touch — I never dreamed of this But Sundays, God commands you not to stay I don’t believe, yet still I have to fast Your warmth is blocked, our closeness gone astray Starved by the Sabbath, left to fade at last Your comfort fills my stomach and my heart A warmth I know I will truly cherish But faith has built a wall to keep us ‘part And in its sha

The world runs on sevens.  Susan learned this in the deep Texas country of her childhood. She was standing in the muggy heat, watching her Father raise his glinting blade up high before bringing it down with a thud onto the rooster's neck. It took seven minutes for Father to walk outside, go into the rooster’s pen, carry it by the neck to the chopping block, kill it, skin it, bring it back inside, and give it to Mother with a smile.  Seven people. Susan dated in college, but

I wanted to be yours, but my emotions were getting the best of me I realized everything I said was because I was emotionally attached to you I wanted to be yours, but it can’t go back like it was before —  I can’t wait here forever expecting you to open your eyes and see what’s in front of you I wanted to be yours, wear your last name — but the more I reached for it, the more it ran from me I wanted to feel love, but falling in love turned into sadness and anger to the point

In the happy green meadow Where sunlight falls in rays I think it's so pretty Yet I think only of your face The field turns solemn Just like my heart My head is angry Like it's tearing me apart  Why do I love you so When I know it doesn't work I know It's incompatible And when it is, it hurts, And when I get happy,  And I try to grow, I see that face in every place And then… it isn't so I wish I could kiss you But you’re so far And why oh why Do I leave my love door ajar For

I was falling.  Drifting as the air carried me down.  I remember being on the tree, surrounded by other tulip leaves. It was warm then. My stem had been steady against the tree, a sturdy connection between all tulip leaves. Slowly, it became weaker,  withering and severing over time.  And now I was falling.  There was nothing special about it either. Hundreds of others fell with me. I wasn’t the first. I wasn’t the last. And when I finally hit the ground, it wasn’t what I exp

The world runs on sevens.  Susan learned this in the deep Texas country of her childhood. She was standing in the muggy heat, watching her Father raise his glinting blade up high before bringing it down with a thud onto the rooster's neck. It took seven minutes for Father to walk outside, go into the rooster’s pen, carry it by the neck to the chopping block, kill it, skin it, bring it back inside, and give it to Mother with a smile.  Seven people. Susan dated in college, but

A blue boat rests on my dock It arrives once a year It brings no one, and it takes no one It holds no maps, no navigation, no sense of direction Every year, it leaves The next year, it comes backIt stops on my dock It leaves from my dock No one sees it but me Even then, I don’t hear it leave I wake up, and it’s gone A fleeting memory Was it ever really there? Or was it a fragment of my mind, Something I conjured from broken pieces of my life? Yet, I think again– If madness ha

My grandfather died and I did not cry. It was not because I didn’t love him. It was not because he made me mad. It was not because I held something against him. It was not because I was happy. My grandfather died and I did not cry. It was because our visits were synced with the blue moon. It was because I forgot to pick up the phone when he called. It was because I was too busy to call back. It was because I thought he would pay for my college tuition. It was because he woul

A man just walked past me and left behind the stench of blue raspberry vape smoke, attached to his shirt like the microbiome it is. As it traveled through my nose, I almost teleported back to Baba Den’s house, where the same exact flavor could be smelt dancing through the stagnant air. It reminded me of the memory foam mattress at the end of the hallway in Adrian’s room that I sunk into, maybe trying to escape somewhere that didn’t always feel like home. It reminded me of the

In dim-lit rooms where paper moons dissolve on tongues of fire, A painted world begins to bend around borrowed desires. Crystal comets kiss the world and flood the chest with light, But dawn collects their glitter remains, abandoned by the night. Green ghosts curl slow in amber air, soft sermons in the haze, Promising a peace in water that only ever strays. My mirror learns a thousand angelic masks, a soul was never meant, While outside waits a hollow world. glass walls and a