I Pray
Sydney Downs
Class of ‘26
I pray for the creature on the side of the road. Who was not put to rest in nature's sweet embrace of the earth, becoming where the creature was laid. But yet now knows the eternal embrace of a kind death. Welcome and warm. I pray that the headlights of that old Honda Civic, resemble the lights of the divine. No worries in that sweet creature's soul, besides the berries and leaves to nourish itself. I pray for the winds of heaven to call a soft song, to guide that creature to where it belongs. To show the creature where it is now loved. In the embrace, of its sweet and final- resting place.
The Reality
Timothy Buckles
Class of ‘26
Imitating “The Truth”
Ross Gay (1974 - )
Since they were 60, since they were
my grandparents, since they
grew up differently, since they listened to
different people, since their parents
Taught them different things and gave them
different understandings, since their Beliefs
were different, since they haven’t changed,
Since both of them struggled to understand,
since they loved a different me,
I didn’t open my mouth when they cheered
as he was elected and when they cheered
As he spoke about eradicating me
And making sure I would never get what I needed
Tell me they didn’t cheer
Why did they have to cheer.
Ode to Falling
Claire Clark
Class of ‘26
Sometimes the older we get we forget what it means to fall
What it feel likes to skin your knee
To feel the cold stream of tears running down your checks
To hear the screams for your mom
To see the red blood dripping down your leg
To feel the burn of rubbing alcohol on the wound
To feel the band-aid being secured
And to get back up again, brush the dust off, and keep on playing
I used to not be a stranger to the feeling
It was my best friend I feel it about once a month
Whether I was playing outside for recess or goofing around with my friends in the backyard
But I don't really do that anymore
Now I spend my time trying to get all of my homework done
While simultaneously playing sports and trying to somehow get some sleep
And in some ways I feel like I am falling
But I just haven’t hit the ground yet
And I am just waiting, waiting for the moment of impact
To feel blood drip from my knee again
To feel the tears rush from my eyes
To yell as loud as I can for my mom
To feel the burn of rubbing alcohol on my wound
And finally for the band-aid to be secured
So that I can get up again, brush the dust off, and keep on playing
Face a Beast
Bennett Harper
Class of ‘26
I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts.
Kids dares you to walk into their room
Kids dares you to help with wild eyes that
dart and a hand that claws into carpet.
Furious red sits under their eyes, rubbed raw.
A mother is standing right outside,
the door is temptingly close, but the
loudness of it all
make the thin fingers hesitate.
Offer that child something; that child
dares, taunts.
Each second, as a mother might, she tells herself
she is that much closer to opening the door.
It is a mothers job to tame a beast.
it is a beast’s job to dare anyone to offer a solution
it is a beast’s job to dare;
It is a beast's job to beg.
Spelling
Marjorie Stark
Class of ‘26
I often get points off for spelling errors
I don’t remember the last time I got full credit
My work may seem un polished
Or un revised but I like to think
I misspell on purpose
When I write
The stories in my head are ripping off the
Hinges of the door to my head
As they break out of my mind
They come scrambling onto the paper
Sporadic, scattered, their limbs flaying
They come messy and fast
And I am right their with them
My head spins and floats and flies but
my hands cannot keep up
As I write I am not in this world
But rather with my ideas
So of course my spelling shows
Mistakes and errors
And I guess I could try to polish it up
But I think I would rather
Spend time in my mind
Unknown Flower
Ean Landfare
Class of ‘26
Old Men Will Dream Dreams
Harper Green
Class of ‘29
Wonders
Zariah Jean
Class of ‘27
