Nirvana
Through distorted riffs and punk-inspired lyrics,
Nirvana’s music cut deep into our souls-
from “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” to “Come As You Are.”
Their sound shaped an entire generation’s heartache.
Kurt Cobain’s haunting vocals echo through time,
while Dave Grohl’s drums keep the beat alive.
“Bleach” and “Nevermind,” captured our teenage angst.
While “In Utero” showed us the darker side-
of human expierence.
Nirvana’s impact can’t be denied, their music lives on
in every garage band and in every indie rock scene.
Ocean Boy
The water rippled towards the rocks-
rocks that have sat for ages, waiting.
They waited, with Ocean Boy.
Ocean boy, unknown to people, played his ukulele,
And sat, for a while, waiting.
Waiting for a person to join him.
A girl stumbled upon him, playing a tune.
A tune only the ocean boy can hear.
The ocean boy kept playing, waiting-
To strike- Now.
The girl’s father witnessed this.
The girl, underwater, drowning.
Her father rushed to her but it was too late.
She had joined him, Ocean Boy.
Karma came back to him for what he did.
Habit
The creature- no, a person.
An old friend of mine, Evan.
He wanted to vlog health videos for others,
But it turned into chaos- the tall man came.
The tall man, stalking him, quietly,
It scared Evan, but he thought it was a joke-
It was no joke, this was real.
Another creature started to stalk all of us-
The rake.
It had dog-like features that had longer claws.
Jeff disappeared a while after we found the rake-
Evan changed right before that.
His attitude was never secret and harsh.
I never knew that it would get so much worse.
Evan was no longer Evan but Habit.
He was a rabid animal, hurting everything in sight-
Jeff, damsel, even his own child, was gone due to him.
Evan needs to come back, he has to.
I have to stop him before he goes after me.
The Music Festival
Chapter One
There was a music festival that was happening and River was very hyped due to him wanting to go to the concert. His parents, on the other hand, weren't letting him go to the concert, which upsetted River. He was bummed out due to him saving his money up for the ticket for the concert. His older brother, Josh, heard about his parents not letting River go to the festival. River sat in his room, alone and working on his homework that he had to do. Josh knocks on the door then walks into River’s room, “Hey Riv, you okay? What got you down lil bro?” River looks at Josh and he sighs, “Ma and Dad won’t let me go to the concert. I had an entire plan set up and now, I can't do it.” Josh felt bad for his younger brother and hugged him tightly, “You’re going to be okay Riv, I wish that I can help you but, they don’t want you to be who you want to be.” River looks at him and he smiles slightly, “thanks Josh, you're probably the only person that is able to understand what I am going through.”
Josh nods his head and pats his shoulder, “You don’t have to thank me Riv, I’m just here to help you out. Say, I heard from your friend Sanjay, that you have a crush on a boy. Who’s this boy you are crushing on?” River fully turns red and gets really nervous, “D-don’t tell anyone… please Josh?” Josh smiles and he nods his head, “I promise not to tell anyone about who you like. What stood out about him that stood out to you that made you like him?” River looks at him and he smiles slightly, “Well, the way he makes everyone cheer for him, his smile and his freaking smiles and dimples that he has. His freaking dimples are everything that I like about him.” Josh smirks at him, “So, you like this guy then?” River sighs, “You could say that Josh but, he has a girlfriend…” Josh sighs and pulls out a picture of him and his girlfriend, “you know my girlfriend, I got her out of an abusive relationship from her ex boyfriend. We have been dating since that day.” River looks at him, “I don't know if he is in a bad relationship or not Sarah though… but, everytime I see him, I always feel fuzzy.” Josh smiles at him and he gets up, “That’s called falling in love with him. But hey, don’t dwell on it so much lil bro, you might get a chance to prove that you can date anyone.” River sighs and he lays back on his bed, “I just don't think he is into boys…”
Josh pats his knee, “Well, don’t think much of it for the rest of the night, it’s already almost 11 pm and you have school in the morning tomorrow.” River nods his head and he looks at his phone, “Well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning then?” Josh nods his head, “see you in the morning lil bro.” Josh walks to the door, opens it, and he leaves the room and closes the door behind him. After Josh leaves the room, River grabs his phone and he goes to his crush’s Instagram page. He looks at a few of the pictures and he smiles, that's when he realized something, “Crap…. I’m gay for him..” he looks at the ceiling and he rubs his eyes, “Why am I like this? Why do I feel like this? I’m supposed to be calm, shy and…. Crushing on the hottest boy in school….” He decided to look up some graffiti art designs and he works on a few sketches. That's when he settles on one that stood out to him and he looks at the time and decides to not graffiti a wall. He looks at Alex’s Instagram and he decides to save a few of the pictures to draw him during his free time. He got tired after staring at his phone for a while so he set his phone down and he closed his eyes and went to sleep for the night.
That next morning, River woke up and got ready for school. He goes downstairs to see his parents making breakfast for Josh and him. River’s mother notices him coming down, “Good morning River! We made your favorite, Chocolate Chip pancakes!” River smiles and he takes the plate, “thanks mom, You always know what I like.” River walks to his spot and sits next to Josh. Josh looks at him and he smiles a bit, “How did you sleep lil bro?” River shrugs and takes a bite of his breakfast, “It was good, I couldn't sleep so I drew out a sketch of what my next graffiti would look like.” Josh rolled his eyes and ate his breakfast. River got done eating his breakfast and got up and went to the sink. He cleaned off his plate and he put it in the dishwasher. After he was done putting his plate away, he turned around, only to be met with his brother, “Josh!” Josh looks down at him, due to him being 6’3ft, “Planning on going to the festival?” River looks at him, “Mom said I can’t, but everyone in my class is going to it.” Josh looks at him, in shock, “Wait, everyone in your class is going?! They aren’t even that old enough to go to the concert!” River nods his head, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell everyone in my class!” Josh groans and he rubs his eyes, “They are such a bad influence on you but at least you are not like them.” Josh nods his head, “Well, you should be going to school, River.” River nods his head and heads off to school.
Chapter Two
Earlier that day. Alex was working out in his personal gym, listening to his music when he checked the time, “Crap, I’m about to be late for football practice!” Alex grabbed his football gear and ran to his car and he drove to the football field. He made it just in time and he ran to the field, his friends already there. One of his friends, Clancy, saw him come into the field, “Yo! Alex! You finally showed up! What took you so long to get here?” Alex looks at Clancy, “I hate my feelings, this may sound weird but I know I have a girlfriend but it's funny that I have feelings for someone.” Clancy looks at him in shock, “No way! Who!?” Alex sighs, “It’s River, the quiet guy in class.” Clancy looks around and he brings him to the sidelines, “No way, River, dude, he's freaking quiet and you have a girlfriend. Are you seriously going towards him?” Alex sighs, “I know I have Amy as my girlfriend but, I like him, he's different compared to her. He’s not as annoying as she is and his drawings are amazing.” Clancy looks at him, “dude, you're falling in love with him, hard.”
At school, Alex was walking to his classroom when he saw River walking into the art room. Alex walks into that class with him and he sits behind him. Alex then writes a small note and passes it to River and it reads, “Hi, I’m Alex, you must be River.” River looks at Alex then he passes it back over and it reads, “Yea, I am.” That's when the teacher walked in and everyone in the classroom paid attention to the class. Everyone was working on their projects, including River and Alex. Alex looked over at River’s artwork and was astonished at how good the artwork was. The artwork was a Sunset setting behind a mountain and snow was falling over the mountain. Alex taps River’s shoulder, “Hey, your artwork is so amazing, I wish that I could paint like that.” River looks at him and he nods as a thank you then he goes back to painting his project. Alex looks at his own painting, which was of a sloppy football and he groans at this, “why do i suck at painting?” That's when the teacher walks over to them and looks at their artworks, “Amazing job River! Can’t wait to see the finished product. Alex, you need to let go of your frustration and let the brush guide you.” The teacher then walks to other students, Alex sighs and he leans his chair back, “I hate this painting so much.”
After school, Alex saw River walking from the school and he rushed to him, “River! Wait up!” River looks at him and he sees Alex rushing to him, “Alex? What is it?” Alex ran to him and he slowed down and looked at him. He then hands River something, a ticket to the music concert and festival, “I thought that, you might want to go to the concert… together, if that is okay with you River?” River looks at the ticket and he smiles a bit, “S-sure! I-i'd would love to go!” Alex smiles at him, that's when Alex sees a car pull up and looks at who it was. The person in the car was River’s brother, Josh. Josh looks at River then looks at Alex, “River, who’s he?” River looks at his brother, “Oh, this is Alex. Alex, this is my brother, Josh.” Josh holds out his hand to Alex, “It’s nice to meet you Alex, my lil bro has been watching you for a bit.” River blushes a lot, “Not in a stalker way!” Alex chuckles then he shakes josh’s hand, “Well, it's nice to meet you Josh, You two look very similar in facial structure.” Josh chuckles and he looks at River, “You made a good choice lil bro. Say lil bro, what's that in your hand?”
River looks at him then he looks at his hand, “Oh, it's a ticket to the festival that is happening tonight, Alex asked me if I can go with him together.” Josh nods his head and he texts his parents to see if they can let River go with Alex to the festival, “Well, I just texted Mom about this, hopefully she lets you go with Alex, cause it seems like you two are already close.” River nods his head then he looks at Alex, “Hey Alex, do you need a ride home? My brother can possibly take you to where you live.” Alex smiled at River and nodded his head, “Sure! I'd like to say, "It's better than walking home since my oldest brother took my car home.” River laughs slightly then he gets in the passenger seat, Alex follows and he gets in the seat behind river. Josh starts to drive off to where Alex lives, “So Alex, where do you live?” Alex looks at Josh, “Oh, I live near the grocery store near south dark road.” Josh drives to the house and he parks it. Alex grabs his stuff and gets out of the car, “thanks guys for driving me here. And River, thanks for talking to me on the way here.” River nods his head, “Yup, and, I can't wait for tonight at the Festival, hopefully I can go.” Alex nods his head then he walks inside his house.
Josh drives River home when he gets a text from their mom. The text reads, “Well, that was sweet of Alex to do that, I guess I’ll let River go to the concert with him.” Josh smiles and he looks at River, “Mom is letting you go to the festival with Alex.” River smiles widely and he looks out the window of the car, “I can't wait to go out to the concert with him, i-it doesn’t seem true that I am finally going to the concert.” They park in the driveway and River gets out of the car and he grabs his stuff. He stretches his arms and legs then he walks to the house, but Josh stops him, “what is it josh?” Josh looks at him then he hugs him, “I love you bro, and I support you for being gay.” River smiles and he hugs back, “Thanks big bro, I really appreciate this.” They go inside and River sees his mom smiling at him, he goes to his room and gets ready for the festival when he gets a text from Alex. The text reads, “Hey, it’s Alex, your brother gave me your number so we can text each other, can’t wait to go to the concert with you!” River smiles and he puts on some clothes and he was about to grab his skateboard when his brother stopped him. Josh smiles at him and he holds out his car keys, “ready to go?” River smiles and he follows Josh to the car and they go to the festival.
Chapter Three
At the festival, Alex was already there, waiting for River to arrive. That’s when he sees a car pull up next to his car, he sees River get out of the car and he smiles at him. River smiles and he walks to Alex, “Hey Alex, ready to go to the concert?” Alex smiles at him and he holds out tokens for the game machines at the festival. River’s eyes widen and he smiles widely, “No way! You got tokens for the games that they have here!” Alex smiles and leads him to the first game that has plush animals. River sees the plush animals and his eyes widen in joy, “Alex! Look at the cat plush!!” Alex sees how hyper River was and he gives him a few tokens, “Here, wanna try to win it?” River smiles and he nods his head, “Yea, hopefully!” River tried out the game but he only got the small prize, “awww….. I got the small prize..” Alex sees this and he tries the game and he gets the biggest prize. The game person saw this and he grabbed the big cat plush, “Here you go sir, this’ll help your guy over there.” Alex smiles and he nods his head, “Thank you sir. River! Look what I won for you!” River sees the plush and he immediately hugs Alex, “Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!”
Alex smiles then he hears that the concert is starting, “Come on Riv, the concert is starting!” River grabs Alex’s hand and he follows him to the concert. The band was playing their favorite songs and both River and Alex were singing all of the words in all of the songs. A few people looked at them funny but some joined in with them. After the concert, River and Alex went to the beach and they sat a towel down and they sat on it. Alex gives River a bracelet that had River’s name on it and River looks at it. He looked at it shocked and he blushed at this, “Alex… You are doing too much for me, I-I don’t think I have enough to repay you…” Alex shakes his head and he puts it on River’s wrist, “You don’t have to repay me Riv, I just want you to be happy here with me.” River looks at him and leans onto him, embarrassed. Alex looks at him, “Want me to get you some cotton candy?” River looks at him and he nods his head, “Sure, get me the DragonFruit flavour please.” Alex nodded his head and went to get the cotton candy for River.
Alex came back with the cotton candy in his hand and handed it over to River. River smiles and he takes a bite of the cotton candy, “Wow! This is really good! Thank you so much Alex!” Alex smiled and he sat back down next to River.
“Hey Alex, this has been a great night, I never thought that I was going to have such an amazing time with you.” Alex smiles and holds his hand and lays down on the towel. River smiles and he joins Alex on the blanket, “Hey Alex, are you dating anyone?” Alex looks at him and he shakes his head, “I broke up with my girlfriend a few weeks ago, so, I’m single.” River’s eyes widen and he looks at him, “So, does that mean that I can date you Alex?” Alex chuckles a bit and he nods his head, “Yea, that means you can be my boyfriend River.” River smiles and he kisses him suddenly, which shocked Alex. Alex looks at him shocked, “Y-you kissed me…. I-I can’t believe it….” River looks at him, shyly, “I-I’m sorry, I-I didn’t mean to….. I-I just thought that… you wanted to kiss me…. And t-that’s why I kissed you.” Alex looked at him then he kissed him. This surprised River then he kisses back. They then pull away and Alex looks at him, “I think I found the person I’ve been looking for to date, you River.” River smiles and he nodded his head, “Yeah, same here. I think that we are meant to be together.” They both sat at the beach and they looked at the night together.
Chili and Cornbread
I remember eating chili on top of cornbread as a kid. It was really good and the cornbread was able to absorb some of the chili sauce that it had. The cornbread gave the chili an amazing flavor and it gave the chili a really good texture. I had this for most of my life until recently, due to me not liking the texture anymore. My parents used to give me and my sisters this whenever we had chili for dinner to make us eat the cornbread together rather than separate from the chili. Which was the reason why the cornbread was under the chili. It was a smart move by my parents on doing this because I was able to eat that for almost 17 years of my life. What made me notice this about the chili and the cornbread together was that the texture of the cornbread was different. My parents had switched the brand of cornbread that they use and the new cornbread tasted weird and funky. It took me a while until I started to not eat cornbread. I think what didn’t settle in my stomach was the new cornbread that they used, which my sisters didn’t like at all. That may be the complete reason I dont eat chili and cornbread together anymore.
“I left that snake at the island hotel room”, by Kathy Ray. Rust and Moth. Summer 2025.
The poem talks about how a person leaves a snake in a hotel room on an island, like a cage in a zoo. Which means that they are leaving their worries behind to have more freedom from their troubles. One of the quotes that stood out to me was “So I could visit the zoo, where the animals are caged.” It represents how people can sometimes be caged but if they trap their worries and concerns away to be more free and able to relax from their worries. This poem shows the person who is stressed out and they lock it in a hotel room (or cage) so they can be free and able to experience everything after they lock up their concerns.