Welcoming Night (Haiku)
by Ellie Chun
Twinkling in the dark
The many shapes of the moon
The night welcomes me
Different and New (Sestina)
By Clyde Dixon
When I was a child I played in my backyard all the time,
It's funny how nowadays everything feels like a memory.
There is a longing in my heart to change the past.
I'd do anything not to watch myself grow
into something so new,
into someone so different.
When the weather gets colder I always feel different.
It's hard to imagine that there was a time
when these feelings were new.
When only good things would flood my memory.
Now it all seems to grow
too large and this constant ebb and flow is nothing of the past.
Sometimes I get the feeling I may never move past
these things, I'm in denial of how different
it is to wither than it is to grow.
With wounds only healed by time,
How long until I am just a memory?
This sour taste is nothing new.
I miss the life full of "brand new"
but all of that has long since past.
What will it take to stop the constant memory
of how everything became so different?
how much time
Does it take to let go and finally start to grow?
Its tiring watching people "grow"
and change into something they call new
when it's a lie, every time.
Its tiring watching people past
pretend to be different
then they appear in my memory.
Painfully, my memory
will fog, and the throbbing will grow.
Things could be different
if I found something new
to dwell on, for once not the past,
I do this all the time.
Any memory could alter over time.
And sometimes it’s still hard to grow and let go, to move past.
But sometimes we need what is different and new.
New Season (Haiku)
By Ellie Chun
Leaves fall silently
Cool wind blows them all away
The fall has come back
Turtle Doves (Sestina)
By Sofie Antoinette Gaevaya
It upsets me that my best years are in the past
But I can still hear the singing of turtle doves in the hot summer
I remember that comforting feeling of warm sunlight
Tired and bruised bare feet from running and jumping on the ticklish green grass
Fresh fruit in the garden after helping my mother plant flowers
Then rushing home in the dark after hanging out with friends
Heading home for lunch after swimming in the lake or playing in the woods with my friends
I was the happiest in the past
No longer do my mother and I plant tomatoes or flowers
It used to be so fun during the summer
Now I see everything differently and bland, including the grass
I need nothing more than the sunlight
Growing up is like a cold day with no sunlight
We were nothing but best friends
Staring at the clouds, we laid on soft grass
Everything was better in the past
I count life to be in its prime when the seasons change to summer
Everyone dies someday, but I feel my short life slipping by like a flower’s
I wish to see the bees and smell the sweet honey flowers
On the blazing sand and blanket of sunlight
I begin to remember my childhood when approaches the summer
There were days when I was desperate for people my age, but I now prefer my parents
than my friends
It’s hard to accept that the good days are now in the past
Everything has changed and even my desire to lay in the grass
What depresses me most is that most kids stay inside instead of playing outside and
walking on grass
Everyone I knew left and my happiness falls like the petals of a dying flower
I used to be innocent and smile so much in the past
I’ve never had such lack of sunlight
Always too tired after school to hang out with friends
The year just started, but I already pray for summer
The only time I feel alive is during the warm summer
I don’t care if there are ants or dirt in the grass
Though my old friends left me, I can always count on my true best friend
Life is like the cycle of a flower
There won’t always be sunshine
But I will always hear the singing of turtle doves from the past
Fading Embers, Silent Desires
By Aaron Kim
Love’s vibrant flame flickered, then dimmed,
Transforming fervor to frost in an instant.
Once known, now estranged, our paths diverged,
Leaving echoes of a bond now distant.
A bitter taste lingers, poisoning my thoughts,
As I reflect on the harm I inadvertently wrought.
They, an innocent soul, bore no ill deed,
Yet I tainted their world with my unheeded avarice.
Yearning to return, to mend what’s undone,
Yet for their sake, I must let go, let them pass.
Silent observer, a hopeful spectator,
I’ll cherish her joy from a distance, a dedicated curator.
Her well-being, a sacred prayer on my lips,
For she deserves a life adorned with bliss.
In shadows, I’ll reside, an invisible presence,
Guarding her happiness with utmost reverence.
m4phoa4nt
By Aaron Kim
In shadows cast by my memory’s embrace,
There lingers a girl, a phantom, her trace.
She wandered into my fragile sphere,
A transient presence, fickle and unclear, the origin of my problems.
I yearned for strength to push her away,
Yet vulnerability consumed the essence of me.
She danced away, leaving an empty space,
A void of love, an ache I can’t seem to erase, utterly terrified.
Seemingly forever lost, she ceased talking to me,
Leaving me stranded, longing for what we once knew.
With each passing day, her absence, I bear,
Her absence I carry, a burden I want to throw away like ashes.
Thoughts of her haunt, lingering and deep,
Like echoes in the night, they forever creep.
Though time has passed, her grip won’t wane,
Her memory etched, although now, we are no more than strangers.
I’m left with fragments, echoes of the past,
A bittersweet symphony of poison that forever lasts.
Her presence, her absence, a paradox to sway,
Forever I’ll remember, even to this day, this feeling of a hurricane.
Melodies of Identity
By Aaron Kim
When I hear a melody
That moves my soul
I think of how music
Helps make me whole
It’s more than just sound
It's a part of me
A way to express
My identity
From rock to jazz
And everything between
Each genre tells
A different scene
I hear the beat
And feel it in my heart
It helps me connect
To who I really am
From classical to rap
And all in between
My musical taste
Shows who I am, you see
When I hear a song
That makes me smile
I know that music
Is my unique style
It’s more than just notes
Or catchy rhymes
It’s a part of me
Until the end of time
So when you hear music
Playing in the air
Think about how it
Helps us to share
Our unique identities
With those around
And how music
Can truly astound.
Brokenhearted (Haiku)
By Ellie Chun
She waits all alone
She clutches her broken heart
Waiting for the one