Expanded Poems- Eighth and Ninth Rows
The Day Job
Aaron Perez
Freedom exists
In the mind
The wondrous thoughts
One may conceive
In the slow passage of time.
To the right,
Is a wall of glass
Looking over a meadow,
Where birds chirp sweetly
Where the sun rises
And though the body sits
The mind does not.
It sees
The hands move
Over sheets of white,
Covered in glyphs
And inky text,
Stories
That one could only wonder
Of their meaning.
Each one
Remade
Reprinted
And saved for tomorrow
The old, destroyed
The new, preserved
A resurrection.
And in the ease
Of such a task
The mind leaps
From the
Rebirth of these ancient words
To the many thoughts
That lie beyond
For the hands move
As if on their own
From copy to print
Then shred and store
Allowing the eyes watch
The meadows
Or create meadows of their own
In the greatness of the mind
And in such freedom
There could be
No better
In such simplicity
There could be
No better.
The Ways I have Called the Women I have Loved a Bitch
James Larkin
Behind her back
Behind her back
To my friends who also call a woman they love the same thing
Or behind her back with a smile on my face
Like I got some sort of right to do so
Behind her back while the word
Effortlessly falls off my tongue
I’ve done it in a text
In response to a simple statement
Maybe I took it as a threat
And I only knew how to follow anger
With hurting someone
I’ve done it to her face
In front of everybody
There was this one time where I did it while slamming the table with my fist
Because I thought it would shut her up or something
And looking back
I know I had a young mind that was confused and uneducated
That thought the only way to carry me through high school
Was through strength
Strength in my voice
Or my actions
And I thought strength looked like
Grit teeth
Knuckles punching a lunch table
And yelling at a woman
A scene where the only person doing anything wrong is me
I know I had no good reason to do that
But back then
That was enough of a reason for me
And when I did it
It got everybody to shut up
It got all eyes on a girl just touching my arm
The only person I can blame is myself
Maybe it was because I did not know how to hold my anger properly
Or maybe
Anger was the only thing I allowed myself to hold
HOW WILL I SURVIVE THIS
Tiffany Praimnath
Darling girl
Stupid child,
Have you learned nothing from the woman before you?
The lady phoenixes
That have died,
Been burned at stakes,
Have resurrected
After the males took their breathe away,
WE LET THEM TRY TO KILL US!
WE
ALMOST
LET
THEM
HAVE
ALL
OF
US!
CACKLE IN THE FACE OF THEIR DESPAIR, CRY AND CRY AGAIN,
LET IT SHATTER YOU,
FEEL EVERY OUNCE OF PARALYZING DREAD
BECAUSE YOU DID NOT
GET HERE
ALONE.
KNOW THIS —
YOU WILL HAVE TO EITHER REMAIN BROKEN,
BECAUSE NO ONE CAN FIX YOU, EXCEPT THE REFLECTION YOU SEE IN EACH
LOOKING GLASS,
OR BE WILLING TO BLEED PICKING UP YOUR OWN SHARDS OF OBLITERATED GLASS,
UNTIL YOU FEEL WHOLE AGAIN.
AND IF YOU NEVER FEEL WHOLE,
YOU
AREN’T
DONE
HEALING
MY
SWEET.
IF YOU MUST EMOTIONALLY DIE,
IT IS OKAY,
BUT ALWAYS CHOOSE TO PHYSICALLY LIVE
ALWAYS CHOOSE TO BREATHE
NEVER LET THEM MAKE YOU FEEL
LIKE YOU DONT WANT TO ANYMORE
BECAUSE THEY TOOK YOUR BREATH AWAY!
Vernazza
Sydney Reyes
what is motion?
it is the color of coca cola bottle glass, smelling like freedom
the color of myth, smooth as thunderous marble streaked with
lightning
old as painted cliffs,
broad brush strokes running into sea foam
it is emotion
it is a bottle of white wine and dancing in a grotto
alone save for yourself, a good friend, and the sea herself
it is a castle, it is a cat, it is two black and white dogs chasing
the tide
it is kind strangers, it is acoustics
it is prayer in the form of love
of gratitude
of shades of real beauty, of some aphrodite’s blush echoed
across buildings with green shutters, half open
it is playing word games and eating gelato
it is sunset, it is saltwater squelching your shoes
it is train lights out a window, it is a view of a world only for
movies
but not just for movies, for art, for music
it is for me and for you, it exists and is as real as a day
as the same twenty four hours you may spend sleeping with your eyes
open
it is walking, one foot after the other, after the other, after the
other
until eventually you are at the edge of somewhere
vernazza
even until the water’s fingers reach for your ankles and grab up at
the hems of your clothes
you are moving, moving, moving
to where the world may find you
for you are a world unto yourself,
all wonder like kaleidoscopes, lit up by moments
like this.
Waves Caress the Sand
Naomi Jenkins
The beach is always considered a place of peace,
Or escape. Escape from the perils of reality. Paradise.
Watching the waves caress the sand as her freckles danced along
her rose-colored cheeks - slightly sunburnt from all the heat.
Grains of sand tickled the in-betweens of her toes as she looked
Beyond the horizon, full of intrigue. Wondering about the unknowns, the depths of the ocean that she
would never know.
The taste of cheap alcohol trickling down her lips as she downed another shot. Looking for an escape
while looking at the waves.
People fall in love with the idea of the sea, the idea of an escape, the idea of the unexplained.
Exotic we call it. Something about its mysterious nature entices us.
She sticks her freshly painted white toes into the warm waters.
The warm waters gentling stroking her toes, making her want to stay an eternity.
Forever in this place of paradise, her own land of milk and honey.
Beyond depths unknown, where the warmth no longer exists. She is cold and unknown.
Untouched by the sun, untouched by the white toes of another.
She lies in all white, much like a virgin on her wedding night, but with no groom.
No one dares to go that deep for it is too frigid.
Watching the waves caress the sand as her freckles dance across her rose-colored cheeks, she watched
other girls strut on the beach.
Making the boardwalk their runway, batting their eyes and smiling so wide and effortlessly
in their teeny bikinis and skin kissed by the Sun.
a kiss so sweet, sweeter than all the ones she had ever had.
Hot tears scorched her cheeks, as she waded in further.
In a way, she was just like the sea.
Her eyes glimmered like a thousand stars and moons, a lovely view.
A view that captivates you at first glance.
Her gold-colored locks and her perfectly pigmented rose-colored cheeks
Made the boys ooh and ahh.
Oohs and ahhs at first glance, much like the captivating views of the sea.
He caressed her skin as the sand caressed the waves, and her freckles danced.
Whispering sweet nothings, her newfound escape. Paradise.
Days together, full of sun and Sex on the Beach, her favorite drink.
Walking on the sandy shore, he looked at her with eyes of longing and lust.
He loved the view.
Barefoot in the foamy wash of the shore,
Her eyes sparkling like the waves of the ocean, the purest
of blue hues.
Her luscious locks, golden sands, and her eyes cerulean waters.
What a view.
Her warmth and beauty, so intoxicating. The way her waves crashed into him, his very own paradise.
But once they wade further in.
He discovers the beach is not always warm and sometimes her waves crashing into you does not feel
good. Sometimes she’s cold and her waves feel like a thousand beatings, pounded by her ferociousness.
What happens when a view is no longer just a view?
Three men washed into the sea by ferocious waves, swallowed into her depths.
Yet the raven glances from overhead at the sight of the gloom and terror, watching with curiosity.
He loved the view.
Unpredictable, unhinged, and dangerous.
The depths of the unknown, but oh so beautiful and intriguing.
As he wades further in, the waters are cold and rough,
No longer warm and gentle.
The sun does not touch these depths of her soul and the unknown.
While he tries to wade further in, he can’t.
It is much too cold for any soul to survive there.
He’s much more cautious than the three men, with fear of being swallowed alive and left for dead.
So, he leaves her high tide and heads to the shallow end,
Fearful of her deep depths that no longer provide warmth and comfort.
He fears what it’s like to be eaten alive, but again she is left alone, their footprints
Left on her shoreline.
She tries to wash it away.
Letting her shorelines get drenched in the intoxicating taste of liquor and
The taste of a new kiss.
The sun kisses her skin as her freckles dance across her rose-colored cheeks as the waves caress the sand.
What a beautiful view.
Everyone loves her from afar. They love the view,
They love the idea of something so beautiful and warm,
Intrigued and curious by the depths of the unknown,
But once they wade deeper in,
The view isn’t that pretty, the waves aren’t so gentle, and her waters
Aren’t so warm.
She is more than a view, but just like a beach
Only a few call her home.
I wish I knew that high school was nothing like the movies.
I wish I knew there was no Troy and no Gabriella,
but couples so desperate to make that their lived reality.
I wish I knew that eating school lunches was always the best choice.
I wish I knew why it was so hard to get to school by 7:30.
I wish I knew who would still be my friend.
I wish I knew who would betray me.
I wish I knew why my skirt would always rise up.
I wish I knew why my pants were always too tight for the principal's standard.
I wish I knew why my body was always treated like a pariah,
something that should be hidden.
I wish I knew why boys would rate which girls had the fattest asses.
I wish I knew why boys would subject girls to humiliation,
rating each one, right in front of them.
I wish I knew why boys would start rumors about you if you
did not give them what they wanted.
I wish I knew why I was sexualized before I could even have
my first sexual experience.
I wish I knew why people created an expose page with a poll
asking "who's the biggest thot" in the grade.
I wish I knew why my name was dragged in that when
I was a virgin who had still not had her first kiss.
I wish I knew why my body always subjected me to being objectified.
I wish I knew why these curves would bring me so much pain.
I wish I knew how to stand up against creepy men.
I wish boys knew to stop.
I wish the world didn't say "boys will boys" when they hurt you.
I wish I wasn't taught to laugh off comments
or creepy, sexual remarks.
I wish I wasn't taught to cover up or bad things would happen to me.
I wished. I wish I knew the world could be so cruel.