# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
And the noose wouldn’t fit around her neck

# data[].attributes.body
I am seven years old. Going into first grade. Just an innocent little girl who doesn’t know much about the world around me. At 7 years old you don’t think things can get any worse than not having recess due to crappy weather. But they can. I learned a new word. The “C” word. The word I will never forget and will be haunted by for the rest of my life. The thing that will take away one of the most important people to me. This year I learned about cancer.

I am eight years old.  A few months into second grade getting picked up early from school. Too young to think anything bad was going on. Slowly driving down my road. Cars parked up and down the street. Running into the house ready to go play barbies and jam out to Kids Bop. But instead I’m called into the living room. I look around and see about a dozen friends in family gathered around us. Just becoming a little confused about everything and the next few words would ruin my life. He died. He was gone. This year I experienced grief for the first time.

I am eleven years old. At my grandparents house for Easter. The smell of the yummy food is coming from the kitchen. Full stomachs ready to go get our eggs full of the rich and creamy chocolate candy. Running around the yard to see who would finish first. Organizing the candy from sweet and chocolate. All of it gone before the night ends. Hugs and goodbyes to everyone. Then it was silent. Sitting in the living room. The place where we always found out the bad news. Then I heard the word again. The ¨C” word. It was back. This year I learned that I need to spend as much time with my loved ones as I can before they are gone.

I am twelve years old. Dressed in black. Seeing all of my family and friends with a sad look on their faces. Tears and laughs as we go on about the memories. Sitting and listening to all of the amazing things she did. Hearing the songs that I will always remember as her funeral songs. Keeping  my emotions inside and staying strong because that’s what she would have done. I have to learn new things. How to cope with another huge loss in my family. How to deal with a new lifestyle. Everything was going to be different. This year I learned that life isn’t always fair

I am fifteen years old. Starting high school. Learning new things about life. Meeting new people. Losing your best friend because of a breakup. Fixing old relationships. Saying no to things. Having to keep up with all the school work. But you’ve been through so much so it’s easy right? But really it isn’t. Drama with friends and family is going to be hard but the reals ones stay and will always be there. Four years and on to bigger things. Just have to keep pushing through the obstacles. I have to take things in before they all fly by. Gotta work hard and be myself and I can do anything I can dream of.

# data[].attributes.body
Six years old walking the imaginary plank which is actually a sea wall. Toy gun in hand thinking was ready to fight the world. Then I slipped, My head in the water feeling what it was like to drown

Trying to scream but instead water fills your mouth and you choke over your muted words.

All you can do is wait to be saved

Fourteen years old, Books in my hand walking into the eighth grade its already a bad year. My bother is at home in the dark sleeping, healing, puking, and in pain. Anxiety filled my head worries situations where everything could go wrong. I continue to go through my classes half listening to the teachers drone on about the rules. After every class I wash my hands waiting for the screaming worries of anxiety to go away.

I’m 14 walking around the high school. Im the small short kid always tired wearing a camo hat everywhere I go. My family has been through a lot but right now were stuck in another battle. My mothers at the front line and where all behind her. I'm waiting to grow and for the the road of bad luck to end.

# data[].attributes.body
I once had an obsession,

Although it was clear that we weren’t meant to be,

I kept coming back without a confession,

Because my vision was different than her’s,

I was caught up in the confusion,

Was everything an illusion,

Is it a competition that I’m losin’,

Do you find my failures amusin’,

For the sorrows I’ll be boozin’,

False statements that she’ll accuse,

But I can only take the abuse,

For my every attempt she’ll have an excuse,

And somehow I’m still amused,

Although she left my texts on “seen”,

The presence of her gives me dopamine,

I can be addicted to her like codeine,

But she has a side that was rather obscene,

She’s easy to inflame like benzene,

She gets my mind twisted,

Gets my vision misted,

I’m probably someone she blacklisted,

She’s easily pissed,

And I want to persist,

Be someone on her whitelist,

But I can only resist,

I understand she has a different perspective,

A different path and a different objective,

But I want to show affection,

She’s a perfect imperfection,

The decision is her’s,

And I have no objection.

# data[].attributes.body
We are the ones you don’t notice

Background characters to the play of life

You overlook us when looking right at us

The unmentioned ones in every stereotypical movie or book

When I was younger I craved attention

I wanted to be noticed

I needed to be noticed

Now I shake at the thought of being mentioned

I know that people can’t understand

What’s happening in my mind

The three seconds I’m glanced at

The milliseconds I know they're looking at me

Why can’t I have been a chameleon

With skin that blends in

Us invisibles wouldn’t have to try

We would always go unnoticed

If I didn’t need everyone to like me

Everyone to think I’m fine, or fantastic

I wouldn’t be invisible

No

My anxiety would dissipate

My makeshift cloak of invisibility gone

I could be myself

Share my emotions

When I said I was ok

I’d truly be happy

For now I’m invisible,

Just average

I wish I had extraordinary talents

That everything I did or created wasn't just

Ok,

Average,

Normal

I don’t want to blend in

But my fear overtakes me

My mind’s surrounded by wolves

just waiting to attack

Will I try to escape?

No

Why would I escape the comfortable?

The wolves rip me to shreds again,

I respawn again

My brother asked me

Why do you always go to your room?

My room is a safe haven

The wolves can’t reach me here

People can’t judge me here

I am safe here

So I’ll stay Invisible

Just wishing I could disappear

# data[].attributes.body
Life is funny

You grow up with neighborhood friends

You jump out of bed to go play with them

Never being able to get bored of each other

One of you moves away and then you lose contact

Missing your best friend but don’t even know how to start a conversation

Eventually the days spent with the ones you love are just a memory

Life is funny

Waking up before the sun to get an education

Stressing about how you have that one A-

Next year you won’t even remember what you learned

Life is funny

You go to college

Get a job

Have kids

They do everything you once did

Eventually they move out

You’re alone again

Life is funny

You grow old

Watching life pass you by

Eventually you’re gone

Forgotten; just a memory

Life is funny

People go their whole lives living a lie

They say don’t judge

In reality we all do

Life is funny

Life repeats itself until we all pass away

All living with more hardships than the good

Life can be really funny

# data[].attributes.body
Elijah Cosby

I sit upon the top of my tiny tots toy car. Legs dangling, arms thrashing, I drum. Ink streams down my arms and stains the car roof, coming from the markers in which I clutch tightly in my hands. The markers in which I am banging relentlessly on everything and anything that my chubby little arms can reach. The markers in which, to me, are drumsticks. Descending down the basement steps is my mother. Stern face, she scolds. Elijah! What are you doing? The mischief in my seven-year-old-self smiles. Mama, I wanna be a drummer!

I am eight. I sit at a drum set much too big for my little body. My uncle stands in front of me and I am practically squealing with excitement. My first drum lesson! My first groove! A simple rock beat that anyone could play, but to me, the first step in a new world. Then I hear my uncle play. All of his limbs rapidly moving creating a complicated, syncopated, intricate rhythm that I couldn’t even dream of. The notes dance around me creating the most beautiful melody I have ever heard. Then it is done, and we are left in silence. It is time to go home. That night, I go home inspired.

I am ten. I am seated on the throne of a drum set that is much too high for my small torso. My limbs flail frantically as my uncle asks me to play a groove in 5/4 time. 5 over 4! That’s right! 5/4! My confidence drains as I found out that adding a beat isn’t as easy as it looks. The song seems to run circles around me always just out of reach. It teases, and taunts and finally I give it what it wants and I stop. And I give up. It was that night that I learned that I would never have what it takes to be a good drummer.

I am twelve. I sit at a drum set that is much too spread out for my short arms. My uncle asks me to solo. My mind floods with worry and my heart beats louder than my bass drum ever did. Soloing was a foreign language that I never had the time or energy to learn. Soloing was a bully that stuffed both me and my hopes in the trash can. My uncle shows me how to solo melodically on the drums and once again I find myself in awe at the abilities of my uncle. And once again I find myself despairing over the abilities that I do not possess. When I solo, I lose timing, I lose the form, I lose the melody, and most importantly I lose confidence. That night I realize that soloing is not for me. Soloing is for people who can play 5/4 grooves.

I am fourteen. I greet my uncle with a hug and sit down at a perfect-sized drum set to begin our lesson. I tell him that in Jazz Band we are playing this awesome song in 5/4. When he asks how it is going I tell him that it is no problem. Together we jam on “Take the A Train” and we both take multiple solos. The melodies we create dance around us and I can’t help but laugh. Then we are done. He tells me that my solos sound very melodic. The kid in my fourteen-year-old-self smiles and that night I learn that things take time.

# data[].attributes.body
As time goes on..

Rosy cheeks & scraped up knees

Muddy fingers & and dirty nails

Unbrushed teeth & untied shoes

As times goes on

things change

people change

Places change

And feelings change….

As time goes on

I changed…

At 7

I went from basking in the golden glow of a new day

Getting hot & sweaty playing tag to

Playing with the plushie stuffed figures

That lined my bed

I was a curious kid

Loved unicorns and all things soft and fluffy

Like most basic younger girls I loved unicorns

This year I learned as time goes on

That best friends weren't always humans

As time goes on

I kept changing...

At 8

My family welcomed a new member to my family

The smell of baby powder

And baby soap Filled my house

Diapers littered the garbage

People didn't have much time for me

Before my brother came I was the youngest

But now I had competition

Only my opponent had cute little buns

And could get anyone to smile just being him

This year I learned as time goes on how to play by myself

As time goes on

I still kept changing..

At 10

I became obsessed with Pigtails & pink

Strawberry lip gloss

I thought I knew everything

I was the best but once your the slightest bit happy

Someone or something brings you down

And that things don't always go as planned

This year I learned as time goes on how to wear a fake smile

Anad how to be happy even though your not

As time goes on

I was still changing…

At 11&12

I was making new friends and always was at others houses

Actually being older and having to read a do homework

Having to actually bring a pencil to class

I was “stressed”

Copying homework was a must to stay alive

Taking good notes and always having a notebook open

Is key to being on top

This year I learned as time goes on that your grades affect your statis

And you have to be smart to be “cool”

As time goes on

I was changing a bit

At 13

Secrets, gossip, and backstabbing friends

The smell of perfume and a dash of mascara

New clothes because you can be seen in old ones

Boys, boys, boys

The quirky smiles the starry eyes

The pit pat of my heart

This year I learned as time goes on that boys are players

They don't want your heart they want you

They're not starting at your smile and that too short of skirts makes you a slut

As time goes on

I changed the most..

At 14

Everything I had learned had taught me for these months

The stress, the fake smiles, and the drama

Boys are the humans that set the traps for the mice

Lureing us in with the sweet feeling of being loved

Also known as the cheese

And once we are trapped everytime we try to pull away take away the pain

It hurts more than before until it breaks us till we are left almost lifeless

Boys are stupid

Screw them flush them down the toilet

heartbreak and heartache

Those two described me

Untill….

I met him..

The boy is beautiful

After being with him for some time

He still gave those butterflies

Those ones that make you feel like your

Soaring above the stars, seeing them sparkle

But realizing that the sparkle is in his eyes

This year taught me so much like bad situations can be for the best,

That your girls aren't just your girls they are your sisters,

That you can't get rid of drama

And last lastly I learned as time goes on

Crap happens

Things change

People change

And feelings change

As time goes on...

# data[].attributes.body
This is for the girls who changed my life

The ones who share the tears and laughs with me.

Who send cute texts about how much I mean to them.
The girls who I am comfortable around no matter what.

This is for the girls who have helped me make memories that will never leave me.

The ones who will sit out by a campfire and pour their heart out.

Who will sing and dance with me like no one is watching.

The ones who will eat at IHop with me after a late night.

This is for girls who pulled me out of the anxiety that used to flow in my veins.

The ones who say “I love you,”

Loving  all my imperfections and flaws.

The ones who are helping me become closer with God,

And will pray for me when I need it.

This is for the girls who have touched my heart in more ways than one.

Who will listen to me talk about the life struggles.

The ones who have my parents love, almost equal to mine.

The ones who make me laugh when I don’t want to smile.

This is for the girls who I can trust with my life.

The ones who guard my secrets like they are their own.

Who will give me hugs and tell me, “Everything will be okay.”

The ones who push me to be the best version of myself.

This is for the girls who will bicker with me about absolutely nothing.

Who taught me the true meaning of friendship.

The ones who showed me who belongs in my life.

The ones who will not leave me when times get rough.

This is for the girls who have become family.

Who will go straight to my kitchen and find food themselves.

The ones my parents love and adore like they are their children.

The ones with the moms who are my like own.

This is for the girls who will pick up the wreckage after the storm.

Who will pick up the phone the second I call.

Who shows me that I shouldn't care what others think.

The ones who show me to live everyday like it is my last.

This is for the girls who will use glue instead of tape to keep our friendships together.

Who helped build a strong foundation on the rest of our lives.

The ones who are more than just people passing by.

This is for the girls with a friendship that will last forever.

# data[].attributes.body
From the first breath of air I took

I was already given plans

My life was structured before I could even live it
It was barely guided by my own hands

Childhood was a blur for me

I didn’t have much time

I couldn’t grasp the right memories

All they taught me was to climb

Your lectures stained quickly like ink,
Commanding me to just think, and think
You measured the inches of my knowledge

But it wasn't enough

You could sense my fatigue and wonder

You said you didn’t have a choice,
Click.
So taking that pen and pressing it against my temple
You began to jab what's under
Click, click.

Click, click
The words wounded more than my mind
The pen kept ticking inside
I was irritated by it, and you knew
But I just stayed silent

I know you want what's best because you didn’t have it once
So I stayed afloat and became your boat
Achieving the things you didn’t
But it seemed the world you built for me just wasn’t enough

And then..you disappeared, far off beyond my reach
Your color-coded calendars bent
The ink dried up
But everything could always be washed away, didn’t you say?

I could have broken the rusty bars and snapped your strings,
The very ones that tied up my wings
The ones that you once called “ours”
Click, click

But I’m too tired to continue

You didn’t tell me how to live and love

So I’m standing here, alone

Wishing that, all along,

I should have known
Click.

# data[].attributes.body
In the summer I like to be with friends

In the summer I like to play basketball

In the summer I like to play football

In the summer I like to be outside

In the summer it’s hot

In the summer it's fun

In the summer it’s bright

In the summer it’s loud

I like the summer

# data[].attributes.body
The summer

# data[].attributes.body
Who is the real you?

We all have our different personalities:

The person we are near our parents,

In front of the teachers,

Hanging out with friends,

Around classmates or peers

The list goes on

Yet there doesn't seem to be the person we are all the time

We build up these fake images of ourselves,

Hoping to be the best version

Because as people always say,

¨Fake it ´till you make it¨

If everyone is faking it then fake is the new normal

Aren’t we all normal then?

That’s what everybody seems to want but nobody seems to have

Because normal isn’t the people who post pictures of themselves,

With an expected smile,

Normal is ¨conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected¨

but don´t we all love a little surprise?

Normal is the master of deception

Whispering to people about what they should be,

Giving false ideas of what we want

When in truth, people don’t want normal

They want you

# data[].attributes.body
The cold hearted rain drop. Everytime it hits the ground

It leaves a pop. I can hear the roofs sing.

With no sun to be,the clouds cover the world; Not a sight to be seen.

Where can I go? No places to hide. Cannot be slow.

People never know what it feels like to be in the rain.

The pain.

I have hidden for so long, but what do I know.

I am just another Black man that has never seen the other side of the rainbow.

I do not belong here.

Always have lived in fear.

But the rain, always comes back.

No way to escape, all the memories.

I have not been able to escape.

I hide myself from everything.

But is that the right thing?

My mom told me to reach for the sun.

But I can never find one.

# data[].attributes.body
The one who protects all

The one blue eyed dog

Guarding your heart from ache

When you’re asleep or awake

Always there to keep you warm

Even when you transform

New hair, new eyes

New skirt, new guys

When all go away

He is the only to stay

Never backs down

Wears his ears like a crown

Guarding the gates to your heart

The only one who helps you when you fall apart

Those who dare to trespass are eliminated

And all others are hated

Healing the broken

With love and slobber

The perfect hugger

Your one true love for the summer

Man’s best friend

Loyal till the end

The one blue eyed dog

# data[].attributes.body
I wanted to go home

But he told me that everything was gonna be okay,

he lied

I wanted to go home

But I was 1,231 miles away

With a flight that was a week away

He didn’t know how I felt

Which I think hurt me even more

I wanted to go home

But I felt like I was being torn apart like a piece of bread

Being fed to wild animals as their midnight snack.

Being ignored by my own father…

That is what hurt me the most

I wanted to go home

Getting a phone call from my mother to ask how i'm doing

Lies… that’s all that came out of my mouth

More and more lies everytime that she called

After I hung up I just wanted to fall

That hurt even more than normal

I wanted to go home

But my eyes started to tear up little by little as I got on that plane

With my red eyes popping out like a vein

I turn back to give that final goodbye

And It no longer hurt anymore

I wanted to go home

But I felt like a little kid, screaming to get what I wanted,

To go home

But when I finally got It

I never felt the same

# data[].attributes.body
The sight of the aquatic center drops dread onto me but fills me with excitement

I am greeted by everything familiar, the faces, the smell, the pit in my stomach

The time before warm up seems a fraction of the time it is

An agonizing hour goes by with people packed into the pool like sardines

Eventually we are finished and ready to race

Our parkas keep us warm as well as the comfort and discomfort floating through the air

Sitting behind the blocks, the energy is completely different from the side of the pool

The competition is real now

Not always between teams, not always between swimmer

Between the swimmer and the clock

The clock is always counting, always relentless
The one thing that will never lie to you

When our time to swim comes, time itself seems to stop

Held together only by the water

Every breath threatens to statter it

Every stroke bends time further

All at once, time comes rushing back in the forms of numbers

They rate us and define our lives

Separating us and bringing us together in times of hardship and euphoria

No one is closer but us

Fighting through hard workouts

Squeezing into impossibly small suits

Always there for eachother, even when the clock isn’t

# data[].attributes.body
By Rylee Wittner

Many a splendid sight can be found,

Out where the wild brambles lie,

Where the trees keep their leaves each and every year,

And the creatures won’t ever die;

There’s many a story behind the old woods,

Told by all the old people in town,

They say that at one time the old folk came in and granted the deed,

Not one being would be harmed here for as long as they were around;

And the humans would leave,

And the peace would stay,

For when it comes to true peace,

There’s nary another way;

And as the years tumbled along,

Through another story and another song,

The old woods stayed as vibrant as the last,

The old woods stayed and replays the past;

The old woods are beautiful,

In that old and lovely scene,

For you see there is no human there,

Not a single one to be seen;

From the critters that skitter,

To the leaves on the trees,

Nothing ever changes,

Not even the sweet, crisp smell on the breeze;

Not one person knew,

Nor had they seen,

The season in that woods,

Whether plants were dead or green;

And it stayed…

Consistent,

And it stays...

Persistent;

And everything in the old woods stays.

# data[].attributes.body
It was her

Oh the body, they hair, the voice

She is always and will be rejoyce

I know this is not my choice but

I wanna be her

And it was the boyfriend

Oh his eyes sparkle like no other

I’m pretty sure he got them from her mother

The jaw, the teeth, the voice, the hair

Whenever I see him I can't help myself but stare

I wanna be her

My best friend

The popular friendly pretty one

She always happy and bright like the sun

And of course she knows how to have some fun

I wanna be her

The boys are all over herr

Even though she has a boyfriend

The girls are all so nice to her

Even though she is MY best friend

I wish she wasn't popular

I want this to come to a end

Maybe i'm jealous

But I cannot mend…..

This….

Anymore

I feel this deep in my core

Oh I can tell you more

But I won't

Phff Im not jealous

Well maybe a little

I mean how can you not

I’m a tiny little skittle

And she is a great big chocolate bar

I wanna be her

Everyone wants her and loves her

They never want me

They always look at her

And I am never to be seen

Sometime I imagine

If life was different

I had the hair, the body, the looks

Id feel so loved and it would be so magnificent

I want to be in that virtual word

Until I come crashing down into reality

I’m sure you all are thinking

She is she and I am I

And

I wanna be her

But I can't

And I guess that's okay

# data[].attributes.body
It's snowflakes dancing down to the ground,

Falling onto a soft blanket of snow.

As the snowman sits there,

With the snow drifting lazily down around him.

Black button eyes and smile,

Topped off with a carrot nose, hat and scarf.

It's a sled, full of gleeful children comes racing down the hill,

Hitting the snowman at top speed.

The children rolling around in the snow,

Laughing.

Excited for the events that would occur the next day.

It's a Christmas tree, sitting alone in a house,

The twinkling lights with ornaments and topped with a star.

With Santa Claus coming down the chimney

And setting presents underneath the tree.

Eager little children waking up at the crack of dawn,

To see what Santa left them.

It's the little baby that was born in a manger,

To save us all from the evils of this earth.

Families spending time together,

Love and joy all around.

This is Christmas.

# data[].attributes.body
Welcome to black friday
Nov 23, day after thanksgiving
Lets buy stuff
And more stuff
And more stuff
For less money so it’s ok

They open the doors
There are a lot of angry moms and vicious shopaholics
You would think it will be like the movies
Everyone running through the stores grabbing what they can
Grabbing clothes they didn’t even look at
Grabbing things that aren’t their size
Grabbing the toys for their third cousins fourth kid they haven’t met yet
But it’s ok
Because it’s less money

But...
I’ve never seen that
Because I go when the crowd dies down
Sort of
I also go with friends who will hopefully protect each other from the moms
The very angry moms
And we take our time looking at the stuff we like
Looking at the stuff that will actually fit us
Looking at the stuff we have somewhat of a purpose for
Somewhat of a purpose
But it’s ok
Because it’s less money

After the fact
When you’re exhausted and your feet hurt
You talk about what you got and of course the money you saved
All your bags are weighing you down
You get in the car
And all you and your friends bags take up all the room in the car
And there’s nowhere for everyone to sit
But it’s ok
Because you spent less money than you would have
On a regular day

# data[].attributes.body
I am a Christmas lover through and through.

I start listening to Christmas music the day after Halloween

And I’m not ashamed.

I don’t care what anybody says.

November is just another month to celebrate.

I break out my knee high elf socks

And my santa hot chocolate mug

And I’m ready to go.

You know that special Christmas scent

that fills your lungs when you walk into a store in the winter?

Yeah, that’s my house.

Red and green candles in every room.

And for each candle, there’s at least one string of lights.

And for each string of lights, there’s one circle wreath.

Just simple ones, as to not overdo it.

On my kitchen counter

There’s always freshly baked Christmas cookies

With freshly made Christmas frosting

With freshly poured Christmas sprinkles

And if you could bottle up some Christmas spirit

I bet you that would be there too

Ready to dunk the cookies in

Because they are still cookies after all

And they must be dunked in SOMETHING!

Actually

I don’t know why people make such a big fuss over Thanksgiving

I mean sure there’s family to see

And food to eat

But am I thinking about food or family when I’m being forced to clean the house?

I’ll answer for you

Heck to the no

I’m thinking about how stupid cleaning is

My house is the house all my family flocks to

To escape the cold

And have a nice Christmas dinner

Because Christmas is a time for joy

And my house certainly has that down

# data[].attributes.body
I love you with all my heart.

The title that I wore on the sash I got when you were born made me light up.

Being the role model for a little one who doesn’t know how to walk.

It made me chuckle because that’s all I had ever wanted. And I had it.

That’s why I love you.

Asking our mom time and time again, what you will be like.

The love that would be brought into our house when you came.

The tears that would fill the eyes of those you saw your precious face.

The corners of your lips that turn upwards at the smile of another.

That’s why I love you.

The face of a fighter is the face you wear daily.

You make me wince in amusement when you spit a witty joke you carry pride in.

You bounce with each step you take, and carry little worry about the future.

I’m utterly amazed by you.

That’s why you are beautiful.

Even when you are at a loss, you focus on the gain of others.

Your little hands do so much good for the world.

You love those who feel no love

And you transmit joy to those around you.

That’s why I admire you.

My heart breaks for you when you fall down.

But your heart is healed by the people you surround yourself with.

You hide the things that don’t need to be hidden

And you keep your hurt locked inside your heart until it’s too much for you to handle.

That’s why I can help you.

Come to me with the questions you have about this messed up and beautiful world.

Cherish the life that you live always.

Let me live this life that we have been given together.

You’re worth is valued more that the universe itself.

That’s why I will listen to you.

You have more compassion in your finger than most have in their entire body.

Love yourself fully,

And love what you have been given.

Never let anything knock you down, but if something does, I will pick you up.

That’s why I will always love you.

# data[].attributes.body
Pink cheeks from the boiling hot shower
Freshly washed hair tied up in a topknot
Clean, makeup free face, heavy eyes escorted by dark circles
Sweatpants accompanied with a sweatshirt 
Fuzzy socks and busy mind to conclude the look

All lights silenced
Besides the dim glow of the fairy lights
There is a hum of music thats so quiet 
Almost so much you could not hear it 
Door shut tight letting nothing but your imagination to get to you
The faint smell of the candle that was lit only minutes ago
Lingered in the air like the cheshire cat's grin

Soft bed sheets rub against your body 
Silky pillow case that cools you immediately when your head hit it
The bed frame creaking ever so slightly when you shift or turn
A fan sitting at the foot of the bed spins
Circulating cool air- blowing towards you

Heartbeat decreasing in speed
Eyes drooping like ice cream on a hot day
Slowly coming to a close
Brain clearing the blur of thoughts

Leaving you with only your dreams
Like a movie in your mind
The only thing to keep you company 
Until you wake up and go through your day 
Only to end it the same way…

Cheeks pink from the hot shower
Hair tied up in a topknot...

# data[].attributes.body
Once a year families gather round

In humble homes with heavenly hot chocolate,

And blankets to warm their toes

Nights are spent singing and singing,

Or spent endlessly wrapping and wrapping

Preparing for the stomping and stomping on rooftops

Stories are read, kids are tucked in

Parents hide the last of the presents under the tree

The kids lay quietly with a quickly growing grin

The time seems to slow

As we await this joyous day

And outside in the snow

Reindeer start to play

Santa runs across roofs

And the reindeers hooves skate

Dropping pretty presents into the chimney

On this joyous christmas day

Kids jump out of their beds

Pressing their pink cheeks to the windows

“I saw him! I saw him!”

Others gather round to see

You must only see him if you really believe

And if you really believe

Then you know it must be true

That this jolly man brings presents to me and you!

We wake the parents and they come down to see

“A shooting star, that’s what it must be”

It cannot be true

“We saw him, we did!”

The parents head back to bed,

The kids slowly do too

But they won’t forget the man in red

Who dropped presents into our chimney

On this joyous Christmas day

# data[].attributes.body
Nat Walsh

The white pines,

The luminus homes.

We drive through wonderland.

Tis’ the season!

Cookie day is coming.

Friends sit on the couch and sip hot chocolate,

Family surrounds the tv as the Grinch plays.

Welcome to Michigan!

More specifically Grand Rapids.

Snow falls in sheets

And it makes my hair sparkle in the light.

Lauren and I sit outside and eat snowballs.

A fire sparks in the hearth.

My Grandma Anne drives over in the cold

A bag of presents the size of a small child sits in the back seat.

Upon arrival,

She comes inside and we eat lasagna.

Hellooooo tradition.

We wake up at eight,

But it feels like six.

The unspoken rule sweeps the house:

Once one kid is up,

they wake the rest.

Stockings hang on the mantle,

Full to the brim.

Socks, shaving cream, candy.

The miscellaneous items control different sections of the living room.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

Now onto the presents.

Going one by one,

The big bows’ glitter reflect our anticipation.

Awaiting their moment patently,

They spill their contents the moment the paper is torn.

Wait.

Wait .

Wait .

Now it’s time for brunch.

Danish and kielbasa steam on the table at Grandma Kathy’s house,

Our eyes devour the spread before a bite is even taken.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

The uncles, my dad, and now Jacob descend downstairs to fetch the gifts.

Bringing up bunches of the brightly wrapped boxes the living room quickly has no more room.

Literally,

It fills the entire room.

All seventeen of us gather on the outskirts

And once more,

We go one by one.

The balls of paper now lay in ruins of waste.

Cookies are all devoured.

Christmas’s curtains are closing.

Another year, another celebration, another passing.

Rewind is clicked and repeat is set to play for the next year.

And the next, and the next.

# data[].attributes.body
Take a minute

Take a breath…

Breath

Just breath

Take a minute to

Think

Just think

Think about your next move

Think about what happens after

Just think.

Take a breath.

Inhale

Exhale

It’s simple

But sometimes I forget

To breath

To think

Living in the moment can be a dangerous thing

Saying ok can be dangerous

But as long as you

Breath

And think
Everything will be ok.

# data[].attributes.body
I am from lost shoes

From dirty feet

I am the dog that gets left home

From swimming in the lake

From dog hair covered shirts

I am from adventure

I am from home

From not liking school

From not being popular

From being abandoned

From being laughed at.

From not being cool

I am from sweden

It runs through my blood

From working hard to being lazy

I am from impatient

From not good enough

I am from worship

From late nights at church

From praying

From blessings and not luck

I am from God

I am from food

From cooking

From cutting

From mixing

From helping

I am from caring

From determination

From big

From small

From thinking of you

# data[].attributes.body
We were little kids with a big dream,

To see Mickey,

To see Minny

To see Cinderella's Castle,

But we were just little kids with a dream,

A big dream,

Too big,

Too impossible for just little kids with a dream.

I am 4. My sister 7,

As we passed the sign with the fancy written bubble letters,

“Welcome to Orlando!”,

We started to ask the two questions that had stopped us before,

Too big?

Too Impossible for just little kids with a dream?

Yet now that too big, too impossible dream was so close to becoming reality,

That is right!

!Reality!

Although all good things come at a cost,

Happiness is never free,

Our parents new that,

For them happiness outweighed the cost,

For them their children's needs outweighed theirs,

For them our happiness was all that mattered,

Their problems didn’t matter when their little kids were around,

Only their kids.

There was not a dream too big,

Not a dream too impossible,

Because with parents that put their needs before yours,

Anything is possible,

# data[].attributes.body
I want to sit alone

I want to be left alone,

I don’t want attention,

I want nothing from others.

Leave me alone.

Leave me alone.

You all keep talking to me

I don’t want to talk to you.

Paranoia, just want to deploy a parachute and never come down.

Im told that I raise the bar, but the truth is that you put it too low in the first place.

I figured out how to tie a lace, why do I need you guys now?

For your sake just leave me alone, or you will be nothing but bone. Just let me play on my phone.

Leave me alone, leave me alone, get away from me, sure i’m on a sleigh going down hill, but the whole point of sledding is to get back up.

I want you to stop, talking,stalking,squawking in my ear that you enjoy my presence, in case you didn’t know, I don’t like yours tho. You’re a foe so you better go.

Let me be alone, if I want a friend I will make a clone, cause nobody knows me better than me. So you better beat it, before you are it. Playing games with me is the same as torturing a baby, we both cry. Cause maybe we don’t like you.

If I want something i’ll ask you or not, I don’t want to be bothered.

Yeah I don’t want to know ya because I have Mysophobia, and there’s a reason.

Why can’t you leave me be? I fix my brain from the pain of you talking to me.

Why can’t you make my wish come true and act like I don’t exist?

In other words Leave me alone, before I turn you to bone with my hate. Ask me questions i’ll destroy them faster than my demons. Bye, bye I never say Hi, hi, don’t try to give me a high five, you will only get the middle one of the five. Trust me you don’t want to burst my bubble. This occurs faster than your mumbles.

Leave me alone, Leave me alone, don’t you have a phone? Go play on that because I'm sick of saying it, just let me sit in the pit, and gnaw on my bone, just leave me alone. Deep down Im not hurt I just want to work.

This is the last time I shall tell you one more time, before you really turn to these bones of my disembodiment of me.

Leave me alone!

# data[].attributes.body
Most people meet their best friend when they’re in school but I

I live with mine.

When I was 4 I went to school for the first time

And I cried the whole time.

I wept till I couldn’t breathe because I missed you

I missed you mom.

We used to sing “My Favorite Things” when I was feeling down because naming my favorite things made everything seem alright.

I would sing for My mom, My dad, and The Kid Cuisines I would eat.

When I was 8 you left

For a trip

And I never thought you would come back

But when you did it brightened my summer.

Because you’re not just my mom

Mom

You were, are, and always will be my very best friend.

Thanks mom for all the days you spent with me

When no one wanted to be with me

When no one wanted to be with me you were always there

There for me.

You were my shoulder to lean on

My Shoulder to cry on

When I was 12

I learned all my secrets were safe with you

And there was no one on this Earth who understood more than you.

Because the truth is mother really does know best.

Through the hard times you’ve been there to say

Everything my darling, everything will be okay

My whole life you’ve reminded me to be kind

Be the kind of person who goes out of their way

To make anyone’s day

Be the kind of person who people have no reason to hate

But somehow I still managed to make enemies.

When I was 13 you held me when I lost my first best friend

And you helped me understand

That everything

Happens

For

A

Reason

When I was 14 mom

You really became my very best friend

Now I’m not one of the girls who lies to their mom

I’m the one who would do anything for their mom

Sharing my secrets with the only one who can keep them

And having a bond that will not break like one of a lousy friend.

I told you about my first heartbreak

And you told me yours

And we sang about our favorite things and then

I didn’t feel

So Bad

# data[].attributes.body
The class of ‘22

We are the ones who just experienced our first day of high school

We are ones who think were cool but really look like fools

We are ones who are in the back of the stands

We are the ones who have four more years in this learning land

The class of ‘19 gone

We are one up on the totem pole

We are strolling around the halls

We are driving and thriving

We are saying “Go home freshmen”

The class of ‘20 gone

We went to prom

We tried to stay calm

We took our SATs

We sent in our college applications

We waited in this station and came to realizations

The class of ‘21 gone

We are in front of the stands

We are trying to get everything planned

We are finally finding out our future

We are glooming on the past

We are wondering how things went so fast

The class of '22 gone

# data[].attributes.body
Summer days

Have drifted away

Trees are losing their leaves

And will make crinkling noises under your feet

Pumpkins grow for carving time

As apples grow for munching time

Sweater weather is the best

Everyone is wearing vests

A dash of snow is in your hair

The smell of pumpkin spice in the air

The cloudy days

Are better than May

Spooky season has begun

And to warm weather, the animals run

Decorations fill the streets

As smoke rises from the chimneys

Football season is the best

No other sport can be put to the test

Little children all dressed up in costume

Like some dressed as witches carry around their broom

Halloween has come to an end

But now it is time to be thankful for family and friends

Turkey time

Will always be prime

Kids laughing and playing in leaves

They jump and sing in their warm long sleeves

A new smell fills the air

Grandma’s food flows down the stairs

Friends and family come together

Their laughing and joy creates such a clatter

After family dinner has come to an end

The wonderful fall season will have to come again

# data[].attributes.body
It was thirteenth grade

Or my freshman year of college

I had just gotten paid

And now I need to get my knowledge

I have never been more nervous before

School has always come easy for me

Carrying all my books around campus makes me sore

I also can never see

Entering class on the first day

I could barely stand up

As I walked in a girl said hey

And some random guy said sup

One of my professor’s names is Mr. Spand

He teaches us Spanish

Then this hot guy slowly raised his hand

Who was very manish

College has not been that bad

After my first year I’m in a lot of debt

It makes me very sad

But I’m dating a guy I recently met

We haven’t been dating for a while

He just took me on a date

He told me he loves my smile

And my beautiful name of Kate

My classes haven’t been super hard

In math I have to graph lines

I always use my card

And never graph on the spine

Over all college has been great

Most people here are so nice

I’ve already met a mate

And some random girl gave me lice

I have had lice for quite some time

My boyfriend helped it go away

This was a bad design

But my boyfriend had to stay

My boyfriend was the one

We went through everything together

He made a great pun

No matter the weather

# data[].attributes.body
We are teenage girls.

Skinny jeans, hearts held together by seams

Straightened hair, but don’t let them see you care

Makeup face to cover the base

Crop tops are for older girls

Leggings are much too revealing

She doesn’t deserve him if her top’s that thin

Dyed hair? Try hard

Natural hair? Mmm… too basic

We are teenage girls

We are teenage girls

Our friends either stay or leave

They put on their costumes and act out the scene

Lots of guy friends? Negative

Don’t like a guy? Hmm you’re missing out

Weather you have guy friends or no guys at all.

We are changing

We are teenage girls

#girlssupportinggirls

But is that really true?

Spilling tea? Gossiping? Same thing

We are confused

We are teenage girls

On Saturdays we take a break from the costume

On Sundays we wash it so it’s ready for the week ahead.

We get one day off

Sweatpants? Lazy

Messy buns? Only accepted by the fake VSCO boys

We are quick change artists

We are teenage girls

Expected to have it all together

Look cute, feel cute, be cute

Smile, head high, don’t let them see

Laugh, go along with it, it’s fine

We are standards with a capital S

We are teenage girls

Respect your parents? Goodie goodie

Disobey them? Rebellious

We are unpredictable

We are teenage girls

The memories from girlhood still flood our brain

When we were ten we’d wear peace sign earrings

The pink and purple signs hang lightly

As light as the problems we had

We hadn’t discovered the secrets yet

They were not yet known

At eleven we discovered mascara

At thirteen how to cry it off in a couple seconds

At fourteen, we accepted the talk, talk

Talk

At fifteen, we became our own individual, unique

Beautiful person

We loved it

They didn’t

And while we continued to love it, they brought us down

We lost our confidence for a while

We lost our sense of individuality

But we didn’t lose the fire

The flame was little, but it was fierce

Our idea of hoping we’d still be accepted

Didn’t burn out, unfortunately

We are support seeking

We are teenage girls

Then one day we discovered

They will never accept us

So why try?

Step out of the box

Take off the mask

Change out the costume

Just be, because

We are done

# data[].attributes.body
Ella Vece

In  the second grade, my only problems were if I had the same cherry red lip gloss as everyone else, or if my light up sneakers were cool enough. I didn’t think about world hunger, racism, or gender equality.  I didn’t pay any attention to the little girl who I couldn’t quite remember the name of, with her beat up high tops and old plaid skirt. I didn’t think about what set the little girl in the corner apart from the rest of us.

In the fifth grade I realised how messed up the world is. I saw the family on the side of the street while my own sat in the car with the heat on. I noticed the girl in the corner with her same beat up high tops, with holes in the toes . I saw the ways the boys stuck their noses in the air as if they were smarter, faster, and stronger, than us girls. I saw the headlines “Black unarmed boy shot by white police officer” Same story, new family to go through the pain of losing their boy.

My senior year I am the girl who spends her weekned holding up signs protesting about gun safetly, unfair foster systems, and racism. I realised I don’t need four pairs of the same shoe in different colors. I refuse to back down, not now not ever. I am one of many others of this generation. Of now. You can try to shut us up, push us down, it won’t work.

# data[].attributes.body
In a better world,

I wouldn’t need to write poetry about you.

You wouldn’t even be around, because if I’ve learned anything,

It’s that it’s easier to never have the things you love than lose them.

In this alternate world,

I would’ve already done something about my friends.

I wouldn’t need to think about “the mask” and realize you never took yours off.

In a better world,

I already came to terms with who I am as a person.

I don’t need constant validation from my peers in this world,

Because I have myself.

In another reality,

I don’t need to wish for my happiness,

Because I already am.

In a perfect world,

I’m not insensitive to the world around me.

I don’t let the outside world affect mine internal,

Because I’ve lost so much to the cold that I could’ve kept warm.

In a better world,

I let myself love.

The fear of being alone is obsolete in the presence of love.

But I’m not in a better world.

I live my life cowering from the closest feelings.

Falling victim to those whose only wish is to see me hurt.

Even in some points, I think I’m fine,

But then I realize no matter what

I’ll never be in a better world.

I think sometimes,

It’s okay. I’m okay.

And then I look around and I’m thrown for a loop.

I watch them smile, laugh. Live.

And I’m trapped behind an artificial screen I refused to let down,

Even when I was desperate for release.

I watch you in the hallway, terrified to make the wrong move or say the wrong thing.

Most days now, I keep to myself

Thinking about what it’d be like in a better world.

# data[].attributes.body
Do you ever just wonder why you were put on this earth?

Do you question your own existence?

Do you wonder if anyone would actually love you?

Yes? No?

But you will never ask anyone to love you, because you know no one would ever go the distance.

It’s sad how people don’t even try to help.

Can you imagine all the lives and mindsets that would be saved if just one person reached out?

You never know, but trust me there are too many to count.

People whose lives have been turned upside down.

They are very well hidden, but the people that care may be too.

But trusting that living is the way just makes them overwhelmed.

You may not realize it now, but everyone has an unknown lover.

Now obviously you think i'm oblivious,

but there’s someone in this world who’s in love but never discovered.

So if you follow through, you will regret it.

And so will YOUR unknown lover.

Everyone has their own place.
you mean so much to people, it's insane.
people fall in love when they just look at your face.
if you try to tell yourself different, ask anyone. They will uncover and you will discover your unknown lover.

# data[].attributes.body
Nope,

It will never be love at first sight.

We will see each other for the first time,

And then I will suddenly remember,

where  I loved and saw you before.

I’ve seen you in my mother's eyes once,

When she once told me to be with the boy,

Who reminds me of myself.

Therefore it will be love at first remembrance.

How did I know?

When you find the one who makes you genuinely happy,

You’ll never have your doubts.

When you look into his eyes and find your happiness,

He's the one.

So I’ve seen you in my Grandmother's eyes once,

When she told me to stay with the one

Who needs you more than you could

ever need him.

So please never leave,

Because then I’ll have to explain to my Grandmother and mother

You were never the one.

No matter how much I saw you in their eyes,

You were the opposite of the one.

You were the opposite of me,

My love.

# data[].attributes.body
This is for you

My best friend

The person who I can spill my

Soul to

Who can relate to me

Like no other

Who I can laugh with

Till we cry

And who I can cry to

Till you make me laugh

Never have you told me

I wasn’t good enough

Turned your back on me

Or ever in a million years

Let me down

You are my best friend

I’ve put my trust in you

You have always been there for me and

I trust you completely

You’re the type of friend everyone wants

You have gone through so much

And yet you still have time for

Me

I look at you and I see

A person who I can spill my secrets to

A gift from God

I see

My best friend

Your smile brings so much joy to my day because

I know you will always

Be there when I need it

You are my life

I was in the dark

But you came with the candle

One minute I’m longing

For friends

And the next

I’m longing to be with

People I just met

Just remember

I’m here

I’ll listen

And I will not judge

I’ll soak it in

And try to say something

Worth your time

I’ll be there

When you need someone

Someone to hold you

When you have no one

Someone who you can trust

I’ll hold your secrets

With my heart

And I’ll hold

You

When your tears are drowning you

I might not have the words to say

Or the right words to heal a wound

But I’ll try my best

I can’t say I get it all the time

But I can say I’m here to help

I don’t have the words to always make you feel better

I do have the arms

To embrace you

Ears to listen

To whatever you need

To talk about

And a heart

A heart that’s never

Giving up on your happiness

I’m here and you never

Have to feel out of place

I will support you

I will always help and

care for you in the process

I’ll always be there for you

You are a precious gift to me

You are loved and your

Life has impacted me

You are my best friend

I really want you to know that

I just hope I’m half the friend you are to me...

# data[].attributes.body
I am a cloud

High up in the sky without a single thought

Of coming down

But all of a sudden a certain ringing

Comes to my ears and hit me

Like a hot stone from hell

And I am at rock bottom

Unable to crawl out of the

Burning hole that sucks the life

Out of me, I’m reaching for any hydration

That could save me from this devastating

Sensation

I can’t seem to find my way out

And the thoughts keep rushing

Through and through my veins

And don’t plan on stopping

Words have a certain way

Of showing us how others truly feel

They rub us all differently

All that matters is how we individually

Care for the rash

But this rash is spreading quickly

Down past my heart and all

The way to my toes that

Crinkle up in fear

Get off the cloud that once

Protected me

Get off the cloud that once saw the

Best in me

Your words can not

Harm me as much as my own

Thoughts

There is not enough room on my

Little cloud for the both on us

# data[].attributes.body
Two stars among a billion planets

Stuck in a world where only bad things happened

But they saw the good,

Even when their souls had been blackened

They saw the good in the smiles, the eyes,

And the hearts

They made the best out of any situation

Even in the worst parts

The bloody scars of the battles they fought

Together

For one another

To seek the shelter they bought

The shower of dreams took over

Awaken by the rush of the flow

But how would they get through it?

If nobody even knows

The bond they shared was unbreakable

To every single mark

Even when happy faces and hurtful snarks

Made them come apart

Mountains climbed in a day

Or even miles ran by the invisible bay

Their souls were together

No matter when the bond chose to fray

So when two stars are among a billion planets

Stuck in a world where only bad things happened

There would never be any bandits

To break the love

That they shared so closely

# data[].attributes.body
I am 6 years old.

I have not a fear in the world.

Dandelions dot our drenched backyard.

Mom complains her hair was just curled.

I can hear church bells in the distance.

I zip my coat and flip up my hood.

The dogs whine as the family car leaves.

Anything and everything in life is good.

I am 8 years old.

I wake up to the sound of bacon snapping in the pan.

My mom sits me down to ‘have a talk.’

Realizing you weren’t coming home, into my room I ran.

No more yelling, no more fighting .

No more putting all my feelings in writing.

Finally at night I can sleep in peace,

but have lingering feelings that might never cease.

I am 14 years old.

Life is getting more difficult every day.

School is suddenly hard, and friends are starting to change.

Everyday I miss your old self, every single day.

Though I see you some months, it’s not the same

I start to wonder, will you ever change?

Another year goes by, yet you’re still the gone.

You’ve always been around, but never with me for long.

# data[].attributes.headline
That Christmas                       By: Allison Meeuwenberg   Christmas, the tradition that really starts after Halloween for most or it never ends for some. For me, Christmas starts the second we finish our Thanksgiving Turkey. I’m four, my mom has just finished putting my hair in curlers. We finish watching, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, on Christmas Eve. I get sleepy and I ask my dad to carry me to bed so he did. I laid in bed and my parents told me that if I didn’t fall asleep then Santa wouldn’t come. I feel asleep very quickly That Christmas. I’m six, my Aunt Lori, my mom’s sister, was expecting a baby. I was so excited, I could play with it and I would love the baby with all my might. That baby turned out to be one of my semi-annoying-at-times-cousins but I love her to death anyways. I was so excited That Christmas. I’m eight, my brother is a freshman in high school and officially ignores me more than normal. I love him but I cant wait for him to get out of my house. I wake him up on Christmas morn’ at the crack of dawn, I like seeing the annoyed look on his face. I figured out that soon I’d miss him That Christmas. I’m ten, the little girl that was born when I was six now has a little brother. They are the stars of the family. Honestly I wish that my family had paid more attention to me but of course a four year old and a two year old need attention too. I realized I’m not a star anymore That Christmas. I’m twelve, this is my second Christmas in my new house. I miss Christmases in my old house full of memories and traditions. We now have our annual Christmas Eve Family Party at our house and  it’s always a ton of people at my house. I realized that Christmas Eve is officially much more interesting That Christmas. I’m fourteen, Christmas hasn’t happened yet but it will be my first Christmas without Tyler in the house. I miss him even though I still see him a lot. I’ll see him Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning when we go to my grandma’s house. I realized I love my brother more than I thought This Christmas. Christmas, the tradition that really starts after Halloween for most or it never ends for some. For me, Christmas starts the second we finish our Thanksgiving Turkey. 

# data[].attributes.subject
That Christmas                       By: Allison Meeuwenberg   Christmas, the tradition that really starts after Halloween for most or it never ends for some. For me, Christmas starts the second we finish our Thanksgiving Turkey. I’m four, my mom has just finished putting my hair in curlers. We finish watching, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, on Christmas Eve. I get sleepy and I ask my dad to carry me to bed so he did. I laid in bed and my parents told me that if I didn’t fall asleep then Santa wouldn’t come. I feel asleep very quickly That Christmas. I’m six, my Aunt Lori, my mom’s sister, was expecting a baby. I was so excited, I could play with it and I would love the baby with all my might. That baby turned out to be one of my semi-annoying-at-times-cousins but I love her to death anyways. I was so excited That Christmas. I’m eight, my brother is a freshman in high school and officially ignores me more than normal. I love him but I cant wait for him to get out of my house. I wake him up on Christmas morn’ at the crack of dawn, I like seeing the annoyed look on his face. I figured out that soon I’d miss him That Christmas. I’m ten, the little girl that was born when I was six now has a little brother. They are the stars of the family. Honestly I wish that my family had paid more attention to me but of course a four year old and a two year old need attention too. I realized I’m not a star anymore That Christmas. I’m twelve, this is my second Christmas in my new house. I miss Christmases in my old house full of memories and traditions. We now have our annual Christmas Eve Family Party at our house and  it’s always a ton of people at my house. I realized that Christmas Eve is officially much more interesting That Christmas. I’m fourteen, Christmas hasn’t happened yet but it will be my first Christmas without Tyler in the house. I miss him even though I still see him a lot. I’ll see him Christmas Eve and then Christmas morning when we go to my grandma’s house. I realized I love my brother more than I thought This Christmas. Christmas, the tradition that really starts after Halloween for most or it never ends for some. For me, Christmas starts the second we finish our Thanksgiving Turkey. 

# data[].attributes.body
Home is where I feel like any break from busy life, is actually a break. A weekend doesn't pass like the leaves whirling around with the uplifting breeze. Not the feeling of time ticking away with boredom, but the feeling that time is on vacation, and as a result, you are too.

Home gives off relaxing vibes. The homework, and plans scheduled during the week, buzzaround and cause stress just trying to remember. At the house, I don't feel like I have enough time to do it all. But at home, itś like a step back, take a broader look at the situation, and are able to organize and coordinate.

It makes me sad at the house when the sky cries. The tears just hit the pavement and pool, instead of letting the sadness pass. At home, there's a beauty in the sadness. The pond actś as a mirror to reflect the infinite grace of the clouds, whom bring the rejuvenating drink of health to the native land yet untouched by people in which continue to to knock it down.

# data[].attributes.body
They don’t take me seriously

I say I can’t breathe and they say to get over it

It’s just a man.

The strangers, teachers and relatives can all scare me

And they all have

The chills I get feel like snakes gliding up my body

I never know if they’ll bite me or not

And every time it feels like they will

The hand on my shoulder

Whispers in my ear

The hot breath gliding into my brain and I sit

Trying to hold in the tears that consume me

And wiping away the ones that run

My body shakes, and my heart pounds like a tribal drum

I smile, but I wonder if they can see through it

And sometimes they can

# data[].attributes.body
I am 4 years old. Sitting on the swings with the boy I claimed was my best friend. We were soaring through the skies when he asked “Cara, can I kiss you?”

My heart skipped 3 beats to catch its breath. I sat tall and puffed out my chest, clearly asserting my dominance and said, “No, but you can ask my mom if we can have a snack.” And with that, he hopped off the swing and hobbled over to my mom to please the diva inside of me.

I am 6 years old, being beaten, bruised, and broken to where there is almost nothing left. I am digging my own grave as I sit back and take the pain. I never knew what bullying was until I saw nothing but a shell of my former self in the mirror. Covered in cuts deeper than flesh and black eyes, oozing tears, swelled shut.

I am 9 years old. Covered from head to toe with the drama that I accidentally stole. I am the rope in a tug of war between the people that claim to love me more than the other. My arms are ripped from my body, leaving only part of who I am. In the end, I am left with 2 empty holes where my arms were supposed to be and a hole in my heart where my friends were supposed to be.

I am 11 years old, exploring a new world. I am running through the maze of people that floated, flirted, and disappeared around me. Everyone is so focused on their looks, their attitudes, and their friend groups. I, on the other hand, was looking for a new one. I was looking for a group where I would eventually find someone who loved me.

I am 14 years old. Lost in the sea of extracurriculars, schoolwork, and rumors. My friends are hanging out with boys and I just sit in the back, watching it all happen. Anxiety is showing up and they are shutting down as I sit in the back, watching it all happen. The school is full of hand-holding, first hugs, first kisses. First I love yous while I just sit in the back and watch it all happen. Watching the people laugh, cry, yell, experience everything they are supposed to. I sit, not experiencing anything, living in my own bubble. They start to reach out to me, but I'm too far underwater because I sat back and let it happen.

# data[].attributes.body
I used to believe I lived in a binary

1’s and 0’s

Boys and girls

Knock knock

I used to think this room was my life

Dark and cold

Away from light

Knock knock

I used to be told

Only boys can like girls

Knock knock

I used to believe our world is binary

Its not

Men and women

That’s not where I fall

Knock knock

I was told only boys can like girls

I laugh

Knock knock

Knock knock

Knock knock

Who’s there?

We are

# data[].attributes.body
I really miss her.

# data[].attributes.body
I have an ungodly fear of rejection

Or maybe its my unforsaken need of attention

But in times that I need correction

I find myself slowly screaming

Broken words and burning tongues

And stuck in my throat, the forgotten

Unsung words of today are forwarded to tomorrow

Because I’m afraid of what I say

Because what if they leave and finally see

That they'll be better of without me

The pressure of today, stresses of tomorrow

Failure is what you expect from me

But what if I can be more than what you see

Maybe all these insecurities are bred from what you say

I want to be my own person, I’m not your mistakes or your broken, uncharacteristic titles

I don’t know who I am or I’m supposed to be, but you have that planned for me

Because you failed and had me

I know im not what you wanted

The broken daughter with different ideals

And morals you just can’t seem  to handle

Maybe you don’t mean it but whatever I say

Is a joke and my opinion on important matters are swept away

We share genes

But I'm not your mistakes of choices

Please don’t place me on this pedestal because I have a fear of failure

Because if I don’t make it up there, you'll be sad and maybe see I can't be

What you want

I’ll try but I feel stress

And anger and above all

This anxiety isn’t yours but mine and even though I try to explain

You sweep it away like its not there

I try to function but I can't because you refuse to do what's best

Because you made a mistake at my age

And won’t let me be my own person

Please why can’t I have a break, maybe one or two mistakes is okay

But my ungodly fear of rejection

And unforsaken need of attention are consuming these

Because for today

I’m too tired to say

“Hey,

Maybe I’m not okay.”

# data[].attributes.body
By Jonathan Thompson

Sometimes, I hate looking at myself.

Or, my past self, I mean

Because there’s always room for improvement.

Sometimes I cringe.

I cringe at how uptight I was in 6th grade.

I cringe thinking about how I lost 20 bucks in a dark corn maze

I cringe at how my trumpet got dented

I cringe at how slow I ran

I cringe at how I sweat gallons without a fan

And I cringe at how much I cringe.

But I learn from my past because before all of that I was carefree.

I could slide down a frosted hill and have my biggest worry be having to dust off my pants.

I could cry without anyone judging me

I could watch hundreds of lanterns flying in the city sky and imagine flying amongst the stars.

I couldn’t be unnerved.

But it’s okay.

I still find happiness.

It’s everywhere.

In listening to the radio

Or playing my music

Or watching the sun rise late on a November day.

And my twenty was found

My trumpet was fixed

And my personality improved.

So this seems like a fairytale ending,

And it is.

Always hope for happy endings.

# data[].attributes.body
Dad just slammed shut the door

There's a sudden puddle on the floor

My eyes are the sprinklers other children ran through

The guilt and regret taking on a blue hue

My thoughts are a stormy cloud

The shredded paper laying in a heap, disavowed

If only there was something I could do

To kindle the sheets and start over new

All I need is something magical

Something dazzling to spark up the dull

Something like a spell or special stew

That's it! I'll run to Hogwarts where happiness brews!

Where children learn lessons and strive to fly

Where smiles stretch wider and wish their worries goodbye

I’ll leave right now, leave my parents behind

Never again will I be held back and confined

The wind whisking leaves around my old home’s sleight of hand

As I scamper blindly through the damp streets of Scotland

Help me, magic, help me finally find happiness

With you, magic, I’ll no longer be such a mess

There you are, magic, right in the closet

Finally I’ve found you, after Mother’s deposit

One pill goes down, the potions and spells begin to save

The shredded papers that’s left of me, all taped up in a wave

Oh, too much, what have I done?

At least I’ve felt happiness before I was no one

# data[].attributes.body
Maybe For the first time in a while,

I’m actually okay.

I don’t know how, but maybe for once

That's fine

Maybe its alright to be and breathe

Because the broken verbs and words

I try to get from mind to pen to paper

Are too much, and the tired synonyms of

“Why” are left behind

With the rest of the people who leave

Maybe I’m scared because every friend I’ve had

Has left without a goodbye

And I feel myself pulling away

When I want to stay but I can’t because if I don’t leave first

They’ll see I’m not all I chalked up to be

And I can’t handle the sadness that will be in their eyes

Not sad exactly but more angry or mad

But disappointment will fall on me because all of my failures

Come to me, and that's all I’ll be

It’s not my fault they leave

But i can’t help but feel responsible for the

Way I breathe because even if I’m okay

I can’t replace my brain

And the pain the rides with it

Like a bittersweet symphony of broken dreams

Please tell them I sorry

Because in the first time in a while, I want to be okay
But the impossible epiphany of everything

Can't help but get stuck in the way.

# data[].attributes.body
Once upon a time there lived a little girl

She leapt and bound,

Reaching for the stars with every footstep.

She danced and twirled

And sang and laughed.

She lived in a castle that towered above the cloads,

She goverened her people

And had her very own mighty army.

She loved everyone in her kingdom

She played with her peg-legged pirate friends

She flew on the wings of the birds

She swam in the currents of the river that cut through her land.

And she smiled

But then she awoke

And reality came crashing down.

# data[].attributes.body
What a friend is
A friend is always there.
A friend is a shoulder to cry on.
A friend is a heart to whisper to.
A friend should never let you do stupid things...alone anyway.
A friend should text you cute paragraphs, that you have to answer through blurry vision, clouded with tears of love.
A friend listens to your problems and automatically makes them her own.
A friend is a person who is with you through the dark times and knows that the dark times are not who you really are. 
A friend is someone you laugh with until your stomach hurts. 
A friend is trustworthy and loving and caring.
A friend has magical like powers to instantly raise your spirits. 
A friend will listen when no one else will.
A friend is a type of sunshine and rainbows, or puppies and kittens.
A friend knows you and your family so well that they fit and fight like a sibling.
Everyone needs a friend whether they know it or not.

# data[].attributes.body
What a friend is
A friend is always there.
A friend is a shoulder to cry on.
A friend is a heart to whisper to.
A friend should never let you do stupid things...alone anyway.
A friend should text you cute paragraphs, that you have to answer through blurry vision, clouded with tears of love.
A friend listens to your problems and automatically makes them her own.
A friend is a person who is with you through the dark times and knows that the dark times are not who you really are. 
A friend is someone you laugh with until your stomach hurts. 
A friend is trustworthy and loving and caring.
A friend has magical like powers to instantly raise your spirits. 
A friend will listen when no one else will.
A friend is a type of sunshine and rainbows, or puppies and kittens.
A friend knows you and your family so well that they fit and fight like a sibling.
Everyone needs a friend whether they know it or not.

# data[].attributes.headline
"Iron Dance" by Elijah Silvis                  Machined steel slides against a railAs it has done many times beforeCopper-plated, sailingSoaring from the smooth borePointed precision pierces pretty heavy mailImpaling its victim, ramming through bonePausing as it leaves to withdraw a loanCan’t lose any time, cannot wait upI yearn for perfection, that fills my cupMy mind strains from pressure, and struggles to breatheBut from this one subject, my thought cannot secedeThe beauty of the dance, the rhythm of gunsFinger Number 1Trigger hammer-pin-boomSliding back the bolt on my mind that is the roomOf the recoil and the smokeOf the power of my yolkIn the voices of the hillsIn the forests and their millsIt’s a bayoneted free for allEchoing the wooded walls Of earthen scars with zig-zag hallsPoison gas can cure it allPurging pierc-ed hearts of the people in the port townsPiling potent pieces on the product lines of prudent peepsA foresought career is a luxury I cannot keepLiving in the here and nowHowever short it may be“I used to an adventurer like you, till I took an arrow to the knee”Red iron, raw steel Icy metal in the palm of my heelMirror smooth, sharp anglesBone shaking recoil, walnut on my cheekThat little void in the target that says, “I’m good”That is the rhythm of guns, that is the Iron Dance

# data[].attributes.subject
"Iron Dance" by Elijah Silvis                  Machined steel slides against a railAs it has done many times beforeCopper-plated, sailingSoaring from the smooth borePointed precision pierces pretty heavy mailImpaling its victim, ramming through bonePausing as it leaves to withdraw a loanCan’t lose any time, cannot wait upI yearn for perfection, that fills my cupMy mind strains from pressure, and struggles to breatheBut from this one subject, my thought cannot secedeThe beauty of the dance, the rhythm of gunsFinger Number 1Trigger hammer-pin-boomSliding back the bolt on my mind that is the roomOf the recoil and the smokeOf the power of my yolkIn the voices of the hillsIn the forests and their millsIt’s a bayoneted free for allEchoing the wooded walls Of earthen scars with zig-zag hallsPoison gas can cure it allPurging pierc-ed hearts of the people in the port townsPiling potent pieces on the product lines of prudent peepsA foresought career is a luxury I cannot keepLiving in the here and nowHowever short it may be“I used to an adventurer like you, till I took an arrow to the knee”Red iron, raw steel Icy metal in the palm of my heelMirror smooth, sharp anglesBone shaking recoil, walnut on my cheekThat little void in the target that says, “I’m good”That is the rhythm of guns, that is the Iron Dance

# data[].attributes.body
By Amara Grajewski
We were six

The new boy who lived across the street stole my heart the minute he looked both ways and crossed

Blue eyes that rivaled the pacific

I was hopeless, lost at sea

His grandmother gazed knowingly as she watched me wade over

Smiled to herself as he tucked a cherry blossom behind my ear

Chuckled as I ran away giggling, sure he could hear my heart beating through my chest

We were six

Strawberry jelly sticks to grubby fingers laced together

Lips red from cherry juice from the fruits we picked off the tree in his front yard

Together, we talked for hours about everything and nothing

Watching the five koi in his pond swim round and round

And there was something about him

A boy with a laugh as joyous as church hymns

A sound I wanted to wrap myself in

We were six, but he made me feel safe

A boy who was sweet, and kind to me

Because that was all he knew how to be

A boy who was innocent and true

Blue stained tongues by the frosting on the cupcakes from the birthday party only I was invited to

A boy I woke up to with a bouquet of blooms on my doorstep

Just to surprise me

He didn’t need a reason

Just because

Just because he wanted to make me smile

His mother scolded him for stealing from her flowerbed

But he assured me it was worth it

That I was worth it

And I believed him

Because he was a boy who was honest

Trustworthy

Unscathed by toxic masculinity

We were seven when he moved away

Taking tag, tea parties, and cherry blossoms with him

I watched for days

Watched for him sitting in his cherry tree waiting for me

I waited for days

Waited for him to knock on my door

And greet me with a lopsided smile

I hoped for weeks

Hoped for something that was gone for good

He left the five koi in his pond

I fed them every day so they would still be alive when he came back

He would come back

I watched

Waited

Hoped

I was eight when the last one went belly up

Eight when a new family moved into the yellow house

And cut down the cherry tree

And filled in the pond

And neglected the flower beds

Knocked over the mailbox we painted with their truck

I was nine when I forgot

Nine when I finally stopped

Watching

Waiting

Hoping

We we six

And I haven’t felt a love like it since.

# data[].attributes.body
When I was 9

I thought I could fly

I thought I could float down mountains

Like mary poppins

So I jumped down our tree house

With an umbrella in my tiny right hand

When I was 9

I thought every boy I met

Was my soulmate

Unless they caught cooties

So I found a cutie

Without cooties

He flipped a coin and I was his

And he was mine

When I was 9

I thought the graffiti on a tree

In our playground was fairy dust

So my friends and I waited by the tree

So we could ask the fairies

If they could teach us how to dance

While we fly

When I was 9

I learned

Any moment I could start flooding blood

And some girl had already started and

Flooded her seat with the red bloody goo

So I prepared myself

For the flood to come

When I was 9

I saw my best friend puke

As the months of the year song played

And everyone stared

So I called her after school

She was sick but it felt like she died

I wanted to be sick with her

Missing her so much was lonely

When I was 11 reality slapped me in the face

With the tall grass in our backyard

At the bottom of our tree house

Just like the cutie who didn’t have cooties

But wasn’t my true love

Just like the graffiti

That was written with hate

And not fairy faith

Just like the flood

That drowned me with the

Realism of sexism

Just like my bestie

That got taken by the puke and then

The smartie girls in middle school

Having the miss stick to me like super glue

Now 14

I realize

There are just some things

You can’t explain

At such a

Young

age

# data[].attributes.body
What’s Music?

Music is amazing,

Yet, it’s just a bunch of crazy noises,

Corresponding in our heads,

Tied together with unique voices

Music is amazing,

Getting us hyped before the big game,

Making our veins pump adrenaline through our veins,

Treating us like we are in the hall of fame

Music is amazing,

Playing the song everyone has that bring tears to our eyes,

That one perfect diamond that’s special to us differently,

Always perfect, no matter how fast time flies

Music is amazing,

Constantly surrounding us like a warm blanket on a frigid november night,

When we are feeling half of what we are it’s suddenly there,

Helping us in the dark as if it’s a flashlight

Music is amazing,

Even as just simple sound in the background,

Can lift the spirits of us,

Giving us energy like a greyhound

Music is amazing,

Giving a party lots of exciting energy,

With the loud bass pumping like a heartbeat,

Louder than any human will ever be

Music is amazing,

With the chilled country swinging side to side,

Guitar strings strumming with an exciting bounce,

In the warm summer heat by the dockside

Music is amazing,

Even the “normal” pop makes you want to get up and bust a move,

The crazy sounds staying in your head,

Definitely gets anyone in the groove

Music is amazing,

The crazy hip hop artists from Kanye to Uzi spitting bars,

All claiming to be the best,

Yet all get bumping in our cars.

Music is amazing.

# data[].attributes.headline
Social Media You Killer - Written by Cierra

# data[].attributes.subject
Social Media You Killer - Written by Cierra

# data[].attributes.body
Social Media how you kill my soul

Kill my hours of sleep

Kill the friendships I once had

And  you killed my interactions with the real world

Social Media you’re like an addiction I just can’t quit

Social Media it feels like we’re in a relationship but just friends with benefits

Whats the benefits for me though?

The benefit of losing sleep?

The benefit of how I lay around and never get on my feet?

Or is it the benefit of how I must put on a fake smile for my followers to love my pictures?

Instagram

Snapchat

Facebook

Twitter

Hearting post I really don’t like

Watching peoples stories when in reality they’re quite boring unless its fights.

Facebook I’m only cool if I have over 5,000 friendsbut in real life are pretend

Twitter you’re the reason for why I don’t like my babysitter.

This poem is about a cold blooded killer

Not a painkiller

Social Media you murderer

I hope you get caught

I hope that one day in my head you’ll be a last minute thought

# data[].attributes.body
Boiling inside, nowhere to turn.

Political divide brings exhaustion.

Media fuels the fire. The public school environment is not neutral.

Do families sit around the table and discuss the topic at hand? Are decisions made by social media? Or by truth? Do parents guide?

Or are they the blind leading the blind? Are parents angry and pass that along to their kids?

Anger is at the core. Sarcasm seems to reign.

If I share what I believe, it might not be what you like. Respect is gone. Mouths open too quickly.

Why is that?

Misunderstandings

Misperceptions

Manipulation

It only takes a spark to start a forest fire

Anger is tool that can cause destruction or change.

America let's choose change.

Life is to short to sit around with anger in your heart.

For generations, grandma’s have said, “you need to breath”,

America needs to breath. Think before you speak; speak in truth.

“Love your neighbor as yourself”. This does not mean love only your

Neighbor if they are like you.

Anger can be used in multiple ways. It is not a sin in itself.

But our response to it is crucial.

I breath…...

Political divide, boiling inside

I will not let my anger cause destruction.

# data[].attributes.body
I was 11

As skinny as hipsters jeans as I stood in my little one piece swimsuit

Staring into the deep dark water below me

Afraid to jump in

High on the cliff

Only here once

Can’t go back now

But did I have to go forward?

Hands sweaty

Heart racing

Knees weak

My mind still pacing

And tracing

All those times I should have been embracing

The ones that are hard for me to be facing

The ones I'll never be erasing

The ones I wish I could be replacing

Regret came and knocked on my door

I invited it in for dinner and it’s been here ever since

When they said cliff jumping

I didn’t think it would be this high

And now I’m having a stare down with fear itself

I look down

Down

Down to see my father in the water

Smiling

His words playing in my head

‘20 seconds of bravery’

‘20 seconds of bravery’

Stolen from some movie we watched as a family a few years ago while shoving greasy pizza in our mouths

This line couldn’t,

wouldn’t

escape from my juvenile brain

20 seconds of bravery

20 seconds of forgetting everything holding me back

20 seconds of being free

“Take it all in kids, we most likely will never be here again.”

The words like knives in my back urging me to take this once in a lifetime opportunity

Urging me to jump

Time runs out

So I kicked regret out

20 seconds of bravery was all I needed

The wind rushed past me

Gravity working faster than ever

The water made space for one more

As I plummeted down into it

Smile on my face here to stay

I learned that it can be hard to jump sometimes

It can be hard to leave our comfortable lives

Cuddled under a warm blanket

Ramen noodles boiling on the stove

Fuzzy socks suffocating our feet

But the clock runs out

And there's no time to pout

No time to hideout

Don’t doubt

Don’t be that dropout

Don’t just sit in the dugout

Who cares about the turnout

It’s time for you to get the word out

It’s time for you to plan your route

All it takes is 20 seconds of bravery

# data[].attributes.body
It was a few years ago

Cool breeze in my hair

Looking up at Lady Liberty

Made me think if this is really fair

Made me think if I should really care

There she stood in the clouds

Representing all we have lived for

Representing our country

Boat unsteady

Mind is racing

I wasn’t ready for what I was embracing

And my thoughts are pacing

How can I keep chasing

After these days when all I can think is

How lucky we are to be free

When you hear the news

You hear the pain

The pain of the world

The pain of the world we live in

The countries

The poverty

The hate

The inequality

How can we sit still?

And not have the slightest bit of curiosity

Stop with the dishonesty

It doesn’t take the lottery to

Buy a little bit of modesty

They say we’re free

But what does that really mean?

Cause to me it’s the feeling

It’s the feeling of jumping out of an airplane,

Plummeting down as the fresh, crisp, air

Hits me in my face

As reality comes down with me

# data[].attributes.body
S.T.R.E.S.S meet my bestfriend stress.

Stress is the reason for why im dressed how im dressed.

Stress makes me think of what others may think when they look at me.

Stress is the reason for why I can not sleep.

You wonder why we’re still friends but we’re stuck together until the end.

I tried to break our friendship up but whatever I do it’s never enough.

Stress is why I’m always tired.

And why I can never go to my other friends bonfires.

I’m stuck at home studying.

And for me to get stuck with a friend like stress just lets you know my level of luck.

All the homework that I get stress is why its never finished.

S.T.R.E.S.S

Stress has other friends to a ton of friends who are in highschool.

Stress is like a full time job.

Stress does give me a break somedays but its not much.

For I have a billion and one hunches for why it won’t leave me alone.

My mom says I can’t have friends over on school nights but Stress finds a way to get in.

She stays in my room while I eat dinner

She waits for me to come back

And thats when she makes her attacks

Help Help Help

I say in my brain but the helps won’t come out because she keeps them contained like leftovers from last night.

Stress not gonna lie but you me best

But I hate the fact I can’t get any rest

S.T.R.E.S.S

She has her good days but I feel like she only talks to me on her bad days.

When I watch the news I feel stress sneaking around the corner to tell me to panic.

I ask her when do I get a say?

A say in what I want and a say in what I need.

“What I need is sleep and for you to just let me be”

S.T.R.E.S.S my bestfriend until the very end

# data[].attributes.body
People are always learning. Some learn from a textbook, others from their parents, and a large percentage of people tend to learn the hard way. However effective those may be, there is still one major unifying factor, one unchangeable fact of human behaviour, that will relentlessly serve as the best teacher imaginable.

Experience.

Experience has molded my life as a skilled artisan molds clay into beautiful artifacts. At least 75% of my thoughts, actions, and decisions have experience to thank for their birth. Countless lessons, classes, and courses have experience leading them into the future.

How to balance independence with dependence.

How to fail with dignity, learn from that failure, then try, try, try again.

How to wait for what is to come with the virtue of patience instead of the imperfection of agitation.

How to love and respect people, including the most important and difficult one of all, yourself.

How to make the tough choices that may only come once or twice in a lifetime, but are sure to change that life for all time.

How to face and conquer your fears with unwavering resolve.

How to climb the unclimbable mountain and do whatever you put your mind to.

Experiences teach life in ways nothing or no one else can.

I am six years old. I have just successfully completed my first night at another person’s house. My best friend’s house to be exact. He has been pestering me for eons before I finally caved in, too scared or unwilling to leave the safe haven of my own house, my own room, and my own bed. Yet, that night was one of the most enjoyable nights I have ever experienced in my short life. In that moment, I learned to trust my friends and exit my comfort zone.

I am eleven years old. My family is reeling after the passing of one of our own. Everybody was heartbroken and crying, but I didn’t understand why. To me, she was just the aunt that I was never really close to. Then, it hit my heart like a hammer pounding a nail. Now, I would never get to know her. All of her memories and experiences, the conversations never had, the advice never given, had died with her. And then I cried. That dark day, I learned how devastating loss can be and to get to know my family, while I still can.

I am fourteen years old. I slump on the couch and take a deep sigh of relief as I realize that I did it. I finished K-8. I grab my phone and check my final grades, my heart pounding throughout the incredibly long load time. I drag my eyes across the letters that took an entire years worth of dedication and devotion. I grow ecstatic. All A’s. That day, I learned the rewards of hard work and perseverance.

There are things you simply can’t learn from a library book or a Google search result. Things that may just be the most important things that you could ever fill your brain with. So go out, live life to the fullest, do that task you were always afraid of, put in that extra bit of work, spend your time with the ones worth spending time with. Experience life and life will reward you with positive experiences. And maybe, just maybe, you might learn a thing or two.

# data[].attributes.headline
"The Boy and The Gun"                 Author-Unknown

# data[].attributes.subject
"The Boy and The Gun"                 Author-Unknown

# data[].attributes.body
The way you talk

The way you walk

The way you look at me so clear

It’s as I hear you, are you near?

They don’t get the relationship between me and you

You look at me while I stay froze, it’s as almost as you are beneath my nose

You say GO! I say STOP!

Next my hands are in the air, like I don’t care

You had me at get down on your knees and handcuffs on my wrists

Only I try to resists the pain upon my wrists.

I move only to ask a question and come out of the car

You look at me with so much anticipation I feel as I am an animation

The strain, I ache in pain

BAM a body in sain

The death of me

But you forgot to check if I was drunk or was I running from grive

Remember me

Remember me

The way you looked at me is the last sign of grive

It’s as you hear the last breaths of air remove from my body

Forming my soul in the air as my essence haunts this place to remember my death with no witness

# data[].attributes.body
The Bottle

I am a strong willed and strongly opinionated person thats my personality, I am exactly like my father people say we look exactly the same but I don't see it, I am also like my father he is extremely strong headed and narrow minded, Throughout my life my father and I butted heads over topics ranging everything if we had different opinions we argued about it, my father and I were never particularly emotional to each other it wasn't either of our stongsuits.

I am 5 years old. I'm trotting down to the basement in my spiderman boxers to say goodnight to my dad, I walk up to his desk and see something under it I glance at it and see it's a bottle, Im 5 so I don't take much notice or think about it much more, The next night I see the bottle but again I pay it no mind.

I am 11 years old my dad stumbles up the stairs it's the third night in a row he's been like this, He has slurred speech with a whistle like the wind at the end of each phrase, he walks into the room and asks the same question over and over again, when I ask him about it he gets mad and starts yelling I back away and walk away, later that night I go to say goodnight to him and see a bottle under his desk and a few more in the trash slightly disturbed I go to sleep and not pay mind to it again.

I am 14 years old Im at home with my friend it's christmas break my mom and dad are at a party, The door creaks open and my parents walk in, my friend and I jump a little at there sudden appearance, after chilling for a little bit I begin messing around with my dad we proceed to wrestle around in the living room, We lock up and hes says this is your mistake and he picks me up and body slams me, suddenly I can't breathe my dad gets off me i'm struggling to get oxegen, my mom appears in the living room screaming her head off, she then kicks my dad out of the house.

The next day my dad comes home and I go into the basement with him and he apologizes and asks me what happened he can't remember. To naive to realise.

My father is a alcoholic.

# data[].attributes.body
Hannah R.

In a world without darkness,

the sun would refuse to stop shining.

The sky only dims when the clouds appear.

The eerie night never arrives.

Isn’t that strange?

Isn’t that extraordinary?

The world is so bright

that I have forgotten the time of twilight.

Napping time is any time

and the night-shift workers no longer

have to depend on the moonlight.

Before this, we used to complain that the days were too short,

things didn’t get done,

and the things we finished were of a rushed sort.

We laid in our beds at midnight

and squinted at the screens of our phones,

while our strained eyes said they were much too bright.

We would be wide-eyed as we quickly tiptoed out of our rooms before dawn,

worried that that the shadow-demons

would grab the tips of our toes.

We used to be afraid of the gloom, monsters, the darkness,

the things hidden under our beds.

All those things had nowhere to hide

when there was suddenly no night.

So the gloom, monsters, and the darkness fled and hid in our souls.

It may have been a glorious few weeks, months, years, in which

we had all day long.

24-7 sunlight,

get it free on Earth.

That was when we did not see that we were not free.

Everything was different in the outside world,

but we didn’t see our inside world.

What was happening to us?

We were suddenly wishing, wanting, waiting and praying

for the sun to just take a break.

We realized that we didn’t remember the quiet of twilight

or the convenience of the orange rays of light waking up with us.

We didn’t remember the beauty of dusk,

or the moon coming out to say “sleep tight” before we went to bed.

The moon-gazers lost their jobs and so did the stars.

The constellations couldn’t shine and our eyes slowly stopped too.

The evening skies were lost, only to be found in history books.

We became tired and irritated;

unorganized and unprepared;

everyone was sleeping at different hours.

It was like the dark sky represented our minds...

Nowhere to be found anymore.

Before this,

we had always taken the time of night for granted.

All of us had thought darkness was a curse.

That only evil things lived in shadows.

Those thoughts were wrong.

We hadn’t figured out that with light,

there must be dark.

The stars cannot smile without nightfall to bring them out.

This is the importance of life,

as we now know:

The dark times exist

to make the good times show.

# data[].attributes.body
ever since I was my grandma's “sweet baby girl”

i have awed over every sunset I have laid my eyes on

but since school

society

and these culpable people i call “friends”

has has cut my circle into a square

i no longer find the beauty in these pieces of God’s art

“wanna watch the sun fall asleep with me, darlin’?”

my grandma voice soft

and as sweet as the chocolate cupcakes we used to make

“yes of course i would love to” …

is something i would've said a few months ago

instead now my only response is a lowering of my eyebrows

and a slow objective head shake

you see

a square cannot roll

with any type of this “flow” that people talk about

a square cannot laugh as much as she did before

because she needs to seem hard

a square cannot joke around anymore

everything is serious now

a square cannot eat that extra slice of pizza even though she wants it

because kale is way healthier and will keep you skinny

a square definitely cannot skip a night of her face wash routine

acne is ugly

a square can show a limited amount of emotions

afterall she is just a square

this place that we call earth

molds people to not see the beauty in beautiful things

rule #1

a square cannot enjoy a sunset anymore

especially with her grandma

# data[].attributes.body
What if I told you that you are loved

And that love comes and it goes

It’s the warmth from your toes to your nose

You may not know, but it's close

Don’t feel blue

Love will find you

What if I told you that things aren't set in stone

Opinions should be you own

not you parents

not your peers

not your so called friends, whispering in your ear.

What if I told you that you are heard

That your voice can move the feet

Of the foes that stand before you

And knock the crown from their heads

Nevermore let your voice be blurred

# data[].attributes.headline
Enough Is Enough  Boiling inside, nowhere to turn.Political divide brings exhaustion.Media fuels the fire. The public school environment is not neutral.Do families sit around the table and discuss the topic at hand? Are decisions made by social media? Or by truth? Do parents guide? Or are they the blind leading the blind? Are parents angry and pass that along to their kids?Anger is at the core. Sarcasm seems to reign. If I share what I believe, it might not be what you like. Respect is gone. Mouths open too quickly.Why is that? Misunderstandings  Misperceptions ManipulationIt only takes a spark to start a forest fire Anger is tool that can cause destruction or change.America let's choose change.Life is to short to sit around with anger in your heart. For generations, grandma’s have said, “you need to breath”,   America needs to breath. Think before you speak; speak in truth.“Love your neighbor as yourself”. This does not mean love only yourNeighbor if they are like you.Anger can be used in multiple ways. It is not a sin in itself.But our response to it is crucial.I breath…... Political divide, boiling insideI will not. Let my anger cause destruction. 

# data[].attributes.subject
Enough Is Enough  Boiling inside, nowhere to turn.Political divide brings exhaustion.Media fuels the fire. The public school environment is not neutral.Do families sit around the table and discuss the topic at hand? Are decisions made by social media? Or by truth? Do parents guide? Or are they the blind leading the blind? Are parents angry and pass that along to their kids?Anger is at the core. Sarcasm seems to reign. If I share what I believe, it might not be what you like. Respect is gone. Mouths open too quickly.Why is that? Misunderstandings  Misperceptions ManipulationIt only takes a spark to start a forest fire Anger is tool that can cause destruction or change.America let's choose change.Life is to short to sit around with anger in your heart. For generations, grandma’s have said, “you need to breath”,   America needs to breath. Think before you speak; speak in truth.“Love your neighbor as yourself”. This does not mean love only yourNeighbor if they are like you.Anger can be used in multiple ways. It is not a sin in itself.But our response to it is crucial.I breath…... Political divide, boiling insideI will not. Let my anger cause destruction. 

# data[].attributes.headline
Never Forget                   Always Remember

# data[].attributes.subject
Never Forget                   Always Remember

# data[].attributes.body
Mitchell Otteson

My Uncle never called me QueerBait

My Aunt never called me Anti-Social

My Cousins never called me Dipshit

My Friends never called me a Virgin

My Mother never told me to Shut Up

My Sister’s never Shut Me Out

My Father never Neglected me

My Brother never forgot about me

I Always think about these

I Always let them get to me

I Always hated them for this

I Always said it back

I Always cried

I Always seeked revenge

I Always took it to heart

I Always let these define me

I Never let them redeem themselves

I Never forgave

I Never forgot

I Never lived a normal life

I Never loved these people

I Never talked to them again

I Always will be tormented

I Always will hurt

No Matter what they do

I will Never Forget

No Matter how they say sorry

I will Always Deny

For my friends and family

Will Never be there for me

Never Love me all the same

They will Always mean what they said

Always want it to recure

Never call me their Brother, Baby or Son

Never Nephew, Cuz, or Homie

Always What they called me before

# data[].attributes.body
By: Natalie.Bahr

What is happiness?

Most would say an emotion,

Some a series of chemical reactions,

A state of mind,

Money,

Power,

Immortality,

So someone tell me what happiness is,

Please because I'm lost,

Lost in a deep dark pit where the only light you'll ever see is the burning of bridges,

Where the only heat you ever feel in when you hold your own hand,

And every second I spend down here I accept this as an ok way to live even more.

If happiness is an emotion why haven't I felt it in so long?

If its a series of chemical reactions what am I getting wrong amounts of or type?

Is my mind broken or missing some parts because being there for to long is impossible?

How much money do I need and where can I find it?

The power to fly or the power to rule over a large area of land?

I thought immortality was impossible…

Every question I ask I watch the answers as their fleaing,

But every second feels like a century and every moment a lifetime,

Another minute I’m crying

As I watch myself slowly dying.

As this pit grows it becomes darker and colder.

It becomes more lonely,

And not alone but lonely.

All these people and all these places but still I feel as if I have nowhere to go.

Every open door I have I watch someone slam right in front of my face.

I can see the grass being greener on the other side,

The other side of the universe's largest wall,

With no windows and the tiniest little door.

I can see the path clear as day in this world of night,

The path that leads right to that door.

But yet everytime I look around I can't bring myself to go,

As I suffer in silence the war in my head only grows louder,

So someone please tell me,

What is happiness?

So far I haven’t found the answer to that question,

And sadly it appears I’m only getting further and further,

Just ever so further from the answer.

What is happiness?

# data[].attributes.body
Isn’t it funny how humans rely on rain for survival

Yet at its arrival we only wish for it to go away

We get caught up in our troubles and worry and pain

And sometimes we forget to dance in the rain

Close your umbrella

Leave your jacket inside
Take off your shoes

You have nothing to lose

Dance in the rain like no one’s watching

Let the hurt swirl down the drain

When you look up at the sky

You know there’s no use in staying dry

Dance in the rain like no one’s watching

Time will race by in the flash of an eye

Just set your pain and plans aside

Don’t you dare think about going inside

Dance in the rain like no one’s watching

The only thing that matters now is you

Try not to focus on all the bad

And remember the good times that you’ve had

We get caught up in our troubles and worry and pain

But it’s still important to dance in the rain

So next time confetti falls from the sky

Make sure it doesn’t pass you by

# data[].attributes.body
by Madi Rempalski

Sometimes there are moments in life when I just feel like I need to go

Like in Michigan when the land is full of ice and snow,

Or when I was in a Canyon on a boat.

Sometimes I have moments when I want to stay,

Like when my friends and I laugh all day.

Sometimes I want to stay, other times I want to go.

How will I know, how will I know, how will I know?

“I’m so thankful for you”, “Love you guys”, “You’re the best” are all things our group texts say,

But in four years where will we be in the end of the day?

I don’t want to imagine the future teary eyed goodbyes,

But my lust for adventure and travel thrives on the inside.

California, North Carolina, Utah colleges and more,

But wow will I miss our five minute “get things for surprise party” trips to the store.

Whispers while writing in english,

Marching in what felt like sub zeros in band,

To having sheep “inherit the earth”

No one else will understand

We were brought together by darkness,

But created our own light.

I don’t want to think about college yet,

I still want to be a teenager who can stay up with her besties all night.

Bouncing cheese off each others heads,

Working out after the long day ends,

I wish we didn’t have to grow up so fast,

Yet all of this has been a blast.

August, September and October are already in the past,

How about instead of dreading the day we say goodbye,

We accept that the school year is going fast.

I never want to say goodbye,

In fact I never will or do,

Because you five are my best friends

And when it comes to be world’s end

We will find each other again.

# data[].attributes.body
I miss my puppy.
That is all.

# data[].attributes.body
Midnight is when parties happen

When dreams begin

3 am snacking while my family is sleeping

Crying because I have school tomorrow

Facetiming my bestie until it's light outside

Doing stupid things for no apparent reason

Watching netflix while chilling on the couch

Staying out late with friends

Taking a bath and having all your

problems whisk away

Laying down watching youtube

On instagram scrolling so many

times your eyes hurt

# data[].attributes.body
I love you Technology

For the days I am alone

For the days people don’t talk

For the day I only know one person

But I hate you Technology

For creating the days I am alone

For creating the days people don’t talk

For creating the days i only know one person

But Again I love you Technology

For giving us information

For connecting people

For being able to buy stuff online

But again I hate you Technology

For giving us tunnel vision information

For disconnecting people physically

For letting me stay inside without any human interaction

So Technology i both love and hate you

So what does that make you a friend… or an enemy… or maybe a,

Frenemy

# data[].attributes.body
I need to see through this veil

A veil given to the hate

To the beat and the scared

So the glory of a nation was hidden

So they were blind to the gold that lied around our feet

A nation hidden in a ocean of emotion

Pushing and pulling the tide

Like it some joy RIDE

Controlled by the power of man

Men men men

I see men bet their chest

Like their better than anyone

Woman children raise up your voices

And show that the boy wearing big boy pants are no man

Show than that chain don't just fall off

So that they must be broken

Tell them not to be a father with very little heart

And they will tell you

That nothing can come from nothing

But their wrong because

I do nothing everyday

And that's to say that I do everything

I’m nothing buts that to say

I the best at something

So take my hand

Let us do nothing so we can really feel

what the best of everything feels like.

(BRAK)

# data[].attributes.body
Childhood was when I had dreams,

Where I was innocent.

Childhood was when colors painted my dreams,

Where nap times were a must.

Childhood was when life was easy,

No homework or final exams.

Childhood was when I had confidence,

Where I could believe I could do anything.

Childhood was when I could pretend a perfect life,

Where I could visualize and think about the future.

Childhood was when I wasnt kept inside of a “box”,

Where I could be my own self without pretending.

Childhood was when I had all the time world,

Where I didnt have to stress over the little things.

Childhood was when I was free.

# data[].attributes.body
Growing up


I don’t like getting older day by day
I don’t like the smell of being old
The thought of taking care of yourself 
The thought of getting up for school
The thought of getting a job
The thought of taking care of kids
The thought of buying things you need instead of things you want
The thought of birthdays being less fun 
The thought of not having enough free time
The thought of paying bills 
The thought of walking up and down iles for food
The thought of not being a kid again

# data[].attributes.body
Every song ever made was legendary
Does a great job on the guitar
Dutch american musician
Infleuenced a generation of guitarist
Era's with david lee raw and sammy hagar
Van halen's main song writter

# data[].attributes.body
Hockey

Hockey, I have been playing for as long as I can remember. I've gone from playing with a wooden stick in my driveway to playing against Canadian teams in huge tournaments. From my rec days to getting to play for my high school in the summer. From goalie to offense to defense, I have experienced almost everything in hockey. Happiness from winning big games and heartbreak, from where one play could of made all the difference that game.

Every time I go on that ice, I get a different feeling in my body. I feel happy, alive, but also a feeling of contentment. I am where I belong, a place that I enjoy. Whether it is just a practice, or a game, I still feel happy.

I hope to play hockey for the rest of my life. My next goal is to play in college (possibly for University of Maryland), but as an adult I plan to be a future beer league captain. But for now, I will have fun and enjoy every time I am on that ice, and take it one stride at a time.

# data[].attributes.body
It's here

It's fresh

And is legal

Yes that's right folks weed is legal

But people are mad because i guess it's bad

People think that weed makes you run around and kill people

But the only thing killing people is cigarettes

Cigarettes mess with your head and give you tar lungs

Now tell me does that sound fun

I've personally seen it take someones life

Every time they try to walk it's a fight

Oh but lets get mad over weed

The only thing weed has done is make somebody kill a bag of doritos

Or maybe some fritos

And if it's so bad then why isn't it vetoed

But cigarettes i guess we need those

Ok

Makes sense

Lets go get some cancer sticks

After you have one you'll have a itch

And then you'll start to switch

You will look butt ugly

And smell sh$$

# data[].attributes.body
Everyone knows the basic girl that wears white high top converse with the the brandy melville shirt. The dude who wears a hoodie and sweats everyday. The girl who wears her preppy skirt, hair up and her blouse.

Everyone has a style and I think that's cool. No matter what it is its cool, doesn't matter if its basic, athletic, hypebeast, girly, lazy etc. The way you dress describes yourself and not just yourself but how you're feeling.

Let's say the place you work at or school you go to uses uniform, you’re probably like  “oh, that's wack, everyone looks the same” and I agree. But when everyone's dressed the same you can still mix it up a little, maybe with some bracelets, necklaces, shoes and maybe even hair. It's all about accessories really.

Anyway at the end of the day you just gotta be creative, do/wear what you want because that's all that’s gonna matter.

# data[].attributes.body
K.H
I"m sick and tired of being sad

My friends try to help me but it dont work

Its like a villain hypnotizing me wanting me to feel bad

Saying sorry and crying everyday

Your on my mind but you don't care

I go to sleep depressed

I wake up depressed

I even go to school depressed

But they dont care

Im sorry for my bad habits

Its them not me

Seeing people smile with there friend and boyfriends

But i sit alone

On a log being stabbed in the back

Hearing that i'm not good enough for this

But i am good enough

I just haven't found that out yet

People say they care about me

But they truly don't

They fake a smile when they look at me

I'm not funny, nice or cute

I'm just a depressed wreck that don't have a life

I get friendzoned everyday not cause of my personality but my looks

No one trust me

Is it cause of the way i act?

Or my boredom i bring to people

It all started when i got my heart broken

Am i still over that?

No, he was special to me

I just haven't learned to love myself

My friends do love there self and i dont “wow”maybe its me

some days i wanna freeze time and be alone for once

But around people

I'm like a bird

The odd duck

A nerd being bullied

I get declined by everyone

Even my friends

They go to another person who talks like them

I'm just a speechless goat

Trying to get words out of my mouth

But my mouth is full of lose memories and some complaining i have

For life

Im not happy

I change myself for you

I put better clothes on

But you still don't want me

Cause i'm lost everyday in my dreams.

# data[].attributes.body
I used to know what being beautiful meant

It isn't the expensive clothes that make you cute

It isn't the makeup you put on in the morning

It isn't at all what you look like

Beauty could be being able to laugh at a mistake you made

Beauty could be helping out your friends

Beauty could be helping out strangers

Beauty isn't what you look like

It isn't defined by how you look

It doesn't matter how other people think you look

It doesn't matter what you friends think you look like

It is not what you think you look like

Beauty is what you look like on the inside

Beauty is what you are on the inside

Beauty is the good inside someone

Beauty is who a kind person is on the inside

I used to be able to see the beauty in people

I could see past the ugly outside

I now only see the bad in the world

I only see ugly in the world because of the ugly

# data[].attributes.body
When I think of the color blue,

I hear cold crisp ocean waves slowly crashing on the shore.

I hear click of a lighter lighting a christmas candle.

When I think of the color blue,

I feel frosty winds and snow showers falling over me in mid december.

I feel little bubbles touching me after I jumped in a pool,

making their way to the surface.

When I think of the color blue,

I taste berries that have just been picked

by my dad and I on a chilly summer morning.

I taste Wrigley’s Winterfresh gum tingling my mouth.

When I think of the color blue,

I smell just bloomed springtime orchids

in my grandma’s garden.

I smell the store Bath and Body Works during christmas time.

When I think the color blue,

I see a cold, cloudy, rainy day at the beach.

I see me sitting there on the freezing cold sand.

A blanket wrapped around me.

I am sitting there alone, and left only with my thoughts.

To keep me company.

# data[].attributes.body
End Racism

Why can’t the world just be like Dr. king?

Fighters with our words not weapons!

Question…

Do you think blacks and whites are treated equally?

Can we just take a moment and thank god for the civil right movement!?!

We all must bring racism to an end!

A message to all very hard to send.

Different races in the world,

All join together AS ONE!

For the lord is our father

Were his children.

My skin is a part of me,

But believe me it's not everything!

Please, don't be surprised

When you see,

That i will not let the color of my skin,

Determine who i'm gonna be

Or who i am, because, who i am

I'm gonna determine who i wanna be

All together we say

We MUST END RACISM !!!

- Shawana Carter

# data[].attributes.headline
Gibson MearsJust smileWhen a smile stretches across across you faceThere is nothing that can replaceJust smileThe things that make you smile are different,It could be the first sight of snow Or when the plant you bought starts to growJust smileIt could be when you get paid Or the way trees sway Just smileWhen you smile it's like an overwhelming force from inside you Like a wave breaking against the rocks relieving all of its pressureJust smile

# data[].attributes.subject
Gibson MearsJust smileWhen a smile stretches across across you faceThere is nothing that can replaceJust smileThe things that make you smile are different,It could be the first sight of snow Or when the plant you bought starts to growJust smileIt could be when you get paid Or the way trees sway Just smileWhen you smile it's like an overwhelming force from inside you Like a wave breaking against the rocks relieving all of its pressureJust smile

# data[].attributes.body
If our country was founded by immigrants why can't we let them in why?

Why is there constantly deaths all over america due to guns why?

Why is there people that kill others just because they believe in something different why?

Why can't there be peace in the world why?

Why can't we drop water food and technology instead of bombs why?

Why is there so much hate in the world why?

# data[].attributes.body
When the black and white blended to grey

And the hugs you gave slowly faded away

And the clouds started to appear every day

I just want the thought of my brother to take place

I want to see the look on his face

Because knowing my brother was okay with leaving

Proves that i’m the only one receiving

Receiving the pain and the looks of no return

Makes my stomach start to churn

Because the memory of him is starting to burn

I’ve asked myself why doesn’t he want me

Why doesn’t he need me

But now i’ve rearranged that question into

Why don’t i need him

Why haven’t i needed him for the past 8 years of my life

Because i grew

And soon

The thought of you was no longer in my head

And i was able to no longer fear

What the looks on your face would be if you were here

# data[].attributes.body
Before I go to sleep I usually think of good things so I have good dreams, they almost always end up badly.

If I were my dream, I would be dead

If I were my dream, I would be running away from two rapists

If I were my dream, I would have a bunch of text from someone

If I were my dream, I would live in an alternate reality where ‘yo’ isnt a greeting and ‘hello’ isn't formal

I wouldn’t have water

I wouldn’t have a family

Wouldn’t be happy

I don’t know why i’m like this, I wish I wasn’t like this.

# data[].attributes.body
As a young girl I shared a game with my puppy

Played it every afternoon I could

She would run full speed at me

And I’d lay still on the ground

‘Til she would get right up next to me and start to whimper

Then I would jump up and race around the yard

“I love you, puppy.”

And I know my puppy told me she loved me too

We shared a game

Chase

I Loved our game, so I named her

Chase

Until that day when the chase never happened

And my schedule got too busy

A confused little puppy sat waiting

Chase

I’d entered a new era of life

Where instead of dogs chasing me, it was dreams, deadlines and due dates

Then one day

When I came home and looked into the old eyes of my now full grown dog

I realized I missed her, I missed making  memories together

I gave her a pat on the head

At once I was on the floor playing with my dog

Then I laid still on the ground

When she started to whimper, I jumped up and bolted out the door

My dog racing after me

“I love you, puppy and I love our game”

And I know she said it too

# data[].attributes.body
Alyson R
Remember when I dropped my ice cream cone?
I know I shouldn't have been running with it,
But I was so young,
So careless
That I didn't think anything bad could happen.
And that time you went to the fair with me,
On the ferris wheel, you were practically shaking,
You should have said you were scared.
All those late nights when I crept into you room,
And you'd be waiting with a carton of oreos.
You knew I couldn't sleep without them.

Do you remember these times?
Because this mother-daughter relationship
Seems a little one-sided.
It must have been extremely hard for you,
One minute you're tucking your kids into bed,
And the next you pack your bags
And walk out the door.
Did you ever look back?