A silver van pulls up the desert driveway From sliding doors Spill three cousins Holding teddy bears and swords Lonely fields are filled once more Screams and hollers absorb the sun-baked summer air We stumble together, reminding each other of our game Played only near the overgrown grass And where Christmas trees grow during summer MONSTER TAG. Skip through the bushes Or near the woods And find a place where none can see If tagged You’re it! The new monster, searching for its prey Adults cry, “Be careful,” as we prance off Their words are meaningless in our ears Drifting up with the subtle breeze We disperse Each racing around the house’s corner Looming fingers creep up the gray walls Peering through the bushes, I glance across the fields of green The monster’s footsteps slow A lion before the deathly pounce Grass bowing beneath its feet Paw by paw, step by step Nervous excitement builds up inside me Where to run? Where to hide? The bush embracing me with its prickly Yet protective branches I duck out from under my shield The chase begins. Candace Huntington, 13Boston, Massachusetts
Poetry-Friends-and-Family
Farewell
Our last night was a joyful one Yet dread waited, a heavy fog As we both knew it had to end. The next sight of each other Would be like Pixilated building blocks. Seated under the rosy sky Her laugh the flutter of a jay’s wings The wind’s small sigh. Her room Like a doll’s house Stacked with boxes, marked Ireland Two years too long The wail of my heart As I look back Until she disappears And rain trickles down. Sarah Wood, 12Seattle, Washington
The Chances We Take
She left before the sun came up. I didn’t have a chance to say goodbye. Goodnight; I love you. The last words spoken between us The suitcase had been packed that night. Button-up shirts, Silky and soft. A warm embrace; The smell of roses. I’ll be back before Sunday, she had said. It was a Friday morning. A small road trip, A six-hour drive, A harmless once-in-a-life opportunity. In the cold, the rain, the fog, the darkness. She left. She left. Goodbye. Goodbye. Dark thoughts invade my mind, Black clouds drifting into my head Eating up the happiness. What could happen? What might happen? Tears fall down my cheeks, Salty drops of sea. They drip down my nose, Fall onto my lips. Please, please. Just come back. Please. Come back safe. Nastassja Carusetta, 13South Pasadena, California
