By Rebecca Mitkus Wishnie Down at the dock when all is dark, my footsteps clang and echo on the metal corridor above the ocean. Filling the near silence, accompanying the shhhh of the waves and the thud thump of the silver boats knocking on the dock. And the sssss… callop sssss… callop of the white-crested waves disintegrating on the peaceful shoreline. Look at the black sky! White sparks in the darkness of night, the kindling of light. Rebecca Mitkus Wishnie, 10Newton, Massachusetts
Poetry-Nighttime
Winter Night
The world is black No moon No stars As black as ink from a squid The air is damp And moist My clothing is wet and cold Up against my skin I can hear only My breath And the crunching of snow Coming from my feet My boots sink into the crystals Of white I walk for hours Until I see a light From a cottage I smile And run My feet pounding into the snow My breath blowing in my face All of a sudden It’s not dark It’s not silent I’m home now Zoe Phillips, 11Moss Beach, California
Sleep
The air is thick The leaky faucet in grandma’s bathtub is going drip, plop, drip, plop There is a small glimpse of light coming from the crack in my door My bed feels so big Like I would need one thousand me’s, five-foot me’s To fill the bed The air suddenly becomes thinner The faucet stops dripping for a second And I simply fall asleep. Sarah Welch, 11Elgin, Illinois
