On a perfect day long ago, in the dream-time so long that we do not remember late in the gold-brown autumn clad in hats and mittens we dashed outside to dance among auburn leaves tugging at each other’s hair and scraping fingers on rough pavement cheeks rosy we danced until the fall had filled us and we were whole again That was before the move, of course and now that memory is dust the old house alien with unknown furniture the garden overgrown that was before the move before I traded blustery autumns and snowfalls for sultry summers and palmetto bugs and I lie awake in bed at night reminiscing in silent loneliness hoping for the oblivion of sleep… But someone was there that day in the bullion autumn someone bid us stand by the bluff, overlooking the city smiling, bearing chapped cheeks and nose-tips someone snapped a picture so we will not forget snapshot Ella Biehn, 12Decatur, Georgia
Poetry-Reflections
Silent Language
There are special moments where you connect with another living being. When no words are spoken you can understand each other. Some moments you can physically feel, as you run with your dog and your steps fall in line, as if to the beat of a drum. You can feel it through music as you dance together with someone you love, twirling in and out of the rhythm and letting it hold you close. When you don’t even try, it can happen, as you hold a baby close to your chest feeling its fragile heart beat. And the precious life in your arms doesn’t even know the brightness of the world, but you know each other. When you are a baby, you don’t know how to speak but you have a language. It is silent and without words. As you learn to speak, that unspoken language gets less practice and slowly fades away like a memory from long ago until all you know are words as if that is the only way to communicate. Sometimes you can still use it and it will kick in on its own, that is when these moments happen. The language is strong and quiet like a wooded stream. You will stop to listen to it and feel it in you bypassing your brain and rushing straight to your heart. If you hold onto that current you can embrace it and let it speak to you in its own way. Bethany Duff, 11Landenberg, Pennsylvania
Stage Fright
I am bold but I still have fear Small as a bug on a leaf Step by step to center stage Spiders up my spine Shoulders back Lump in my throat Swallow hard Cloud in my head Think straight Words in a cocoon Make their way out Start to fly In the bright lights I find my voice Jane Trina, 10Whitefish, Montana
