Poetry

“World,” a poem by Kai, 10

Kai Gajilan Fowler, 10 (Leonia, NJ) World Kai Gajilan Fowler, 10 Bright, so bright  But Lonely, and tired.  Lonely   Lonely from being isolated for so long  Tired  Tired of being bruised and battered and scarred  And yet  Bright, so bright,  The fight is bright,   Filled with light  But stressed, and fretting.  Stressed  Stressed for surviving any longer with pain inflicted every touch  Fretting  Fretting for the sake of lives  And yet  Bright, so bright,  Tonight is bright  Filled with light  But crying, and calling.  Crying  Crying from burns and scrapes  Calling  Calling for others, others alike, others who don’t hear  And yet  Bright, so bright  The world is bright  Filled with light  And trying with all of its strength,  Trying for us  Trying for the others alike  Trying with hope at heart  Hope   Hope for us  Hope for them  Hope, for all. 

Frost (Portrait of Madame X): A Series in Ekphrasis by Ella Yamamura, 14

The Face of Winter She stands— a frozen flower; frostbitten. A gaze that could wither the sturdiest tree is aimed at the right. Bull’s eye. With skin fairer  than Snow White, the Face of Winter ignores all else while being trapped within her  dark restraints that weigh her down— the only thing keeping her from blowing away and snapping in half.  What a brittle, frostbitten little flower. The Face of Winter she stands— a frozen flower frostbitten.  Frost-covered frost living a dream.

The Great Beast (The Great Wave off Kanagawa): A Series in Ekphrasis by Ella Yamamura, 14

The great beast tipped with an army of acid claws it sported a color blue so deep you could fall in and no one would see you sink. It’s favorite kind of prey were the ones with the sanded wooden sides— the ones that bobbed up and down and were filled with goods.   The beast lurked just beside that snow capped mountain the only home it ever knew. The beast never stayed still. It liked to roar and attack and spray its poison mist and drag a soul or two d o w n but deep d o w n it hurt a growing pain that radiated like the rays of the sun that The beast hated so much.   Maybe The beast ate too much. Everyone has bellyaches.