One fateful day in seventh grade my class took a trip to The Wilds Christian Camp, where the biggest attraction is the sixty-foot-tall Giant Swing that lifts you up, up, up into the
I gripped the straps of my backpack as my classmates and I filed off the bus. As I was stepping onto the sidewalk, I was shoved from behind. I fell forward, unable to
Chaos’s shoulders hung in dejection. She kept wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. Her lip quivered as she tried to quiet her sobs. Her small feet dragged on
Perhaps this was the fresh beginning they all needed. Novak smiled as she turned over the silver watch in her left hand. The ticks of time pulsed through her veins with each strike
Elluin swished her great tail, and the snow behind her scattered in obedience. The tail came down in rhythm with the steps of the human beside Elluin. The girl’s steps rang strong
After fifty-seven years of marriage, Frank Farmer simply wasn’t interested in celebrating his birthday without his dear Francine. Since she had died, his whole world had been upended and thrown into disarray,
People push past in a terrible fury, Most of them anxious and in a hurry, Some frantic as they run to and fro, Not knowing when or where to go. All are busy,
I spin between the whirling summer stars And balter to the orbit of the earth. My feet are bare of sandals, socks, or scars. My laughter shrieks hysterics, but not mirth. There’s
Panic rising, fear unfurling, voices screaming, Unrelenting— My thoughts besiege me, assault from every side, I cannot escape. Like the flat of a blade scorched by a blaze And thrust against my skin,
A sprinter slips and falls on the winter smooth sidewalks slickened with nice ice Now shrinking, almost gone. God was thinking, "Southern climate; time to go, snow."
I am the hurricane that shakes, The devious earth that quakes, The senseless distraction that takes, The great heart-emptiness that aches. I am an 11:58 submission, Cold, relentless opposition, Cruelty without contrition,
Another semester of classes, And homework to the heavens: Another several months Of lectures and dining hall crowds; Speed-reading and study; scribbles Of notes on this and that; Headaches and braindead moments When
The carpet is complicated So many colors and patterns replicated Never in the same places, relocated The walls are so bright now Leaves my mind asking why, not how To current trends people
The blackbirds flock in a cluster of murderous merles The month I am grieving. Blackbirds, They don’t chirp or caw or quaintly whistle. They cry. In a human sort of anguish that
7:30 a.m. Once again, I join the mechanical worm as it weaves and heaves its way across the county. After merging, I rev my car into an easy cruising speed of
What better way is there to start a Sunday night than with a game of Monopoly? Or so we thought. It’s tradition for one of my friend groups to get together every
How are you doing? “Great! Fine.” “Good. Well . . .” I smile. So do you. Teeth gleam in rows under curved lips. Our eyebrows raise, our eyes widen. Then I walk away, hands in my