Goldfish With Wings
Jordan Datus (12) from the Fall 2023 Edition
I am a goldfish that is forever stuck in a small glass bowl
Placed on someone's dresser as if I was just a decoration
You had won me and took me on as if I was one of your own
​
But as the months faded by slowly,
I became neglected.
You stopped feeding me,
so I learned photosynthesis.
You stopped changing my water,
so I learned how to filter.
​
As my fins slowly turn from their what felt like ever-gold color
To patchy black because of your neglect,
I have to heal myself.
The ammonia burns just like it would, on your own skin leaving scars
​
Knowing that I will die soon doesn't sadden you,
Yet you are happy about my dismissal.
Now that I am gone you look at the space
​
where I once lived and you cry for me.
Because whether you wanted to admit it
you loved me and wished I lived forever
​
But in the end, I had to learned how to float,
and then sink which turned into learning
How to fly.
Time
Anonymous (12) from the Fall 2023 Edition
When I was younger
she smiled at me kindly.
Her warmth welcomed me,
her uncertainty excited me,
and in her beauty,
She loved me.
She protected me from deception,
Kept her closet door locked:
I dearly loved to play dress-up.
She let me watch from afar:
Within those walls,
through the fog,
and behind the glass,
were dreams not my own.
But she smiled at me
as I tried on those dreams
and danced in her forgiveness.
She loved me,
and then those dreams
morphed into nightmares
and I realized
her patience had a limit:
Within those walls,
I tried on different smiles.
Within the fog,
I wondered.
I panicked,
Clawing desperately at the glass;
An elaborate illusion
So painfully fake
So painfully mine.
Those dreams were my friends,
that fog was my playground,
and that glass was my mirror;
she never told me
It was a picture frame.
Now I am older,
her warmth suffocates me,
her uncertainty frightens me
and in her beauty,
I hate her.
I cling to her forgotten smile
as I watch her hands turn
and the days tick by.
What I would give
to have her smile at me
again.