Young Writers Society

1
i almost remember the liminal spaces where function has ceased:
airports, watching the sky and praying for time before the storm;
corner coffee shops where no one knows your name;
libraries, children screaming, singing storytimes;
school.
i almost remember the time before we looked at the air, suspicious

2
everything changing faster than the rain was falling but how do we trust our overlords when we can’t even trust each other to not kill over toilet paper when the lies are told by news stations and 5 year olds alike (though in differing agency) and all we can do is sit and home and pray
this time isn’t another end time

3
it’s only been four hours.

the walls are closing in.

i’m only slightly hyperbolic.

4
is it really the apocalypse, or just a YA novel?

5
the world hasn't ended yet
but my anxiety says
give it time, yo
and let people
rein
to chaos and destruction
because toilet paper.

false starts
#1
how long does april sun
take to burn?

perfect days feel like a hint of fall
when hidden in the shade

don’t take your extroverism* out on me


*extrovert-ism? extrovertism? i hate english

#2
dry air
fire
wet dirt under grass
foggy dew morning
sun burns
sea breeze, hold the salt
abrasive cold
dark

#3
early morning
cold fingers
bright sun
wind
dry nose
(nosebleeds)
hot tea
steam

#4
the plague years
marked by crock-pot meals
that freeze as well as thaw
missing-mimicking tradition
of ancestors left with nothing
in another desolation of plenty
(and famine)

is it really the apocalypse, or just a YA novel?

^ Would love an extension of this poem!

the world hasn't ended yet
but my anxiety says
give it time

^ this one too, I could relate to too much.

I really liked your last poem you posted - just the juxtaposition & contrast of beloved traditions versus the environment we're forced in now is interesting, and you say a lot in just a few words. I also like the comparison between plagues (& the first passover observance that I think you're alluding to) and what we've got going on now. Puts everything in an interesting perspective.

#5
the plague years
marked by matzo ball soup
made in shortcuts
and the traditional sacrilege of eating cake
(because birthdays are never convenient)
done by video in retaliation for the
scratch-made soup this house won’t see
until next pesach.

#6
the plague years
we really are stuck in the suckiest group project
ever known to humans:
so keep your damn dog away from me, before
the world really regrets
not putting me in charge of natural selection

#7
nostalgia for something never had

i dreamed, once, of a One Great Love
but found 20 year olds and hopes
that never came close
to imagination

#8
the plague years
a good day is marked by a lack of bloodshed

#9

schools sit empty

what use is a library when you cannot touch a book for fear of drowning

the plague years
marked by shuttered windows and barricaded doors
hidden behind necessity
that longs to be useful,
the sounds that should mark time
drowned by silence and missing tether balls chains
that can’t harmonize with metal bats striking home
in a world that cannot breathe.