Young Writers Society

24. Up, Up and Away


Watch the stars at night to see 

Orion shining brightly.

Mama tells me my dreams
Are impossible.

NASA came calling that day.

25. The Last Leg

Day after day, it is much the same.
It has been like this for ages now.
Just last week I thought I thought it all was beautiful
and now the silence is enveloping.

Daddy’s sick and we don’t know what to do
We’re far away from anyone to help us here.
They told us that we’d go west and
be rich with gold.
We’ve been a hundred miles already,
and only have twenty to go.

Still, the last is by far the hardest.

26. Hot Summer Days

What I miss most of all
Is the stillness of a hot summer day,
The cool, sugary taste of strawberry lemonade
in my mouth, white framed sunglasses
That make me look just like a movie star
As I lounge by the pool.
But I am no movie star. I just married rich.
I’d be nothing if not for my husband
But sooner or later I should like to
make a name on my own.

I suppose if I do,
Everyone will just say
that my husband gave it to me
And that I didn’t earn everything I’d worked for.
I suppose I am more fortunate than most
but I have dreams just like everyone
And I will never go back to
Minnesota in the winter.

That August day was a day like any other.
The sun felt warm against my skin
As I stared out into the canyon,
At the beauty of the city below.

I’d only seen her once before,
More beautiful than I thought anyone to be.
Her husband out of town, so she had some friends
And that hairdresser who always seems to be hanging around.

And now, with her face all over the news,
It will never be the same.

If I had known,
I would have had her over for a drink.

27. Once a Girl

Once a girl,
always a girl
although I am a woman
in the technical sense
being called one has always made me nervous.
they say I should be married
And build something of my own.
But all I can think of
is that I want mother
to read me stories as I fall asleep
and to once more be an age
where I didn’t have a care in the world
where I thought adults knew everything.

28. Five cups of coffee

It was after five cups of coffee
That I finally felt awake again
And when I thought
That maybe I didn’t want to.

I was still getting used to Truman on the radio—
I only vaguely remember Coolidge, and
Hoover we just forget.

Tatiana’s boyfriend didn’t make it back
So I don’t feel I can talk to her
about how wonderful it is that you
are you coming home to me.

I glanced at my reflection in the mirror
and saw my teeth were yellow
from drinking all of that coffee.
and now I’m starting to shake.

Look at me, I’ve gone into a fit
But it’s better knowing that you
will hold me again.

29. A Foggy Day

Outside, the sky is gray.
I hear thunder in the distance
and I realize it’s been ages since the sun’s been out.
I don’t know if I can take this city much anymore
because it seems like there’s a murder
every other day. I walk through the streets of a city
I used to love and now it all seems empty.

I’ve spent much of my time until now
wishing I was older and now all I can think
Is that I want to be a child again.
When you loved me
And before I knew
what you were capable of.

30. History has its eyes on you

In our modern times
I have been thinking
about a song from Hamilton
And how fleeting time truly is.
Now is something that slips from our fingers
only as soon as we get a chance to grasp it.
One day they will study us,
Our fashions,
Our music
Or movies.
They’ll have throwback nights at the club
And our technology in museums.
And someone will call to you
When they want to know what now was like.
This is our time
And our chance to write a chapter
In the story of the world.