Young Writers Society

27. Fire
In his heart, he waits—
for the spark that will light up
himself, his parchment, and
the world.
First his heart will explode,
like fireworks and kisses on
a summer pier,
and then the parchment will
crackle and curl over at the edges,
fire bringing life.
The recipient of his parchment,
some girl in a faraway village who
believes in gods and the past
and the present and future,
will juggle the fire in her hands,
her own heart set ablaze.

28. Daffodils
Daffodil for inspiration:
I sit on a ancient oak bench,
carved by the knives and stains
of history.

I want to
see the beauty, see the reflection
of myself in the butter
petals that once belonged
to a river, where the water
echoed in the minds of so
many lovers,
but the picture is foggy,
tainted by broken hearts.

Clio appears by me,
in the flower gardens,
her dress the same patchwork
pattern of war and peace,
of Iron and Bronze and Stone.

I ask her to tell me a story,
one with daffodils and a bench
and the echoes of historical
lovers
and me.

29. Calliope
The black cat of the night
slinks through the streets,
unnoticed and forgotten.
For years she will be forgotten,
another black cloud in the rainy
city park.
Her memory is preserved in a
a poem and a heart-shaped carving
in the wet cement of a quickly drying
sidewalk, new and improved.

30. Nine
Nine stars glitter in the sky:
they appeared when I was nine years.
The largest smiles down at me,
a big sister, the leader, constant,
still, beautiful.
The next knows all about me:
the trips and falls and the civil wars.
The third: delicate, flighty,
and when the moon feels down,
the fourth knows how to flip it over
The fifth keeps herself withdrawn,
a fiery supernova of sadness,
Always moving is the sixth,
dancing through the sky and skipping
through the worst of it all.
I only know the seventh somewhat;
a side to her is unknown, like the half of
the moon I have never seen.
The eighth is the peaceful of the nine,
the practical,
and when the stars are all out of line,
the ninth clears her throat and beckons
to her celestial sisters,
and my nine stars guide me through it all.