As I turned over to get in a less uncomfortable position in my antiquated sleeping bag with flakes of crusty plastic coming off, I felt a tingling feeling slide down my thigh. I was too fatigued to think about the feeling at first. I shuffled to the other side, for what felt like the millionth time, during this dry and frigid night.

In the garden

the ground is bone bare and dry

unfavorable to all things

who try to survive

Even in these trying times

We still endure the dreadful climb

Up a mountain, up so high

And as we climb we call out for some sort of reply

Isolated on your mountain, all alone, no one to confide in

Today, 

I woke up to Bernie memes

Vibing in his mittens,

The being of my dreams

Bernie is king, the most beautiful thing

I’ve ever laid eyes on

To Bernie I sing

All the praise in the world 

For Bernie is king.

we used to laugh beneath a bleeding sun

teasing each other as we tramped down packed dirt

not worrying about the consequences of a quick embrace

now we stare at each other across cold screens

relying on memories of phantoms for sanity

Standing in the light flooding in from the window, the young woman carefully tipped the glass in her hands. Inside, the water cascaded down into the pot and onto the orchid’s strong, dark green roots.

Just two more minutes until my dream is a reality. Ever since I saw my dad on the tracks, I knew it was what I wanted. My dad raced for NASCAR for 30 years before retiring. I had to wait until I was eighteen, but with my birthday looming around the corner, I am in the exact position he was in.

To be a person you have to be able to get hurt, you have to be able to fall down even if you can’t get back up for a while. Sometimes you’ll bleed and other times you’ll bruise, and in a rare moment of peace you’ll be fine, but it will all happen to you sooner or later. Expect it. Embrace it. Prepare for it if you must. Don’t look for it coming, don’t watch as the bullies follow you out to the playground. Simply live with the knowledge that eventually you’ll fall.

The second floor of the BCC F-Wing shook with power today when an IB Student, after weeks of reflection, came to a complete understanding of all of the IB Learner traits.

Rain pounds against the glass

Trapped in a castle of soft light

My legs shift to the ground, a routine disciplined unlike before

Craving control

I sit next to my brother, who sits next to the girl

who is like my cousin or my sister, or my friend,

and she sits next to my mother,

who is surrounded by my father,

my almost-uncle, my close-enough-to-aunt,

and my might-as-well-be-cousins.

When I was little, people told me I had boundless energy and a loud voice. Back then, I took this as a compliment. Look at how much I can project, everyone can hear me and everyone must be curious about what I have to say.

her hoodie still hangs on the back of my bedroom door.

the cream colored one, plain, but with memories sown into ever seam, and tucked into every pocket, the kind of memories that are sickly sweet. you wish to go back, but you can’t, and wouldn’t if you could.

We are experiencing a high volume of calls right now. Please be patient. Your call will be answered in the order that it was received. 

I am sick of hearing those words over and over again on a loop. So sick of it that I begin to feel nauseous.

The aroma of the village market wafted through the air, newly-bloomed saccharine tulips dotting along gardens and clumped in bins of merchants, freshly baked apple pie and cream puffs, and the musky, long lasting scent of ancient pine trees.

Dear Dad,

A parent’s love may know no bounds, but I think my affections outnumber yours. You are the picture of stability; a happy life, a happy home, a happy family. You are a game of catch, fishing, smiling, laughing, dancing. A parent should be many things and you are all of them.

The bright purple and white flowers swayed tantalizingly

on their perch on the riverbank.

Kate points from our boat and calls them to our attention,

“We should grab some for mom like last time!”

The light creeps in through the windows as if it were an unwanted visitor

It reveals the settling dust as it slowly floats down towards the smooth surfaces

However, its presence does not signify abandonment

It is here that I am free to be where I please

Even if it is only temporary

The half-visible sun took its time, making sure to paint every inch of sky before it settled in for the night. The burnt orange and fiery red outshone all the other colors, boldly pushing the more muted yellow and purple to the farthest corners of the canvas.