A long time ago, in a place far, far away, it was storming, wind blowing, the sound of thunder cracking like a whip. It was me and my brother, and we were lost in this far away land.

All I’ve ever wanted is independence from everyone and to live my own life. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve never had that before living with a large family and controlling parents but it’s something I always long for.

On the way to the hospital I could feel no pain, but I knew what he had done to me earlier that day. I had just flown in from Kansas City, and it was my first day in Vegas. My dad had already gone to work, and grandma was out back mowing the lawn, unable to hear the sounds around her.

Regretful murder suicides
Or better yet, just suicides.

Acting as if you knew all about it,
You’re helping a lot,
Really, you’re not.

A class clown attempted murder today.
A mother’s little boy,
a child’s best friend,
a teacher’s beloved terror,
stood over the monster who raised his freckly faced son
like the animal he’d become,
clutching a knife.

Built into the foundation
Of this very earth
Is a virtue,
More mysterious,
More powerful
Than life itself.

resounding majesty
abundant light
interceding with the heavens
nymphs like beauty
bestowing radiance
overpowering reign
wondrous creation

I look at your face,
the flowers in the vase,
I never wanted to be in this place,
As I pace the floor,
Searching for the door,
I realize I miss you more,
So I kneel at the cross,
And pray for my loss,
Wondering why you paid the cost . . .

The words that I say may confuse you
corrupt your mind
drive you crazy
but the one thing
it is for sure to do
is kill you
make you cry
try to run
but the words
will find you
in your dreams of lies
you shall tell me

O, furry friend with aerial ears
Short in memory, but long in years
You hop, you stretch, you yawn, you drink
But as I can guess, you do not think
What passes through your fuzzy head?
You eat, you run, you go to bed
What lessons do you possibly affect

Though you’d never admit me to be justified
in saying “no,”
I think you know why I’m doing this.

Too often
I catch you staring at me, wanting me,
but never know how to say
what I have to say.

Fighting never ends…
Words back and forth…
What will come next?
Why do I put up with it at all?
What to do?
Why try anymore?
What is the point of things?
What should I do to fix things?
I need help…
Want it to be better…

I’m torn between two worlds
One where I’m accepted from what I’ve become
And another where I’m hated for who I’ve been.
Each day I walk the line between the worlds
Trying to keep each other apart
But I know one day I will fail

My life is trapped inside glass walls
I try hard to make them fall
But nothing can penetrate them
The only escape is around the rim
I’m stuck to the earth around me
Hoping one day to be free
I try to grow over the rim when it’s low

Sometimes I think you’re doing this on purpose,
Locking me up inside.
With no light seeping through.
My skin turning pale,
My hope being lost.
Leaving me by myself,
A world so alone.
I feel trapped in a prison,
Or lost in a crowd.

As the wind blows a harsh breeze,
And the trees start to sway on their knees,
Within the surface of the fleeting river,
I see myself sitting in the harsh weather,
As a boy, slouched down in the freeze.

The dust and straws are driven up and down
as the sky darkens from the clouds up high.
It starts to get cooler as the first drop hits the
ground. Then it brings more drops in till it starts
pouring from the clouds above. Some of the drops

The wind is intermitting, dry and light
It rustles the trees and leaves
with silent gracefulness
The eye catches a
glance of the honey auburn leaves
The night world is listening
to every sound echoing
The moon light illuminates
on the lake

Immovably unquiet and forever
Is the moon’s perch in the sky.
Sitting in a blanket of mismatched stars
Is the place children go for a sweet midnight dream.

Horrific scenery fills my mind
Some from the future, some from behind
Nightmare images that fill others with Dread
The world would be better if My Kind were dead
In spite of the sacrifices of those we’re above
We see a future without Hope, Faith, or Love

Before time was invented, there was a city. Half of the city was as light as day, and the other half was as dark as night.

I wish that I could speak my mind more easily.
I wish I didn’t fall in love so easily
and that it weren’t so obvious.

Your hopeless little tragedies
Spill so hopelessly on the floor.
The ones that take over all the attention,
The ones so goddamn impossible to ignore.
The not so gentle news
Is burning away, all this trust once built
Built for no reason at all,

Standing stiffly in an elevator,
An automatic mouth swallowing,
The girl who so surely stepped inside,
When she was little,
Hoping for a ride.

words
like amorphous chunks of metal
they rest on a shelf in my brain
and beg to be molded

I long to hold them in the
fire of my skull
till they are soft and malleable

Jaden Gragg is 14 years old. Her writing submissions received the highest marks from our team of young adults. The poise and focus displayed in her writing is simply suburb. Jaden has three poems and one prose poem published in this issue.