elementia issue 4

Writing

Screaming Secrets : A view from

By Jillian Beyer

She fell on top of me, burrowed her face in my fluff, hands smacking the down inside of me, legs kicking, wriggling, growing restless at the foot. Every night I gave her comfort, she told me her secrets, whispered in the meekest of voices of the taunts and the teases and the tortures of the day.


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By Perry Gross

I get hit in the face... a lot. Dodge balls, basketballs, volleyballs, tennis balls, doors, walls, bird crap, baseball bats, rogue hands, flying sand, and just about anything else you can think of. Everything just seems to have an affinity for my face.


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By Max Fallone

Bullets flew through zombies like needles through cloth, and doing as much damage. The four soldiers were the last of their platoon; the rest had long since fallen to the swarms of the undead.


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By Ally Heisdorffer

“It’s your turn,” Addison grumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow she was planted into. Her eyes were crusted with sleep and she shifted her head over a little to avoid the drool puddle she had accumulated during the night.


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By Andre Stevens

Scream. yellin all the time. a chill pill Is what you need to find some. I like to bury myself very deep within my mind. You say i’m mental, but i’m sentimental when it comes down to my rhymes. you just take my rhyme book and throw them away all time.


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By Anonymous

You say it makes no difference who I am
and how I choose to express it.
You’ll say this through clenched teeth.
You’ll say this and you’ll tell yourself
It’s better that I take my time -nowbetter
that I get it out of my system.


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By Jessica Sutter

I’ve taken this road
So many times
Seen these things
Over and again
I’m getting tired
Of singing the same old lines
And getting to the fork in the path
And thinking it’s the end
I’d just like to thank you
For all that you’ve done


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By Jacob Yedo

When you go to a new school
you just want to be cool
And you want to make friends
But when you get near you
always seem to hear
“man that kid is weird”


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By Sophie Poppie

She draws them on
Her hands
Her beautiful hands
She draws them on
her legs
Her lovely legs
She draws them all over
her body
Her beautiful body
They watch her
They tell her
You’re too fat
Don’t wear that


Death Changes Everything

By Naduish Whitely

Does it end where it all began?
Since the death of my mother
Something inside is broken
from deep deep
within
I feel like I’ve sinned
Thoughts ramble through my head
I feel like I too want to be dead
Yes it’s wrong
it’s not right


I wish

By Rabi Hemayoun

On a cold February evening I learned one of life’s biggest lessons: appreciate what you have at present because once it’s taken away from you, all you’ll have left are memories. For me that ‘it’ was my fifteen month old niece, Bano.


Window

By Margie Delich

When you look into a window
What do you see?

A face staring back at you,
As happy as can be

You ask the face a question
Why do you smile so much?

The face laughs, Ha! Ha!
I locked you out of the house.


Normandy, music & lyrics by

By Phil Roach

A soldier dies on the battlefield on a beach in Normandy just barely old enough to shave and
just off papas knee buried in the ground with theses final words
[Chorus]
Dear ma and pa im doin fine here overseas I send my love from me and John and the


Pain

By Breanna Hollingshead

Have you ever felt pain?
Pain so deep inside of you
Pain only you can feel.

Growing up I had times of physical
and mental pain,
through it however, I have gained.


Graced Darkness

By Jaden Gragg

“A breath, a sigh, she closes her eyes,
hearing the forest saunas around her,
yonder the sum set the sky on fire,
burning, burning,
the stars/lew higher...”


Box of Color Pencils

By Rebecca Meyer

While walking in the art store today.
I overheard a color pencil box
With many things to say

“I don’t like the Red,” said the Orange
and Green said, “Nor do I”
and no one likes Yellow
But no one knows just why


Dear Whom Ever Cares to Listen

By Andre Stevens

I’m a new york kid. there i was born and raised. outside on the block that’s where i spent most of my days, but now my vision’s in a haze. my mom said, what i’m going through is just a phase, but i know now that’s not the case.


Haiku

By Heather Martin

Hatred melts away
Madness peels back from my mind
Wrongs are diluted

Accompany me
To a place so far away
Let us reside there

Sit in wait of me
Yet we are still together
Take long walks with me


War That Can Not Be Won

By Taylor Haviland

We are all rugged people,
and through out soft degrees.

Many a mean have shouted,
Many have fallen too their knees.
We think we’re at war with others,
But wrong because we are at war
with ourselves,
A war that has long begun


The Doorway

By Brice Roberts

It was raining outside, and our weary Traveler was on a gravel road, walking. With a large sack slung over his shoulder, he crept along at quite a slow pace, monotonously shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He had no cloak, and so he was drenched in the cold rain.


Green Sanctuary

By Karen Lieffring

Come with me into these memories
Where grown-ups are not allowed
Across the deep concrete river
Where in giant hollow owl’s eyes
You can hear the hidden bears’ growls.
Beneath high branches curved like arches
Their leaves intertwined


Oh Snow

By Jack Stelzer

Snow is deceiving. It likes to play hard-to-get. Like so many other things in life, I have developed a love-hate relationship with the whole idea of snow. The “dog days” of summer reach their finale, the leaves start falling, and everyone excitedly awaits the first snowfall.


Blue Man

By Claire Ryan

Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there were two kingdoms. The Thintassia Kingdom was led by King Blue Man, and all of the people tried to be like King Blue Man and eat as little as possible. “Skinny is beautiful, skinny is beautiful,” the King would exclaim; the crowd would go wild.


Your Blue Side

By David Webster

“Davidson! That tree is flying! It’s going to crash into your house,” Gary warned me. “You’re right, Mr. Franklin, and here, it’s coming in for a landing,” I replied with calm reserve.


Reminiscence

By Abigail Blick

There once was a man named Ed. Ed had a wife and three kids and worked at a very successful job. His life was perfect. But as time went on, his children grew up and went off on their own to form their own families, but soon Ed became a grandfather. And once again, life was perfect.


Our Beasts

By Erin Ashley

 It was quiet like it always was. Not dead quiet, you could still hear the waves and the insects. I sat on the beach, my hands clasped around my knees. I had buried the last of them in the cavern, then sealed it shut. Now it was just me.


An Open Letter to Joseph Conrad

By Jess Holmes

Dear Mr. Uber-Goth,

I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies within the mind of any literary genius, but I’ve got to let it out...your endless pessimism is bringing me down.


You Opened My Eyes

By Hannah E. Jenkins

I was blind and you opened my eyes.
I was blind to deceivers, and you showed
me them. I was blind to true love, and you showed
me it. I was blind to forgiveness and you did it for me.
I was blind to the truth, and you revealed it all. I was blind


Behind a stone cold shell

By Dusti Lewis

Get behind the eight ball she said, which I had yet to understand. She said
it meant to look ahead to the future. I sat
there contemplating this saying for a while, and as I fell into
a deep slumber my thoughts ran free. Thinking of our future--


The Early Storm

By Rebecca Meyer

In solitude of the night, with help of
the early storm, you find peace and
utter relaxation. Tearing down the
limits of your imagination, making
room for the inspiration, the
imaginative power of your soul.