Student Poetry Collection: May 2023

This is Life / Pie

A child is born between two, cut out of a stomach I lie so conscious that I am unconscious.

I was not put on this earth for one reason, but that is a reason to love you.

Hold me mother I am a sin. I fail to save myself from no one but me. And I am so sorry. 

I try my best to pretend that everyday doesn't blur together, that each individual item doesn’t fuse into an abstract masterpiece that will one day kill me. And that the earth hasn’t concave into a pitiful circle, and I am at the core melting away like the unseen crust of this planet. 

Some argue my views but eventually we overthrow and abandon our intuitive senses after all the genes we’ve inherited, gave us our minds, our ability to think with the heart and feel with the brain, we all grow up completely used and turn into tall children. 

This body lays desolate in the night as I lie there completely soulless, I hurt my eyes on the painful powerful sky and wonder why I didn't deserve that slice of pie, why didn't I get my sisters eyes, why didn't I come to the surface while their bodies were lying there high. 

I choke on my spit when I cry, somedays I wonder if this is how I’ll die, and I asked my father to protect my pain, my grief, my slice of pie and he explains that my grief is unprotected because this. This is life. 

This pan, our pie, the slices we eye, our hurt, our cry. This! This is life! 

-

When the world was so bright, and the pie came out just right, our faces so warm they flooded, and our skin so soft before we cut it. 

I remember being so soft before the world gave me a reason to be rugged. This. 

This is life. Our pan of pie.

Angeline Desaulnier

Dear Spider

Sweet venus blessed you:

With beauty

Whilst mars blessed you:

With rage.

You challenged the god of war,

In your triumph you sought 

To break your neck 

Whilst you should have 

Broken free from Arachne’s web.

The artwork of your body,

Your mind, your mire, your might

Your lust, your love, your loss:

May be beautiful.

        May be angry.

                 Maybe lost.

Cyrus Clarke

“We were men once, though we've become trees” “From there we came outside and saw the stars”

“We used to be strong, able-bodied, handsome, enthusiastic, and youthful. I can recall the memories of when I was first enrolled here. Lining up to receive a document that allowed me to be here. A piece of paper with nothing but words, but oh did it ever have so much meaning to all of us. This paper gave us honour, and a passion to continue with this “mission” we were sent upon. These memories would soon turn sour and spoiled when we learned what we would be doing here. We were only put to work, and we expected work but we never expected labour. We never asked for the hours of the sun. Y’know we only develop sunburns because it's our skin cells killing themselves before they become cancerous.  This was a common phrase used among the older men, soon to be way more meaningful than I had ever thought. 

Over the years of work and hours of labour, with not enough food or water for all of us, we began to become more fond of the idea of death. We were painted with the death of others anyways. At first it was hard. The first days there were the easiest. Set up, work, tear everything down, repeat. This simple routine never changed but it became harder to complete everyday. The way I idolised these routines and felt proud of myself for these acts slowly faded away when I realised that I was being sentenced to death over a fight between two old men over some dead dinosaurs to power their million dollar Lamborghinis.  They sent 12 to 19 year old boys to do their bidding because they cannot rationalise their emotions. 

Over the years, both my mind and body slowly turned to stone. It was as if every soldier against me was the Medusa, looking at me, staring at me, hardening my body and my mind. The worst of all was the pressure from my superiors. I needed to be cold, hard and strong like the trunk of a tree. Refusing to budge and rooted into the cold earth beneath me. These men didn't know that they were only killing us, but the earth beneath me. They were fighting a fight for death. Even the fuel they were bickering over was killing us. The only outcome was death. Fake honour painted upon these men who didn’t even know what they were covered in.

But now I am back, I am back with my family, yet so many are not. I can see the night sky and the stars when they are not dressed in smoke and chemicals. Yet so many of my friends and brothers do not. All because of some old men and dead dinosaurs. ”

Anon

“For pride and avarice and envy are the three fierce sparks that set all hearts ablaze.”

“Why did you do it? Why did you betray not only all those people, all those souls that had potential and dreams, but also yourself. You know you can’t live off of the work of others, all the work that you had them do to strengthen your position as their leader. You put those men to death for your own gain. You have not only killed their spirits, but everyone else in this act. You have become treacherous to yourself. Tell me, what happened to working for what you earn? What happened to all those years you worked for the power you have, only to belay that work onto others so you didn’t have to work to maintain this position of power. If you fought so hard to be here, then why can’t you maintain this work? You say you’ve done it for so long. Say, are you giving up? The only thing that you sought after was the gold that you got, and it is pure avarice that got you here. You sit atop a throne of Pyrite, and that is obvious to anyone with any knowledge of actual wealth. Your wealth was mined for you, served to you, and you respond with a fake smile and empty promises.”

Anon

a promise

a promise

i love you,

more than i love my own flesh and blood,

when they spoke of blood of the covenant being thicker

than the water of the womb

they spoke of my love for you.

in a thousand lives i would find you,

and in a thousand more i will continue to.

i promise.

when i love you please know

it is a choice i have made, everyday

to consciously take in every part of you,

to love you without fault

and with your faults.

i promise,

to be so truly in love

is to be so lovingly true,

i will keep my trueness true

as long as the sky stays a beautiful blue

and the birds chirp up at the sun

as the sun comes around each morn.

and i promise

to keep loving you when it hurts,

and when i don’t feel strong enough to love myself

to love you when you can’t love yourself

and to love you as much as i can love.

to love is to hope and dream

and when i sleep at night,

with sweet sleep tights,

i hope to see you soon

and out comes the moon,

i love you.

i promise.

Sara Fedan

Living

The world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very cruel

place, and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently

if you let it. Nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it isn’t about how

hard you hit; it’s about how hard you get hit, and keep moving forward.

How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning

is done.

Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what

you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not point

fingers saying you aren’t where you are because of them.

Cowards do that and that isn’t you.

You’re better than that!

Madelyn Silver

My Mixed Tape

as the world caves in

Shutdown, inevitability 

Total collapse of societal responsibility 

Hard times while we discuss 

The consequences of our imbecility

As the world falls apart beneath our feet.

fairytale

But through the hard times

We make due with a constant paradigm 

Of the life we left behind

Suffering our old frame of mind

And we will never go back to the way it was.

hang’em all

But when has anyone helped you,

When you’re struggling to make it through

What the people have made you do

They don't understand your point of view

But fuck them.

bloody kisses

Try to say goodbye

We gave it all a good try

While we reclassify 

The life we are told is ours to buy

How are we supposed to go on like this?

Neon blade

Suffering endless abuse,

Trying not to reinduce,

Let loose,

And simply tie the noose...

It would be so simple.

eragon

Esoteric Love

I'm not religious, but I prayed to God for you 

I prayed that you never felt you had to leave our feelings in apprehension

I don't deserve to be your secret, please put pressure on this bleeding wound

I prayed to God to repent your unholy sins, I had the congregation write us our hymns

We hid in the dark and I pretend I don't know the shape of your body and constellation birthmark

 Like the touch of your fingers on my skin doesn’t leave a passion so strong it must be the devil's doings

I’m not religious, but I prayed to God

I prayed for the sake of your future secrets, for the ones you make sure are satiated 

For the ones who waited

I pray they can play the devil's advocate

I pray you go to Sunday's service, and that God can stop the abetment 

I pray you don't segment who you are and who you wish to be. 

I'm not religious, I prayed to God for you

But I can no longer be your secret. 

Anon