Eighteen

Poem by: Anonymous

Congrats, you made it to the big age

It starts to feel like a new stage

You can spread your wings and take to the skies

And see the big world in your own eyes

Pick the right person to vote

Buy yourself a car or even a boat

Make yourself a private rocket ship

Doesn’t it feel like winning a scholarship? 

No longer a little kid

But feel proud of what you did

Leave a footprint on the sand

Go do something grand

Be the next big Swift

Rather than work a 9-5 shift

Give it your all

Give it your best

Until the day you fall

And you’re laid to rest.

Poem: Cheyenne, Feli 

Rhyme Scheme: Chain 

Prompt: Grieving and advice to someone younger 

Shakespeare 2.0 and Edgar Allen Poe’s 2.0 advice 

Life is tough, but so are you (A) 

Where there is darkness, there is light (B) 

Here is what you have to do (A) 

I know you’ll fit in just right (B) 

Find the friends you trust (C) 

Be aware of people that bite (B) 

So you don’t vanish in dust or become lost in the lust (C) Stay good and pure but don't be a bore (D) 

Don’t rush, do it because you must (C) 

Don’t be as dead as a door (D) 

Be proud and strong (E) 

Don’t fret if life's getting hard everything will be okay as long as you don’t snore (D) 

Don’t worry, sometimes you’ll be wrong (E) 

Sing a happy song (E)

Light- Ilyana Balaj

☼

My past remains further behind me today than the day before, 

And with that, I leave memories of what was,

I will sit in the sun today and have new things to think of,

I will breathe out and allow the sun to fill me with warmth,

I will breathe in and feel the ground under me,

This celestial being was here before and here it will remain, 

Tomorrow and the following day, I will be reminded,

This light has been here, 

And maybe the warmth that it shares with me will one day transfer to those I love,

Through my efforts, I can be there, 

Tomorrow, and the following day, 

And I will make my jokes, and tell my stories, and bake my treats, 

So that maybe they can breathe in,

And allow my joy to saturate their world,

As their futures are closer today than the day before too.

☼

Winter- Ilyana Balaj

                    ♡

Within these walls, encased in winter's hush,

Where frost-kissed panes frame the world outside,

I find a haven, warm in solitude's embrace.

Locks click into place, a sanctuary sealed,

Yet joy flickers, an ember in the hearth.

The howling wind, a distant serenade,

A lullaby that cradles the frozen world,

Yet, within these confines, a symphony,

Of crackling logs and muffled laughter weaves

A tapestry of comfort in isolation's cloak.

Through frosted glass, the snow will descend,

Softly, a cascade of silent whispers,

Drifting down to carpet the earth in white,

A tranquil tableau viewed from sheltered nooks,

An artist's brush strokes in the quiet of repose.

Outside, a realm of quiet enchantment,

Inside, a chamber of contentment found,

A book unfolded, pages turned by firelight,

A steaming cup embraced by grateful hands,

The solace of seclusion, a blissful retreat.

No footsteps mar the pristine drifts,

Yet footprints trace the contours of my heart,

A dance within these walls, a waltz with time,

Locked in, yet liberated by the soft caress,

Of winter's touch, a tender, fleeting grace.

    ♡

  Plain Jane Elaine (ABC BBB) #2

Rain patters upon the roof, the drumming beats in a housewife’s ears,

She sweeps the floors, clears the table, tidies her home, she rids the house of stains, 

Thunder bellows outside, a flash of lighting sneaks through the window,

“Plain Jane,” is how one describes Elaine,

Her husband's house she must maintain-

For she fears his desire to complain. 

The lavatory she cleans, avoiding her reflection,

The swollen blue and purple of her eye, the sight fills her with shame,

Her eye she goes to feel, before she turns away with a fallen face,

Poor Elaine-

Always in pain- 

Yet she feels to blame. 

Flour covers the counter,

The stove top aflame,

The food for her and her husband she prepares, 

The sound of tires screeching, Overcame-

With a sense of foreboding, Elaine-

Breathes, her composure she must maintain. 

Her husband enters the house, door slamming open,

David Burton is his name,

Poor Elaine, shuddering, filled with apprehension,

Oh Elaine would prefer a mundane-

Life, but instead she feels as if she’s going insane,

Oh, how she would rather really be the “Plain Jane” Elaine. 

A bellow of rage, 

His face inches away from Elaine’s

“Dinner is not ready!”

He shouts at poor Elaine,

One would think he was insane,

His screams mixed with the thunder sounds like a hurricane.  

“I’m sorry,” 

“You’re a stupid girl Elaine,”

She pleads with the man, trying to cool his rage, 

His favor she tries to regain-

Telling him that this meals time isn’t in vain, 

For it is his favorite, cries Elaine. 

With his rage cooled,

He leaves Elaine-

Alone in the kitchen,

She finishes the meal, her heart beating so fast it causes her chest pain,

If he does not like this meal, he will make her feel pain-

Or hopefully, just complain.  

They eat together at the dinner table,

While David tries to mess with her brain, 

His words cruel,

As he tries to make her feel shame,

He likes to play minds games,

Her insecurities are like a prize he wants to frame. 

A long day the housewife has had,

So upstairs to change out of her day clothes goes Elaine,

In only her dress she hears a scream,

David stomps upstairs and burst inside, cracking the doorframe,

“Have you been reading books Elaine?!”

She ducks as he throws the books, her head his aim.

“No! I haven’t, I swear!”

She fears the pain,

He comes closer but she runs,

Down the stairs go Elaine,

His threats beat against the ears of Elaine,

Of how scared she is, oh poor, poor Elaine. 

The kitchen she reaches, 

She closes the door on her ball and chain,

He bands against the door screaming,

“Get out of there Elaine!”

“Get out now I say! Open this door right now Elaine!”

“When I get you Elaine!”

She shakes as she backs away,

Fearing once he gets in, the kitchen will be a giant bloodstain,

The door starts to break, she grabs a cleaver,

Oh to be a “Plain Jane,”

Instead of being treated like this, so inhumane, 

Poor poor Elaine.

The door burst open, in comes David,

He grabs her neck, and shakes Elaine,

The cleaver is lifted, and he dives it into his neck,

Again and again stabs Elaine,

Laughing and laughing goes Elaine,

Finally free, you did it Elaine.  

She backs away from Davids dead body, 

The floor is covered in blood and his brain

She laughs and laughs at her captors dead body,

Oh Elaine-

Has gone insane-

But she’s not ashamed. 

She stands up, blood covering her body, the once clean floor, blood everywhere,

She walks to the front door, resting her bloody hand against the door frame,

She opens to door, the first time since marriage, and grabs an umbrella,

A tentative step outside, a first in a while for Elaine,

She steps out into the rain,

And runs far far away, she does not feel shame.

 Oh Anne Boleyn 

King Henry VII, he sought to seduce, 

Catherine of Aragon, a disgrace, 

No male heir to the throne is reproduced, 

So Catherine must go away, replace. 

Oh Anne Boleyn, must you fall for his lie?

King Henry VII, oh how he mistreats,

Beware Anne, for your marriage, you shall die.

Unfaithful he will be, they claim you cheat.

King Henry VII, he takes advantage,

Your daughter born, yet you will feel remorse,

Each male shall have the fate of miscarriage,  

Anne Boleyn, did you cry burying the corpse.

Anne Boleyn they accuse you of sins,

Beheaded, yet you still smile Anne Boleyn.