Poetry Corner
Title: Planet B
Author: Noah Lev Bartell-Mangel
Content Warnings: None, just a bit dark
Planet B
The smoke has passed,
The crisis has not.
Will it stay so,
Or will it not?
When will the virus
Go dormant?
Like the Spanish flu,
’Twill probably ne’er be gone.
In the night,
You wonder:
What will happen?
Am I safe?
Is the end near?
It is not near.
We will persist through this.
We will not give up
On this world.
Because there is no
Planet B.
Title: Bleeding Sky
Author: Noah Lev Bartell-Mangel
Content Warnings: None, just a bit dark
Bleeding Sky
The sky is bleeding.
Bleeding smoke,
Bleeding ash.
Choking for breath.
Where is the sun?
The sun is alone.
Far away.
The earth is alone.
Where is the moon?
It is night yet it is day.
The sun has not risen,
Or fallen through the clouds.
There is an orange glow
High up in the sky.
Down low near the ground,
It is orange and it is gray.
Is this the new normal?
No, no it is not.
It is a temporary event
That repeats every year.
Tomorrow it will be gray
And smoky, but not orange.
Not the glow of fluorescent
Lights, not the glow of toxic
Chemicals, not the choke
Of darkness.
Soon the sky will turn,
Later, the air will turn,
Later still, it will be over
For this year.
But next year is always
Around the corner.
Title: Hope is in the Air
Author: Noah Lev Bartell-Mangel
Content Warnings: None
Hope is in the Air
Hope is in the air.
The air is crisp
With the promise
Of normality.
On this winter day,
The sun shines
Through the cold, crisp air,
Through the autumn leaves.
The day is short,
And it is time for the bears
To hibernate.
And for the people to hibernate as well,
Until January arrives.
The first rains have come,
Putting an end to this dreary
Season of fire.
And they have washed away
The dreariness of the last four years.
The future is bright.
The earth is beginning to exhale,
And all the people, animals, and plants
Have begun to exhale as well.
The stars seem brighter than usual,
The ocean seems more relaxed,
The sky is blue or light gray,
Not ominous dark gray or orange.
The fog envelops us,
Soothing us,
Helping us begin to forget
The horrors of the past.
And the little foxes,
Scurry around excitedly;
The sandpipers rush
Up and down the beach;
The humans stroll
In the quiet evening;
Sighing a great sigh of relief,
And looking towards
A new year.
Title: Young Age
Author: Noah Lev Bartell-Mangel
Content Warning: None
Young Age
Step through the world,
Float through the darkness,
Sleep curled
As if drifting through the seas.
When once a babe,
Crawling hand and foot,
Tasting what is near.
No matter, tile or soot;
To new hands,
There is no fear.
With age,
Comes wisdom,
Yet there is none more sage
Than a child
Free of what is clear.
But older and older,
With rings around the eyes,
The old young self
Is looked upon, despised.
That lived and breathed ease,
That could dream of high seas,
That danced with bees,
Yet was afraid of all these.
Time is not an arrow,
Time is not a point,
Time is not an electron
Cascading through a slit.
What time is,
Is time,
A cloud around a point,
All three of these,
Yet none of them at all.
One day, it may be understood,
And bring the universe to a standstill,
And close this world we’ve begun.
Title: When You Give Up
Author: Arianna McCarty
Content Warnings: None
When you accept the fact you're drowning in your own emotions you have drowned.
When you don’t get up after you fall you will forever be on the ground.
When you stop holding onto the happy moments in life you will forever be sad.
When you can’t forgive anymore you will always be mad.
When you give up there’s nothing left. No reason to keep on trying.
When you give up you stop being happy. You spend all your time crying.
If you give up you’ll never escape the emotions you feel. You’ll never be happy, you’ll just start to peel.
You’ll be forgotten like everything else. You’ll fade from memories, you’ll melt.
When you give up it means you accepted defeat It means you’ve lost, and you can’t get back up on your feet.