Esmé van Aerden: Favorites

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

Madisen Kuhn

i know i am young,
i know i am only seventeen,
but when i think of him
and his incandescent smile,
my heart swells and beats in time
with the cadence of his alluring words

his mind is like no other,
filled with such deep
and captivating thoughts
that flutter from place to place
like a moth, and like a moth
i am drawn to his brilliance

i long to hold his face in my hands
and trace his lips with my fingertips
and when i close my eyes
all i see is the way he looks at me,
as if i’m the one who paints
the summer evening sky

i know i am young,
i know i am only seventeen,
but i think i could spend
the rest of my life searching
and never find anything
nearly as beautiful as
the way he loves me

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

V

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

Mariam Briceño

V

I killed the first demon
Hoping for the best
But I did not know
It stained my veins.

I killed the second demon
Couldn’t look him in the eyes
As I knew It was gonna come
And haunt me back.

I killed the third demon
Shoot him through the heart.
My head shook senseless,
Its madness made me insane.

I killed the fourth demon
He spit me in the face.
I could feel him
Tearing up my flesh.

I killed the last demon
And so I thought it was the end
But little did I know
His friends wanted revenge.

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

idiot aliens

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

Raj Arumugam

idiot aliens

1
Commander Alien outlines his strategy
for when visiting earth:
“We should not celebrate Christmas
so we don’t give away our presence”

2
one alien goes to the cat
and says to it:
“Take me to your litter!”
The other one turns to the gas pump and grunts:
“It’s really rude of you
to stick your fingers into your ears
When I’m talking to you!”

3
One alien goes into the shop
and orders his favorite tea items:
Gravi-tea and Mars-mallows

4
One alien goes to wash
in the meteor shower;
while the other comes to find
he’s had a ticket cos he
forgot to pay the parking meteor

5
But not all aliens are dumb though,
as this final tale will show

One alien goes to the pillar box
and tells the post box:
“Take me to your leader”
And the other alien shouts across:
*“Hey, you dumbo –
can’t you see he’s only a child!”

ordinary online jokes transformed through verse

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

I'm Trying

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

r l

I'm Trying

Are minds supposed to race so much at 10:30 pm?
Every sound
Sight
Touch
Igniting more anger and uncomfort
But silence doesn't make it better
Nothing does

Maybe if I were smarter
I wouldn't be so confused
Stuck doing 15 papers at 10 pm
Every question
Or sentence in a book
Making me more confused and infuriated

My stomach churning with anxiety
My head aching
My face wet with tears of defeat

Don't open that box
You've been clean for so long
And I didn't
I didn't open the box
And didn't grab the farmiliar blade within it
I know I couldn't stop once I did
So I didn't
It's not easy
But I'm trying
I promise

So I don't even know what this is. This barely makes sense,but whatever. I think I just had/am having an end-of-the-school-year-crisis,with the piles of homework and everything. I even had the whole mental-breakdown-crying-emotional part,too. I'm okay now,I hope,I just wanted to write something,since I hadn't in a while.

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

The Spider's Web

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

E. B. White

The Spider's Web

The spider, dropping down from twig,
Unfolds a plan of her devising,
A thin premeditated rig
To use in rising.

And all that journey down through space,
In cool descent and loyal hearted,
She spins a ladder to the place
From where she started.

Thus I, gone forth as spiders do
In spider's web a truth discerning,
Attach one silken thread to you
For my returning.

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

who am i?

May 2013 Esmé van Aerden

Jada Tower

who am i?

who am i?

i'm tired eyes and bed hair.
i'm coffee stains on the pages of my favorite books.
i'm dry humor in the morning when all i want to do is sleep.
i'm my favorite song lyrics blaring through the speakers on a long road trip.
i'm a stranger sitting on a park bench watching people live their lives
while all i do is sit and observe.
i'm all the places i've been to and explored on sunday mornings
leaving little bits of me when i go.
i'm the tide splashing at my feet while i make pictures in the sand.
i'm a quote from my favorite movie that i've seen too many times to count.
i'm shorts and a tank top on a warm summer day
then boots and a coat on a cold winter night.
i'm a fishing pole in its stand on the bank of a murky lake.
i'm late nights out with friends
when i should really be at home in bed.
i'm the thrill of sneaking into somewhere you shouldn't be
and the terror of getting caught.
i'm goodnight kisses
and early morning hugs.

so who am i?
i am these fragments
pulled together, making me tick.