i kept your compliments in a locket
your sweet whispers wrapped in lace
i did not care about the harsh words
even when they ran down my face
and the blood trickled down and mixed with my tears
you still said i looked pretty that day
and i know it’s been two years
but do you still want to be my prom date?

Every year, in English class, we have a poetry unit.
I rarely pay attention.
I get a low A on every vocab quiz and
I can ******* my way through essays

I like poetry, though. I love it, in fact.
I don’t like analyzing it.

Poetry isn’t made for English class.
It isn’t made for stuffy classrooms in ancient buildings full of kids who would rather be anywhere else.

Poetry is made for reading at three in the morning
When the world is crashing down
When it feels like my insides are my outsides
And nothing will ever be okay
Poetry is there for me then
Poetry is made to hold up the sky
Or at least a blanket fort in my bedroom
Poetry is made for laying me softly down to sleep
And for waking me up to the bright, beautiful daylight
And reminding me that everything will be okay

If you see this note
I want you to know
It's not my fault
If love is starting to show.
So when I flinch at your touch
It isn't because of a crush
You just...made me jump.
When my cheeks go red
After you touch my leg
I'm not flustered, but...just something else instead!
It's just sugar and veins
that make me feel like I'm fizzing
And it's just habit
To hold your hand when I see you
...
Maybe I'm wrong and I do love you
Is that what I'm supposed to say?
Would that take these thoughts away?
But it's not like there's anything I could do
It's not like just this note would get all my thoughts through.

I’m functioning of 2 hours of sleep because I was up until 3 doing the assignments that were ‘easy’ -every teacher said

I have no idea what I’m going to do after school but hey, don’t worry about me
I know how to solve ‘X’

‘You can have fun in the weekend’-they said
But don’t forget
Make the assignments and study all the things you get through the internet

Don’t worry the exams aren’t going to be ‘that hard’
Just make sure to study 10 weeks beforehand

Memorize at first sight and don’t forget
You can also just study a dozen hours
Because who cares about mental health?

A man said
Wait you’re 18, that’s cool
What did you do to celebrate?
Oh, there’s a pandemic going on and you can’t see anybody’s full face?
I mean be happy you aren’t growing up the at the time I was your age.

A woman said
School is going to close for 2 weeks
It’s only temporary don’t get attached
4 months later I graduated through the internet
But hey I’m one of the lucky ones
An extra year of high school now really doesn’t sound that bad.

what is it like to have a "relationship goals" relationship?  
the girl who is laying in her bed; wiping her tears with the stretched out hoodie sleeve wonders that exact question

yet so does the popular girl who is dating the varsity hockey captain; her insta is filled with cute pics of their relationships; but the skinny tube top is covering hickeys on her chest that she doesn't even remember receiving

the girl who has never had their first kiss, or has even held a boys hand before wonders that exact question. Her research suggests that a "relationship goals" relationship is when you go on cute dates, have his hoodie, surprise him at his games and practices  

but the girl who isn't even noticed has the real "relationship goals" relationship. She nerds out on math while he reads off the periodic table. Nothing gets in their way because communication is their key

are "relationship goals" invisible to the people who seeks them?

Golden buildings and cypress trees
Information that held the soul
Intact and nurtured we would go
To the place to learn the art.
It was not about the test,
This understanding would rest,
Forever lingering about us.
Quickly breathing in the morning
A chilly cycle of the afternoon.
A warm smile in the corner
A straight face in the corridor
A moment with you would
make it all better.
Tell me you got that letter
I sent to the back of class.

My concept of time is completely warped, and for that, I pay no attention to it. Remember when you were younger and a year felt a lot longer than it does now? When you are young, and life is long, there is time to ****, but as we age time escapes us. However, we are just doing laps around the sun.

I arrive and the scents of morning dew and fresh flowers gush into my nostrils. Breathing in nature as I start on the day. Just 5 minutes ’til the bells go ring ring ring and the peace moment song echoes through the hallways.

I continue on with the loud chatters from left and right. Papers ripping, ball pens tapping, and feet pacing. At lunch, we munch on lunchboxes being passed from one another. Three hours more but eyelids feel heavy from all the eating and talking.

I depart by walking down a trail of tranquil green trees towering over one another. On warm days, the flower petals fall gracefully and I follow along the path like a scene in a movie. Sometimes, I take on another path, and the smoke of the grilling of barbecues envelopes, and I finish off with my white uniform smelling with a satisfied appetite.