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 Dec 2017 Ben Kaw
Vyiirt'aan
I walked through the valley
Longing for the warmth of home
I passed the thorny road
Engraving my feet with their thorns
Destined to guide myself home
I fought my way through and conquered many obstacles.

As fierce and brute my appearance seems
Many would consider me gentle and kind
Never would I lose my honor
Or hurt anyone, I swear!
Telling the truth in a world of lies.

Still, I wandered alone at night
Through the valley I loathed
Returning home past the lake,
Origin of love and courage
Never would I yield, nor
Grief over my mistakes.

I faced the countless lies thrown at me
After all, I did not meet my demise
Many would have suffered despair
Not a single thing complied
Over the thin air and frigid snow
The thin air that lingered through the pass.

Greatness ensued the men succeeding me
Enamoured with pride, in fervent passion
Never would they break the morale
That was built through my strength
Leaving them behind was no option
Eventually they would reach the promised land.

I watched the legions from above
Generations of trust and power
Achieved things man could not imagine
Victorious cries and shouts
Elated return to our motherland
Us, the victorious warriors
Pursuing the dream of infinite strength.

It was all an illusion from the start.
 Dec 2017 Ben Kaw
kas
this is how it happens
it's the last day the temperature will be
above thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit
until February
you're not looking at the date
it's just the end of November
the middle of the night in the middle of a road
at the end of November
the hum of this small town hurts your ears
you're stuck in a dream where everything you see
turns into a weapon
this is how it happens
you knocked back sharp, amber liquid
to make this place feel a little more okay
and it only worked halfway
no matter how soft the edges are
you bruise your hips when you
run into them in the dark
you're ******* on your fourth cigarette when
a police officer pulls over and asks
how you're doing today
in the too-bright white of the headlights
the sick taste of Red Stag sticks to
the roof of your mouth
the mouth that you're moving into a smile
the mouth exhaling plumes of smoke at the ground
you're okay
"i'm okay."
you don't tell him what you're really doing
you're really taking all of your
thoughts about stopping your pulse for a walk
you don't tell him you've been
chasing ambulances all night long
please, officer don't leave me alone, you don't say
he tells you to have a good night and drives away
and this is how it happens
the moon smiles at you with every single one
of its tiny, sharp teeth
nobody but your cat finds you in that bathtub
nobody but your cat watches you rise from red water
watches it drip drip drip
from every chasm carved in your left arm
nobody but your cat saw the soft animal of your soul
shiver from the cold that day
it's the first day the temperature
dropped below
thirty-two degrees Fahrenheit inside your chest
based on true events
 Dec 2017 Ben Kaw
Jay
DROWNING
 Dec 2017 Ben Kaw
Jay
Two years ago,
I started drowning
It wasn’t bad
At first
A little tightness
In my lungs
But nothing too bad

One year ago,
I was still drowning
The air wasn’t coming
Back into my lungs
Only ice cold
Freezing water
Blackness started
Edging into my vision
But I ignored it
Because no one else around me
Was drowning
So there was no reason why
I would be, unless
I was weak
I wasn’t weak
I wasn’t drowning
Or so I said

Six months ago
I started drowning
For real, this time
There was no denying
The fact that my hands
Were turning grey
And my lungs were crying out
But my blue lips
Didn’t part to
Let out that scream
And my grey limbs wouldn’t
Flail to show someone,
Anyone at all
That I was drowning

Five months ago,
I kept drowning
I was now far from the surface
Of the water
Where it was light blue
And warm in the
Shallow ends of this water
I had far surpassed that
I was in arctic water
Deep and cold
Murky and unfathomable
Drowning, and not making
A single sound

Thirty-six days ago
I gave into drowning
Well, I had given into it
When I decided that
Greying skin and blue lips
Was fine, for me
But now, I completely gave in

Thirty-six days ago,
I wanted to drown
But I wanted to do it faster
And so I tried to hurry up
The process of drowning
Alone, in those icy waters

Thirty-four days ago
Someone dangled an oxygen mask
In front of my blue lips
They told me to put it on
But I didn’t want to

Drowning was like anything else
Once you had spent enough time
In it, you became afraid
Of what it would be like
Without it

I knew drowning
I knew its pain, I became friends with it
I was comfortable with drowning
And I knew the outcome of it
And I was okay with it

Thirty-three days ago,
Someone jumped into that awful water
Or perhaps they didn’t
Jump in, they swam over
They forced the mask between my lips
And then they stayed
It came loose, a couple times,
And I found other people who were drowning
I hated that they were drowning
But I think that we were all a little glad
To find that we weren’t alone
In our drowning

I’ve kept my oxygen mask
I’m still in that cold water
But now I have others who make sure
That I don’t drown
And I make sure that
Their masks are affixed
They do the same for me
We save each other

And now that I have
Enough air to breathe
I can see, and I can see
Other people who
Are starting to drown

So I take all my effort and energy
And I swim to them
Most of the time, they don’t have a mask
And it hurts me to see that they’re drowning
So I give them my mask
For as long as they need
Until they have their own
Sure, it hurts me, but as long as it helps them

A while ago,
I started drowning
I kept drowning for a while
But then I found others
And together, we found our way
We found our oxygen tanks
We’re still drowning
But now, we can take in enough air
To sometimes swim
A bit closer to the surface
A bit closer to
Not drowning
A bit closer
To real life
And no matter how far we fall
The others will help us start going
To the light blue, peaceful water
Water that we won’t drown in
 Dec 2017 Ben Kaw
Brianna Sich
The funny thing about love is people are always trying to tell you how to feel it.

"You hardly know the guy, you can't be in love."
"You're too young to be in love."
We've heard it all before.
From my experience though,

Love has no time constraints.
Yes, love is complicated,
But it is also very simple.

I knew I loved him when
I heard him laugh for the first time.
when I watched his eyes light up,
while he talked about airplanes.

I knew I loved him
when he made me an egg volcano for breakfast
and we pretended to be his roommate's parents.
(even though I had never met his roommate before that)

I knew I loved him
when I sat across from him on the dock
and watched the starlight dance on his face.
when I felt like I could tell him anything.

I knew I loved him when
he told me he had to leave.
I knew there wouldn't be a spot missing
in my heart where he once existed.
But a spot that he still lived
and bloomed,
where my heart still throbbed for him.

Where I still smelled his cologne,
heard him laughing,
felt his lips pressed against mine.

I would cry,
boy would I cry.
But I knew I would love him forever.
 Dec 2017 Ben Kaw
Paula Sullaj
Perhaps        I        You
        our         could     could    
              lives        forget    remember  
entangl­ed        about    the          
           so      another  love      
               man     for
                          and     a            
                                past
                                    woman
To                           
                 you         But                             
                        it             in          You                    
             was         one        are          
       bad          of          not    
            timing        my         letting        
                   infinite         me      
                            universes         go                   
                 
                                    How   ­   
                                     Naive
                                            **.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjz-c9G-mjc
But do I even cross your mind at late nights like this?
Do you?
 Dec 2017 Ben Kaw
Lauren Faith
The term daddy issues has such a negative connotation,
But what if the issue is he treated my mom and I so well
That I don’t know if I can find a man as good as him.

Now that I’m older I see all he did for us,
Worked long hours and missed important events,
so he could support us.
He was always there when we needed him
And taught us that we can do anything we wanted
Whether it was using power tools or being a princess.

What happens now that I found that man.
The man I was told all my life to look for,
And he stole my heart then ran away.
For once I think saying I have daddy issues,
Is beneficial

— The End —