Here's the final batch of submissions. Check back Friday when the winners are announced! Who do you think should win?

Anu B., age 18

Maybe



Maybe I'm not who you want me to be,

But I'm me. Incorrigibly, irredeemably, painfully

Me.

Maybe I'm not where you want me to be.

Maybe my hair is too long for your liking,

Or too short for your delicate sensibilities.

Maybe my pants hang a little too low,

Or I hold my books a little too close.

Maybe my eyes are too sad for you,

Or my hips too wide,

My arms too long, my smile

Too blithe.

Maybe it's just that I'm too tall, too short,

Too skinny, too fat, too strong, too smart,

Too loud, too quiet, too immersed in my thoughts.

Maybe.

Maybe I'm not everything you want me to be,

But I'm me. Incorrigibly, irredeemably, painfully

Me.

But, maybe it's not me.

Maybe you're too…too.

Maybe you're heart isn't big enough,

Maybe your heart only feels its own pain.

My heart will have to be big enough,

I will survive your incorrigible, irredeemable,

Painful Disdain.

Anonomyus, age 22

Fall

I try to suppress the grin on my face

As I rush, alone, to my next class.

The campus is graceful in its nature

and colors and I'm alone, not

lonely, thanking the empty sky for

getting me to this place.

I'm in awe of the bag on my

shoulder, heavy with overpriced

books. Proud that my four successive

classes give me some place

acceptable to be.

I take notes and study and wear a genuinely

rehearsed contemplative look. I can't understand

the groans around me at another assigned chapter

or announcement of an upcoming test.

This is it.

What I've been struggling to attain for four

excruciatingly long years.

To sit in a class and learn, to abandon my corner

of safety and pain and thoughts designed to

derail me at every haphazard venturing out.

I spent the better part of my first two adult

years screaming on a locked ward,

but the piercing shrieks have faded,

and I don't think I have to be so afraid

anymore.

I don't think they can control me anymore.

Laura, age 22



Hidden vines are intertwined

Grapes turn into wine

Alcohol vapors rise

And sink my heart into abandonment.

It's now numb.

Yet it bleeds happiness,

It pounds and echoes long, forgotten beats.

I've never felt more alive.

This can't be erased

Nor forgotten.

Nothing can move me more.

Roots grow deeper and stronger

Leaves aren't rusted anymore

Pure, green life has just revived

Insects no longer pierce the wood

Winds and storms make the tree stronger

Lightning doesn't strike it,

Thunder doesn't bruise it.

The aching, sharp thorn from my wrist

Is now soft and blunt.

 

It can't hurt me anymore.

Looking back i smile at my disaster

And i embrace it with content.

The garden has finally blossomed

After a long, rough winter.

Allie Marie Birch, age 15

My Love Came From The Earth

One day I dug my fingertips into the soil of my secrets

Swept by the air, a moist feeling covered the atmosphere

A tear that escaped my heart found it's way to the barren ground

One after another I let them flow

A pain that swelled deep within finally unveiled

Splitting my memories and tearing them apart

I can see they're faces of lies

They're mouth's move with tales of sorrow

I can almost feel them still…

My hands dig deeper into the dampened Earth

Then a power possess me to scult my dreams

Forming from the dirt I created a man with pieces of myself

Containing everything to make me whole again

Soon I lost track of time and maybe my mind

But then he came to life

Hand in hand, we walked down the shore

Away from all my memories and into what I think, feels like home

I was always afraid to find love

But maybe it will be better this time

I can already see the sun

Isabelle, age 18

Solitude Unrest

Leaves turned to red…

Thoughts annihilate 

'til the leaves were green.

Jordan Beasley, 18

Judgements



A homeless man holds a sign saying "I'll be grateful for anything".

Do you pass judgment on how he got there or help him find his wings?

A woman with five children comes out of an office labeled "WIC".

Do you understand her struggle or say that she makes you sick?

An interracial couple walk together in a store.

Do you turn your nose up, or treat them like your couple next door?

A girl with many bruises sits alone with falling tears.

Will you walk right by her or help her with her fears?

Judgments…

A Caucasian female in the "ghetto" struggling to make ends meet.

Would you have ever guessed she spent all her life getting beat?

A female becomes a mother at an age you hate to see.

But I bet she's the best mom that she knows how to be.

Two females walk hand in hand with a smile on their face.

They're so in love, they don't worry with the looks of disgrace

A teenage kid has scars and cuts up and down both of his arms.

Will you be the one who bullies him or stand up to take charge?

Judgments…

The society we live in can be twisted in more ways than one

But being a survivor of rape, abuse and depression I can tell you that I've won

If you're going through it don't be scared to speak your mind

Because you never know who's listening, it will get better, you will find.

I didn't take their judgments but I see them every day

So be the one to stand up and speak, not the one who got away.

Adelana, age 20

Silent SoulThere is nothing divine

in the stir of silence amidst this soul

Pain was left to heal

Scars suddenly trodden with relieve

A drop of Liquid per minute,

rows rumbled with columns

for this bucket is far from half-full

A jagged aura of Venus

hovering with a wondrous grin

farewell, there is no cause to worry,

like the quote of good demons

A world without worry

a world in a lone glory

This wonders of beauty

Growing and puddling with danger

in the mind of solitude

Despicable and deadly volt

safe and secured for it will never get out

A word that was left unspoken

is now a sword cutting through the downtrodden