Growing up Poems
Where You Are Planted
by Evie Shockley
He's as high as a georgia pine, my father'd say, half laughing. southern trees
as measure, metaphor. highways lined with kudzu-covered southern trees.
fuchsia, lavender, white, light pink, purple : crape myrtle bouquets burst
open on sturdy branches of skin-smooth bark : my favorite southern trees.
one hundred degrees in the shade : we settle into still pools of humidity, moss-
dark, beneath live oaks. southern heat makes us grateful for southern trees.
the maples in our front yard flew in spring on helicopter wings. in fall, we
......
Adipocere
by Jessica Leininger
Something is rotting inside me.
Nauseatingly sweet release.
I cross the street, looking around.
Safety has a price.
Banana condom taste test.
Red light’s gone out.
Nervous tic motion
......
I thought twins could never be apart
by Marra Makinen
18 years of
“Look after each other,”
Making sure the other was alright
After a small fight or major disappointment
18 years we’ve been together,
Literally since the womb,
Teaching each other and
Knowing everything about one another’s lives
......
If only I could travel as far as my eyes can see
by Marra Makinen
An eighteen hour trip with two layovers
But when the mechanical wings finally breach the clouds
It's worth it
This land, however distant, is lush and green
Hills mark the skyline and square patches show the division of farms like a patchwork quilt
White dots speckle the ground and I never realized so many sheep existed
It's different here
I can drink despite only being eighteen
Buses and trains take me places I only knew cars to take me before
......
Growing
by Jules Morton
I stand at the edge of a border
Between two states of self, as I grow older
What will I keep? What will I lose?
From who I was, for who I will become
Growing up never seemed so terrifying
Yet now I am here
Youthful carefree days seem so long ago
How cruelly time marches on and forgets us
......
Growing Pains
by Gus Krueger
Achy bones like brittle tree bark
Stretching skin ripping like paper
Numb tendons lagging behind
Emotions mixed like soup on a cold day
Confused in finding a footing
Changes etched in aging eyes
Renewed perspective aching with stretching numbness
Growing up means experiencing new Pains.
Who Am I?
by Ken Ripley
Who am I?
I trod the earth,
My fingers knead the clouds.
I bend my mind into a
Hypotenuse of Pythagoras,
But the proper path to walk is dark
Behind and before
With never a tremor
But a start.
......
Like a Ray of Sunshine
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
Little Susie was everyone's favorite. She usually caused people to smile;
Like bouquets received from yesterday, traveling on mauve, Memory Aisle.
Susie Partridge was loved by all, since she was indeed sugar and spice;
Like honeycomb riches of sweet summer, which all bees deem very nice.
Susie played with fun dolls, pretending they were actual, factual people;
As dusk fools the eye with fun colors, when saffron light has grown feeble.
Frances and Fanny were favorite friends, like favored, shadowless noon;
......
A Frightful Buffet
by Evelyn Judy Buehler
Miss Muffet was a girl of thirteen, filled with youth's beauty and charm;
And a love of vibrant life zealous, like eager, vivid thunder of blue alarm.
She was a fine student, pert and popular; like the primrose popularity;
Or stars appearing at the designated hour, sparkling like crystal clarity.
Mary Muffet lived in a small town, with loving parents and her siblings,
Who sympathized with her fear of spiders; like colorful, fall misgivings.
Friends flanked their white picket fence, in fall days of glamour, striking;
......
Adipocere
by Jessica Leininger
Something is rotting inside me.
Nauseatingly sweet release.
I cross the street, looking around.
Safety has a price.
Banana condom taste test.
Red light’s gone out.
Nervous tic motion
......
