Growing up Poems
Transfiguration
by Anastasiia Mikhailovna
When does all the reinvention, reincarnation, praying, and stumbling end?
Where does the transformation stop and the life after it begin?
To transfigure is to change, to become more beautiful and spiritual
And yet, each one of my successive reinventions
Feels more like sewing sinews to a fractured bone
Than weeks in which I praise God and embrace the transformation.
I am tired of reinventing myself.
It has been five years since I began to change–
......
The home I grew up in
by Carter Botham
You missed it when you walked in,
The tiles in the bathroom that looked like an ogre,
That had captured my imagination as a child.
You missed that the bottom stair was harder,
The leak in the upstairs bathroom that was neglected and left to the care of a bowl,
Emptied weekly as if this chore was less than fixing it.
You missed the dent in the paint from the arguments,
Doors slammed haphazardly into walls,
The stain on the carpet from way back when,
......
Promises
by Mykah Cea
Cross my heart, hope to die,
Stick a needle in my eye.
A swarm of paper lanterns is suspended by evening warm air.
As a summer blizzard, they shine brighter than gold.
We promised one day, we'd shine brighter.
On her mossy bed, lithe clusters of lavender brush her satin skirt.
Like her, their violet crowns are dusted in pollen and starlight.
......
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
......
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
......
Transfiguration
by Anastasiia Mikhailovna
When does all the reinvention, reincarnation, praying, and stumbling end?
Where does the transformation stop and the life after it begin?
To transfigure is to change, to become more beautiful and spiritual
And yet, each one of my successive reinventions
Feels more like sewing sinews to a fractured bone
Than weeks in which I praise God and embrace the transformation.
I am tired of reinventing myself.
It has been five years since I began to change–
......
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;
......
