The day before the end

The Catlin Gabel School Senior Poetry Writing class final projects.

2022 CGS Senior Poetry Chapbooks

Watch our blades slice&nbsp; through ice, as goo falls on my feet in thickness and heat under dry summer air.&nbsp; High in the trees, songs sit softly. listen. laughing—&nbsp; Lifting to the sky, Feel my chlorine-stained hair&nbsp; and suffocating, cracked smile melt into boiling bubbles under the sun. Run your hands through sweet sunscreen that sneaks onto growing geysers that explode&nbsp; and leave us broken.&nbsp; follow&nbsp; from afar

And smell the burning rubber of drifting. Where&nbsp; The streets are dry. Taste the dust Taste the barren land. This place once warm grows colder, over&nbsp; time.

The day before the end

when my mother let me&nbsp; draw on her back&nbsp; i would sit between the cushion of her spine and the spine of her chair i’d draw on her back&nbsp; and forth emerging lines from my mind mindful of where i placed my pointed&nbsp; pen and she didn’t mind pulling at&nbsp; skin or being pulled by skin

washed away by night in the dark i feel my mural like scars along&nbsp; my thumbs, imprinted on her back that all along&nbsp; belonged to me.

to my friends and family for giving me reasons to write. to my peers for giving me reasons to hate my writing.

The Planter Iceskating on the lawn mural of my mother's back Knowing how to say goodbye The End

I It was harsh like Saturn, cascading from you, night made you fall from grace.&nbsp; The dew of your rays on my cheeks marked golden burns. I would bottle your skin. ‘Til drops would rain down. Plants would die ‘til drops rained down— I would bottle your skin.

II I burn, under an open sky, over an empty valley entrapped by the gorge. Trees melt away my frightful smile— Trees melt into my teeth wailing for more water rumbles below submerging me under dirt. Mountains will weep— giggles of fire, lightning slashing down on us until your suffering ends.

From the pier, I watched your battered way As pink waves crashed along the dying bay of flowers filled so full of fear Sought solace in their haunting day frowning in wild nights— smiling sweet like honey and bright like your reflection from the metal pier where wisdom wills the wading. White flowers cannot grow&nbsp; in the eraser of the snow that comes before they start to steer into the cool daylight of blooming spring, slow— slow down, look inside darkness of solitude will eat them alive Waves pink and cold, a golden sear, a reflection of our mended ride.

I bring you to a safety box with dirt and mealworms tied with locks. A wildflower finds freedom near a bay for one held down by rocks.

We wake we walk we laugh we cry as she sits on your chest in the cold light None of us know how to say goodbye We sit in suffocating silence side by side, until we break apart at night We wake we walk we laugh we cry on each other, without each other, we lie on the bed, on how we feel, when we walk outside None of us know how to say goodbye— Today, we joked about the sunny sky as we tried to think of a reason why we wake we walk we laugh we cry. Tears will lie on my fallen smile I’m still sitting in the cold light we think we know how to say goodbye one day sun and i will rise i’ll stroll around and forget to cry— Still we wonder how to say goodbye We wake we walk we laugh we cry

Name

Safari may block some audio or video from playing automatically and ‘read to me’ will skip these. You can configure this in Safari’s preferences.