Valkyrie Squadron: The Box of Anubis

Chapter 1

Egypt was filled with Germans and Italians. The Second World War began three years ago with Germans invading Poland. Four people riding camels arrived in Cairo and stopped at a bar. They headed inside and saw a German soldier drinking.
“Hey, you four,” the drunk German soldier shouted. “Identify yourself!”
“Sit back down, lad,” the person with glasses demanded.
“Ay, ‘lad’…don’t talk to me like that!” The German soldier then pulled out his pistol. “I ought to…”
The blonde woman shot the German soldier. The bartender ducked behind the bar table.
“Damn it, Dodie, I had him,” the Scottish man with glasses said.
“What were you going to do, John?” Dodie asked. “Talk your way out of this? You do like to flirt with women.”
The bartender peeked his head out.
“Stoker, calm him down,” Dodie commanded.
“Are you okay?” Stoker walked up to the bartender. “We are here to meet someone named George Sapkowski.”
“He’s…in the back.” The bartender pointed at the back door. “Are you the Valkyrie Squadron?”
“Yes, sir,” John responded.
The Valkyrie Squadron headed to the back room and met Sapkowski.
“Who are you four?” he asked.
“I’m John Doyle. These are Dodie Tolkien, Rick Clancy, and Thomas Stoker. We are the Valkyrie Squadron. Are you our contact?”
“That would be me.” Sapkowski turned on the projector. “So…you are the Valkyrie Squadron. Now…we are here to stop this man, Nazi general Johann Puckler.
The projector showed a picture of a man in his fifties wearing a high ranked German uniform.
“Nice chin,” Rick commented.
The projector filled, revealing Puckler and a German scientist with glasses.
“Alongside German scientist Alexander Hertzog, Puckler joined the Nazi Party in ‘36 and then the Afrika Korps last year.” Sapkowski was drinking a cup of tea. “They are at a tomb two hours away from Cairo.”
The projector filled again, revealing a picture of a tomb.
“This is the Tomb of Anubis,” Sapkowski revealed. “It is rumored that the Egyptian god of death, Anubis, created a box almost five thousand years ago. We will head to the tomb tonight. That is when Puckler arrives in Cairo.”
“How are we going to get in?” Clancy asked.
“We’ll need a disguise,” Dodie answered as she pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

Chapter 2

It was 6 PM. Valkyrie Squadron and Sapkowski arrived at another bar. There were twenty people in total including the three waitresses and three bartenders. The five then sat at a table.
“What can I get you?” One waitress walked up to Valkyrie Squadron’s table.
“We’ll take some tea,” John said. “Oh, and a date, sweetheart.”
“No, thanks,” the waitress replied as she walked away with their order.
“Ha, nice, love,” Dodie commented. “I’ll give you tips on women. Not.”
Sapkowski looked out the window and saw German vehicles pulling up. One of them, a Mercedes-Benz 770, was the vehicle that Puckler was in.
“Don’t freak out now,” Sapkowski whispered. “Our guests are here.”
Puckler and twelve of his German soldiers headed inside the bar. Everyone stayed silent. Puckler walked up to the bartender.
“I’ll take some whiskey,” he demanded with his German accent.
The bartender pulled out a shot glass and a bottle of whiskey. He accidently spilled the bottle. The whiskey landed on Puckler’s boots. He grabbed the bartender’s shirt.
“These were my favorite boots,” he angrily said. “I oughta use you for Projekt Darkness.”
“Please, General Puckler, don’t hurt me,” the bartender said in fear.
“Last chance. Give me a whiskey.”
Puckler let go off the bartender’s shirt. The bartender poured a shot of whiskey. Puckler drinked it and walked off.
“You both.” Puckler pointed at two German soldiers and headed out of the bar. “Stay here in this bar.”
Valkyrie Squadron looked outside. Two trucks and the Mercedes-Benz drove off.
“Alright, we’ll take out two of those soldiers and steal their outfits,” Clancy whispered.
“Was geht hier vor sich?” One German soldier walked over to Valkyrie Squadron’s table.
“Burn in Hell,” Clancy replied in German. “Dummkopf.”
“We have an idiot in a bar,” the German soldier called out in German, attracting the other soldier’s attention.
“This guy?” the other soldier asked. “Der mit dem Schnurrbart?”
“Ja.”
“Let’s take this outside, you two.” Clancy got up and walked outside.
The two German soldiers walked outside soon after. Valkyrie Squadron and Sapkowski watched the fight outside. Clancy punched the first German soldier in the throat and the other in the face. He then grabbed a brick and knocked them both out.
Valkyrie Squadron and Sapkowski walked outside.
“Now we have disguises,” Clancy said.

Chapter 3

John and Clancy grabbed the German uniforms and quickly put them on. Dodie, Stoker, and Sapkowski hopped into the back of the truck.
“Clancy, you never told us you knew German,” John said.
“My grandmother was German and Jewish,” Clancy replied. “She moved to America before my mother was born.”
Stoker then picked up a grenade. “I’ll take this.”
“Everyone, stay silent in the back until we are in the clear at the tomb,” Sapkowski said in the back of the truck.
John hopped into the driver seat while Clancy hopped into the passenger seat.

It was now 8 PM. Valkyrie Squadron arrived at the Tomb of Anubis by truck.
A German soldier walked up to the truck. “Name?”
“Stahl,” John answered.
“Kruger,” Clancy then answered.
“Get to your posts,” the soldier commanded.
“Danke schon,” Clancy replied.
Clancy stopped the truck near the tomb. Valkyrie Squadron got out of the vehicle. Clancy and John changed back into their normal outfits.
“Here comes Puckler,” Sapkowski said quietly.
The Valkyrie Squadron hid in the truck. Puckler walked by.
Sapkowski peeked. “Okay, he’s gone. We’ll split into groups. Stoker, you’re with me. You other three, explore the tomb as well.”
There were two halls inside the tomb. Clancy, John, and Dodie went left while Stoker and Sapkowski went right.

Chapter 4

Clancy, John, and Dodie stumbled upon a room filled with gold cups, gold armor, and gold swords.
“Are the Germans wanting to be the richest party in the world?” Clancy asked.
John found a torn piece of paper on the ground.

May 12th, 1942. My name is Doctor Alexander Hertzog. I have been at the Egyptian tomb for a year now, and I still do not know how to unleash the power from the “Box of Anubis” as it is called. The Fuhrer will be pleased if the legends of its powers are true: to raise the dead.

“They aren’t being rich, lad,” John said. “They are raising the undead.”
“Undead?” Dodie questioned. “That is unbelievable.”
“This page is from the diary of Doctor Hertzog.” John walked up to Dodie with the page. “The Box of Anubis! Anubis is the Egyptian god of the dead! Do you not remember that?”
Clancy walked up to John. “Look. It’s just a myth; the Germans are stupid. They stole the Spear of Destiny in France, because it was used to pierce Jesus Christ himself!”
“Clancy, lad! That is Christianity; this is Egyptian! The world is about to have a war with Germans and the undead! If we don’t stop them nor seal off the tomb to where no one can get in, they will release an army onto Europe and maybe even America!”
“You dummkopfs aren’t going anywhere,” a voice called out.
Clancy, John, and Dodie turned around and saw Puckler, Hertzog, and a group of German soldiers.

Chapter 5

Clancy, John, and Dodie were held captive by German soldiers.
“The Valkyrie Squadron are so stupid, thinking you can stop us,” Puckler said. “This is great. Valkyrie Squadron is here to see this! Once we open this box, the undead will truly ravage the world.”
“You’re crazy, lad,” John yelled.
“Open the box,” Puckler commanded in German.
The German soldiers walked up to the Box of Anubis. Suddenly, a gunshot went off. One German soldier was seen dead on the ground.
“Yeah,” Stoker yelled.
Stoker and Sapkowski were hiding behind an ancient coffin.
“Get up here,” Sapkowski shouted at Clancy, John, and Dodie.
Clancy grabbed an MP40 and got behind cover at the right hall. John and Dodie grabbed pistols and got behind cover at the left hall.
“You will not stop me!” Puckler yelled as he and Hertzog opened the Box of Anubis.
A bright light was shining. The corpses in the tomb all rose and roared.
“Yes, I will be…” Puckler was then bitten on the arm. “Ah, mein arm! Mein Gott!”
The resurrected corpses began ripping Puckler limb from limb as he began screaming. Hertzog was next; his head was taken off by the undead.
“Moj Boze,” Sapkowski said in Polish.
John, Clancy, and Dodie ran towards Sapkowski and Stoker.
“Stoker, do you have that grenade?” John asked.
“Yeah, why?”
Valkyrie Squadron ran outside of the tomb. Stoker threw the grenade in the tomb. The tomb began crumbling. The giant rocks blocked the entrance.
“Ah, that’s over,” Dodie said. “What’s that over there?”
The Valkyrie Squadron saw a couple of trucks heading towards them. They arrived. British troops ran up to them.
“Captain Thompson,” John said. “What are y’all doing here?”
“We were heading to El Alamein. We heard an explosion and drove over here. We’ll give you a drive to our camp.”
“Thanks,” Stoker said.
Valkyrie Squadron headed to the back of one of the trucks. The driver drove them to one of their British camps.

Necromancy

Chapter 1

I usually do not talk about my personal life. I just mind my own business, but what happened to me when I was seventeen traumatized me for eternity.
My name is Stephen Stoker. I live in Vulture Town, Texas. This is my experience with the paranormal at a school.
I woke up when my alarm went off. It was Friday. As I put on my favorite Superman shirt, my fifteen year old sister Mary opened my door.
“Breakfast is ready,” she said.
I walked downstairs fully dressed and found my parents and Mary in the kitchen. Mom was making pancakes. Dad was sitting at the table and eating eggs and bacon. I went to the pantry and grabbed a cereal box of Lucky Charms.
“Who are the pancakes for?” I asked Mom.
“For me,” she answered.
I went to the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk. I sat down at the table and poured myself a bowl of cereal. I usually pour the cereal first and then the milk.
“Any plans this spring break?” I asked Dad.
“No, we are just relaxing this spring break,” he answered.
I ate my cereal very fast. I looked at my phone to check the time. It was 7:30 AM.
“Mary and I got to go,” I told my parents. “Love you, Mom. Love you, Dad.”
“Have a good day at school, you two,” Mom said.
Mary and I got up and walked out the front door. I put my headphones on my ears as we walked towards the bus stop.
“Hey, guys,” a voice said far away.
Mary and I turned around and saw Scott G. Wells running towards us.
“Scott,” I yelled out.
“Are you ready for spring break, my man?” he asked.
“We are,” I said.

Scott, Mary, and I arrived at our bus stop ten minutes later. My other friend Sofia Martin was at the bus stop.
“Sofia,” I shouted.
“Stephen, hi,” she said.
The bus then arrived. Scott, Mary, Sofia, and I got on the bus.

Chapter 2

Eric Oyster High School was thirteen minutes away by bus from my bus stop. My friends and I arrived at 7:53. We walked out of the bus and headed inside the school.
“I’m going to head to my first period,” Mary said as she walked off.
“She’s obviously going to see her boyfriend,” Scott told me and Sofia. “They have been dating for three months.”
Sofia rolled her eyes at Scott as I just laughed at what he said.
“You’re just jealous of her boyfriend who has a girlfriend,” Sofia told Scott. “Go get one.”
“Whatever,” I said. “Come on, guys. We’ll be late for our first period.”

Scott, Sofia, and I arrived at our first period, which was science. Our teacher, Mrs. Wrisley, walked up to the board.
“Okay, class, we will learn nothing,” she said. “If anyone has any work missing, please complete it.”
Wrisley sat back down at her desk.
“Hey, Stephen, have you ever heard of the rumors in this school?” Sofia asked.
“No,” I replied.
“I’ve heard rumors that this school is haunted by night,” Sofia whispered.
“Are you serious?” I said while laughing.
“I am.” Sofia looked at me dead in the eyes. “People are saying that people worship a deity, and that ghosts fly around the school.”
“I doubt it,” I commented.
“Look, this weekend, we are sneaking into the school at night,” Sofia said.
“Fine,” I said. “If you are wrong, you owe me a free dinner at the arcade.”

Chapter 3

Once school ended, spring break had arrived. Mary, Scott, Sofia, and I walked to our bus at the side of the school. I sat next to Sofia. Scott was reading Stephen King’s Carrie and sat right next to Mary.
“Are we still doing it?” Mary asked me.
“Hell yeah, we are,” I said.

Mary, Scott, Sofia, and I arrived at our neighborhood at 4:43 PM. As we walked back to my house, Scott finished reading Carrie.
“Yo, one thing that is different from the novel and the 1976 film is that Carrie’s mom died when Carrie stopped her heart from functioning in the novel,” Scott said to me.
Mary, Scott, Sofia, and I arrived at my house at 4:53 PM. My parents saw Scott and Sofia.
“Hi, Sofia,” Mom said.
“Hi, Mrs. Stoker,” she replied.
“Dad, is it okay if we go to the arcade this Sunday?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said.
Scott, Sofia, and I walked upstairs to my room. Scott and Sofia sat on my couch as I turned on my Xbox One. We started playing Mortal Kombat 11.
“So, what’s the plan?” Sofia asked me.
I told her, “We will go to the arcade, which is five minutes away from the school, and then head to Eric Oyster High when my dad leaves.”

Chapter 4

Sunday arrived. Dad dropped me, Scott, Sofia, Mary, and her boyfriend Wyatt off at The Arcade.
“Text me when you want to be picked up,” Dad said.
“Okay,” I told him as he drove off.
“Before we go, is anyone hungry?” Scott asked.
“Uh, a little bit,” Wyatt said.
“Why did we bring him?” Sofia whispered to me.
“So Mary wouldn’t tell our parents,” I quietly replied.
Mary, Scott, Sofia, Wyatt, and I walked in the arcade and sat at a table. A waitress arrived at our table.
“What would y’all like?” she asked.
“We’ll take a large pepperoni pizza.” I gave a twenty dollar bill to the waitress.
“What time is your dad picking us up?” Scott asked.
“10:45 PM, so we have four hours,” I said.

Twenty minutes had passed. The five of us arrived at the high school. The doors were seen wide open.
“Why are the doors open?” Wyatt asked.
Mary, Scott, Sofia, Wyatt, and I walked inside the school. We split up into two groups.
“Mary, Wyatt, y’all are with me,” Sofia said. “We will text you two when we find something.”
“I guess it’s just you and me, Scott,” I said.
Mary, Sofia, and Wyatt went to room 104.

Chapter 5

Scott and I went to the principal’s office.
“This was once the office of Eric Oyster,” Scott commented. “He became the first principal when this school was established back in 1927.”
I looked through the drawers from the desk and found a piece of paper. I began reading it.

April 3rd, 1985. The ritual in the basement was successful. We used a student for the sacrifice to the goddess Melinoe. With this many souls in the amulet, the high school is now haunted by night.

“Who is Melinoe?” I questioned.
“She is the goddess of ghosts and the daughter of Persephone, queen of the Underworld,” Scott revealed. “Her stepfather is Hades.”
A door shutting was heard outside. A silhouette of a man in the window of the door was seen.
“Hide,” Scott whispered.
Scott and I ran to a cabinet and hid. Two bearded men walked in the office.
“I thought I heard someone in here,” one man said.
“Whatever, come on,” the other man replied. “We need to prepare for the ritual.”
The two men walked out of the office. Scott and I stepped out of the cabinet.
“I think it’s safe,” I said. “We need to get Mary, Sofia, and Wyatt.”
Scott and I walked out of the office and ran into a woman with brown curly hair wearing a denim jacket.
“Please don’t hurt us,” Scott said.
“Hurt you?” she repeated. “I’m here to wander around the school.”
“Who are you?” I asked.
“Samantha Dahl,” she said, “but people call me ‘Sam’.”
“We were just getting our friends in room 104,” I said.
“Room 104?” Sam questioned. “We need to get them out of there!”

Chapter 6

Scott, Sam, and I ran to room 104. By the time they arrived, the door shut in their faces.
“Sofia, Mary, Wyatt!” I quietly yelled.
Mary, Sofia, and Wyatt struggled to open the door. Scott, Sam, and I looked through the window.
“Find something to break the door,” Sam said to Scott.
A headless corpse emerged from behind the desk. The corpse was carrying its decapitated head with very white eyes.
“Mr. Ivring’s class is now in session,” the head said.
Scott grabbed a fire extinguisher and bashed the door handle off, breaking the door. The door opened. Mary, Sofia, and Wyatt ran out. The headless corpse charged at us, but soon disappeared.
“Who’s there?” a voice called out.
“Hide,” Sam whispered.
Mary, Scott, Sofia, Wyatt, Sam, and I ran to the janitor’s closet. The door was left cracked open.
“Ah, the door to room 104 is broken,” one man said.
“Isn’t this Mr. Irving’s classroom?” another man asked.
“Yeah, he began working here in 1943,” the other man answered. “By 1946, he was decapitated in a car accident. People in the cult are saying that his soul was later trapped in his class.”
The two men walked past the janitor’s closet and went to the right hallway.
“I think they are gone,” Wyatt whispered.
The six of us ran towards the library.

Chapter 7

Mary, Scott, Sofia, Wyatt, Sam, and I arrived in the library. Mary, Scott, and Sofia went to the computer lab. Wyatt, Sam, and I walked to the novel section.
“Uh, so, Wyatt,” I muttered. “What do you like about my sister?”
“She’s nice,” Wyatt said.
“Not to me,” I commented.
“She is smart,” he then added.
Humming was soon heard. The three of us turned around and saw a pale-skinned librarian looking down. She was twitching violently.
“Uh, hi?” Wyatt said.
“Get down!” Sam pushed me and Wyatt down to the ground.
A pair of scissors flew by us. The librarian looked up, revealing a scar on her forehead.
“No yelling in the library,” she said.
Wyatt, Sam, and I ran towards the computer lab and shutted the door. Mary, Scott, and Sofia ran up to us.
“What’s going on?” Mary asked.
“Hide,” Wyatt said.
The six of us hid under the table as the librarian walked around the computer lab. Sam stood next to me. I noticed a scar on the side of her face. The librarian walked out of the computer lab. Doors to the library were heard opening.
“I heard a yell in here,” one man said.
“Dude, I don’t want to be here,” the other man commented. “Mrs. Gretel was murdered in this library in 1958. Her spirit is going to kill us.”
“Whatever, it might be her yelling,” the man replied. “We have to get to the basement. The ritual will start soon.”
“I was right, Stoker,” Sofia whispered.
“We have to stop them,” Sam said.

Chapter 8

The six of us followed the two men walking in the hallway. We hid behind the vending machine as they stopped near the cafeteria. They pushed a wall, revealing a secret door. The two men walked in the room and closed the door.
“Let’s go,” Sam said.
She pushed the secret door. The six of us walked into the room and down the stairs. We saw a large drawn circle and an amulet on the wall.
“That must be the amulet they were talking about,” Scott said.
A door opened. Out came eleven men.
“Hey, what are you five doing here?” one man yelled.
“Five?” Wyatt questioned.
A man was behind me and knocked me out.

I woke up and found my left hand tied to a wall.
“Stephen!” Scott had his left hand also tied to a wall.
Sofia, Mary, and Wyatt were seen with their left hands also tied to the wall.
“What are they going to do to us?” I asked.
“Use you five as a sacrifice,” Sam said.
“Sam!” I yelled.
“What did the other man mean by ‘five of us’?” Wyatt asked her.
“I am a ghost determined to stop them from their rituals,” she revealed. “I was their third and final sacrifice in 1985. They kidnapped me and killed me. The goddess they worship is Melinoe. The amulet they use was created three thousand years ago by the goddess herself.”
Sam’s hand passed through my arm. Three men walked up to us and untied our hands.
“Master Ronald Oyster wants to see you five,” one man said.
“Oyster?” I repeated.

Chapter 9

The cult members pushed five of us in the same room. We found ourselves face to face with a bearded man in his forties.
“I see that you have found the basement,” he said.
“You must be Ronald Oyster,” I told him.
“Yes,” he replied. “My great-grandfather founded this school a hundred years ago. He was a fan of witchcraft, so he found the Amulet of Melinoe in Greece.”
Ronald grabbed the amulet and put it in front of my face. I kicked him in the leg, causing him to drop the amulet. I untied Mary, Scott, Sofia, and Wyatt. Sofia threw a lantern at the amulet. Ghosts flew out of the amulet.
“No!” Ronald yelled. “How could you? The amulet is destroyed!”
Everything was then caught on fire. The five of us ran out of the basement. Wyatt and I blocked the secret door.
“Get something to block this!” Wyatt yelled.
Smoke came out of the door. Mary, Scott, and Sofia pushed a bench in the hallway towards us.
“Move,” Mary said.
Wyatt and I got out of the way. We all ran outside of the school. Police cars pulled up.
“What are you kids doing?” one officer asked.
“There’s a cult in the school,” I said.
Another officer walked inside.
“Do y’all have any of your parents’ phone numbers?” the officer in front of us asked.
“We will call my parents,” I said.

Moments went by. My parents arrived and ran up to us. Ronald and his cult friends were arrested.
“Mary, Stephen,” Mom yelled. “Oh, my God. Why do this?”
“You and your sister are both grounded for one week,” Dad said.
The nightmare was over as we all drove away from the school.

Forgive Him

He didn’t know what he did was wrong
Forgive him
Allow yourself to heal and move on

He left you in his past,
walked away and never looked back
You stayed and fell to the ground

He is no longer around here anymore
Crumbling into a million pieces
Only now have you learned how to rebuild

He was the one who wasn’t good enough
You have struggled
and always thought it was your fault

He does not deserve your forgiveness
Once in a while he will cross your mind
Walls so tall, your heart is impenetrable

He was the villain in this story
You are the hero
together it forms an epic tale of good and evil

He cannot hear when you cry out for him
Your voice no longer quivers and shakes
On your own two feet you stand tall

Now you must ask,
“Did you forgive yourself?”

2021-22 Innovate Winners

Innovate is honored to announce ACC’s 2021-22 winners of the League for Innovation Student Literary Award.

Short Stories

1st Place: “Black Keys” by Johnathan Norton
2nd Place: “Immortalized” by Linda Yesenia Carrasco
3rd Place: “Time Traveling” by Lily Newell 

Honorable Mention Short Stories

Death, Hogwarts, and a Moose” by Lily Newell
The Nightlight” by Brooke Hatch
The Man With the Curled Fingers” by Kirstin Williams
The Lost Fortune” by Brady Schieffer

Poetry

1st Place: “Pond Politics” by Emma Lott
2nd Place: “Time of Youth” by Coral Brundige
3rd Place: “The One Lurking in the Dark” by Thomas Schmitt

Honorable Mention

Pledge” by Genavieve Middaugh
If Only” by Natilee Strey
Loneliness” by Bryan Guerrero
Withering Away” by Hailey Bazyn

Withering Away

Flowers fill the singular sunny building
Sun filters through the green stained glass
Dancing across the plants leaves
Red roses dart across the path
Lining the way to the secret garden
Ivy grows along the South side of the greenhouse
Touching the sky
Clouds sweep across the sky dancing with the sun
Leaves dance in the distance spilling their secrets

Flowers are sparse in the lonely building
Clouds block the sun from the green stained glass
The plants leaves twist and grow trying to remember the moves
Half dead red roses ruggedly line the path
Halfway leading the way to the unkempt garden
Straggled ivy climbs the South side
Reaching for the cloudy sky
Clouds dart the sky dimming the sun
Leaves fall in the distance whispering their secrets

Dead flowers litter the abandoned building
The green stained glass hasn’t met with the sun in years
The plants leaves wilt laying motionless with no rhythm
Thorny stems hazardardly line the path
Showing the way to the condemned garden
The Ivy drapes its limbs over the southside of the building
Begging to to touch the sky
Clouds fill the sky blocking the sun
Leaves lay on the ground silent

The once bright greenhouse that once nourished my childhood memories now lays to waste rotting in the distance. We have both withered.

Loneliness

Dropped off and walking on
Stepping into a home where everyone is gone
Say hello to the dogs, then head upstairs
Take a nap or contemplate doing something worthwhile
Lay there in silence waiting for another to come in
Talk to yourself to fill the void of emptiness
Dance and sing a little in order to stay positive
Stop what you’re doing because your embarrassed
Standing alone wondering what’s the next move
Head downstairs to get some food
But not too much since you look like a balloon
Eating less to make yourself look thinner
Sadness and cravings give in and you eat like no other
Feeling ashamed back upstairs you go
It’s getting late so it’s time to clean off
Spend an hour or two trying to wash the negativity away
Nothing changes and you feel the same way
Now you lie there again, longing for the company of another person
Darkness and quiet are the only things by your side
Sadness overcomes and a stream of water comes down
Drifting away things disappear
The feeling of falling down kicks in
Endlessly falling waiting to land
But all that’s waiting is nothing
And all that’s left is the loneliness
Ready to consume you

If Only

If only she didn’t stop
Didn’t stop expressing her love for the little creatures of the earth
Didn’t stop telling me to mind the snails slipping across the concrete of our doorstep.

If only she still told me
Still told me that I’m lucky whenever she saw a ladybug among the dew drops on the grass
Still told me when there was a butterfly fluttering behind us when walking in the park.

If only she brought me flowers again
Brought me dahlias on anniversaries, always freshly picked from her secret garden
Brought me marigolds whenever she could sense the apathy laced in my words.

If only she kept dreaming
Kept dreaming of what it must be like to walk among blades of grass towering like a forest
Kept dreaming of visiting the annual poppy festival to see sprawling California fields filled with blooms anew.

If only she continued
Continued to stare at me as if there were shooting stars gliding through my eyes
Continued to wish to be reincarnated as an orchid mantis; a combination of her two favorite things.

If only she wanted to
Wanted to not stop
Wanted to tell me
Wanted to bring me flowers
Wanted to keep dreaming
Wanted to continue.

If only she didn’t leave.
If only she didn’t go without me.
If only she didn’t go see the poppies
With someone else.

Pledge

I pledge allegiance
to the flag
of the United States of America.
I stood with my hand over my heart
at the ripe age of 10
in the bright, off-white,
crowded classroom.
chants are heard
all across the room;
echoey and loud.
We were all unaware and gullible.
We sang it up and down.
Never understood
what we were pledging ourselves to
every day.

And to the republic for which it stands
I held your hands my entire life
as you lied.
Made me feel safe.
Made me feel as though
I mattered.
They mattered.
But I should’ve known
it was all fake
Did you?

One nation
under god
cause there’s only one.
The others are odd
and they don’t belong
We preach individualism
but they sing a different song.
They are a prism
and we are a prison
that is painted as a utopia
But do you really believe that?

Indivisible with liberty.
To a point.
The line to that point
is a bit short.
Money is everything under our system.
Money unifies our system,
just as much as it divides our system.
Money is everything.
A black woman
single with kids
that never see her,
hiding her generational trauma
cause she has to be strong,
show them how
to stay alive.
Working 3 jobs
isn’t hard working.
That’s why she’s still poor and struggling
No other reason
right?

And justice for all.
Except those who are the perfect victims
for the “justice” of the justice system.
Except for those who are
foreign and poor
Their home holds the resources,
I need to hold
more wealth.
Hand it over,
I’ll ravage you either way
with my blind followers
and my own selfish wants
It’s mine.
This is justice right?

The land for the wealthy,
and the home of hypocrisy.
One corporation under god.
This is my country.
Aren’t you proud?

The One Lurking In The Dark

It sat there in the dark
Lurking as if it was waiting to strike
Or could it be nothing
Just the imagination
But what if it’s a ghost
Or a person
Or a chair
Or a coat
The thoughts running through my head
Lead my curiosity up ahead
I can feel its presence as I reach for the light
Anticipating the worst I switch on the lights
To reveal a coat on a chair and nothing more
A let out a sigh of relief and turn the lights off
As my back turns on the chair 2 eyes and a smile appear.

Time of Youth (Based off Sappho’s Poetry Fragments)

You will think of a haze of color and light when you think of me,
remember the shifting of a kaleidoscope when you fall asleep.
Under your eyelids past tears and nightmares, there is something that unceasingly glows—
a memory in your eyes that the soul softly holds.
And so you sleep, and so you dream.
And so you hope to spread your dust ridden wings.

We did these things in our youth,
we spread our wings and we lied to the truth.
We found darkness, we sought light,
we seeked many and beautiful things.

In the city
where the graves of beautiful days are marked by dappled sunsets cast over skylines,
for us the harsh night never rests.
The cold air of midnight sets snowflakes into our lungs,
it is because of this that we will become.

We live in a trance; for the sunrise we’re seeking.
With glass in our eyes, this midnight, we’re dreaming.
Opposite to us, the stars belong to the night.
They long for the darkness, so they can paint the sky.

A daring thought might say to let the stars burn your eyes,
a nightmaring person might desperately collect fireflies.
But the time of shooting stars still has yet to begin, we’ll be graceful in our descent while we let our minds spin.

The stone foundation of a darkened sky,
paired with the thin-voiced singing of the deep twilight.
Observing this is human, our existence is divine.

And when the sun comes back around,
and when the stars lose their glow and fall down…
I hope the kaleidoscope falls apart.
I hope that the sunlight fills your youthful heart.