Category: Junior Literary

Liquidation

The Dirt Cheap

has flooded

marked down prices

now

watered down

Liquidation

Liquidation is about the flood that came last Thursday. I overheard that the dirt cheap was hit by heavy rain, and I wanted to write this in honor of that store. Dirt cheap is all we live on. Piggly wiggly closed down, I cant imagine what life would be like without our Dirt Cheap. This poem came to me roughly around 3AM this morning. I’ve been thinking about it ever since.

 

Desparagus

I have no asparagus

e. coli season

leads me to

the asparagus of despair

desparagus

Desparagus is about… I’m not really sure. There was no inspiration for this piece. I’m not even sure why I wrote it. but, It exists and deserves to be known for what she is. desparagus. Gotta say, this one has the best title.

 

Beauty Marks

some pizzas are sad

but still good

my face

is the same way

pepperoni pizza face

This is about my face. I have beauty marks, but i often refer to them as pepperonis. I love pizza. I love life. Put those two things together and you get this cursed poem. Its meant to promote positivity, but I’m not sure if it would help anyone but myself. maybe it will. Let me know in the comments.

 

sonic

Please

allow me to obtain

two

junior cheese burgers

one

order of cheese fries

a small

strawberry slushy

This is my literal order at sonic. I love sonic. I could eat it every day and be content with life.

As you can see, poetry is very valid. It is spiritual. it is meaningful. poetry is representative of all this cool and important to life. My poetry, as you can tell, is super deep. not really, but, we can pretend like it is.

I’m about a hundred words away from meeting my word count, so I think I’ll come up with another poem really quick.

Words

count

in my assignments, I make my words count

until I meet

the word count

count

the words

400

to count.

This one is about the word count I have for this blog. In this poem, it shows my desperation to hit 400 words, as I am very close and just need a little bit more content to get there. At this point, I am really only a few words away from meeting my goal.

 

boom.

met it.

 

 

 

Take your pillow back.

The one you slept on when you stayed the night.

Give him his pajama pants back.

The ones you wore at school when you got home sick.

He was your home at one time, wasn’t he?

 

Don’t let him kiss you or put his fingers on the back of your neck.

Like he would do when he was sorry but had too much pride to say it aloud.

Hold his dog instead of him when your laying in his bed.

Like you would do when his attention was solely on the television screen.

It was never really on you, was it?

 

Scratch out the letters of your name that are written on the wall in sharpie.

The hearts and doodles all over the house were drawn out of love.

Write him a letter that reminisces on the memories spent and time wasted.

The scars and bruises living in your skin were left out of hate.

Did you love or hate him?

 

Offer to wash his bed clothes because you know it smells like togetherness.

Wonder if he will function without you apart of him.

Mop his floors because you have spilt buckets of salt through the years.

Wonder if he will be okay.

Why do you care so much?

 

Turn the music up so loud that it drowns out his madness and yours.

That is the only thing you had in common.

Turn on the lights so steals away the darkness.

That is where you have lived for so long.

Are you ready to go?

 

Don’t be afraid to cry, but don’t let it make you weak.

Think of swimming for once, instead of drowning.

Don’t be rash or daring, but don’t cower at the words.

Stand with your spine for once, instead of your heart.

Aren’t you tired?

 

Press your lips to his cheek and wrap around him one more time.

Finally, detach yourself from that love.

Walk to the screen door and push it open with out looking back.

“I Love You, But Good-Bye.”

Leave.

 

Something I wrote out of pure toxicity. It’s important to know that love does not conquer all. There are so many things that play into the beauty of a healthy relationship, and if love is your only reason, then hopefully you know that sometimes that just isn’t enough.

 

 

 

now what? what’s next?

In this lifetime, you will learn that sometimes letting a person go is the best option. When the pain is numbly unbearable and disheartening, distance is the only curable medication. Although your heart will cry and your eyes will bleed, every thing is going to be okay.

Love is a bittersweet substance that sinks into the depths of your emotional mind and swallows you whole. Everything will align itself, when the time is right.

Do not rush it, do not seek it, do not long for it. For when you do, what you seek will not always be what you find. Then there you are again, left to drowning in your self made puddles. Internally screaming for the distraught feeling to cease.

Now what? What is next?

It is not always easy to pick yourself back up and move on.

So I say again… now what? what is next?

Today, I found out that giraffes are becoming extinct. I’d say I’m surprised, but the truth is, I’m not. This will make 41,415 that are on that fatal list. Along with the bees and the polar bears, people will simply forget them. They’ll become nothing but a mere memory of the once quiet lives they lived.

Some spent their days within walls that were made of metal bars, never once even knowing what it’s like to be free. Whether it be a circus or a zoo, they lived for peoples entertainment, never once living for themselves.

I think it’s definite that circus animals have it worse than zoo animals. I’ve seen so many videos of innocent animals being held in cages where they can only maybe take a step forward or a step backward. The innocent animals being beaten by the owners. It’s borderline neglect, and the only reason it’s not is that they get so much attention in their circus shows. The amount of disgust those documentaries brought me made it to where I will never be able to enjoy a circus again.

The zoo isn’t much better. Unless they have some crazy big budget, the animals rarely get provided everything a wild animal needs. Who said the workers and owners of the zoo actually care about the animals? I hate to break it to you, but zoos aren’t for endangered animals, zoos are a business. The owners and CEOs only care about how much money they will get at the end of the day, and the next new animal attraction they can get their hands on to attract more people. They live their lives in captivity while little children and their families come and go, staring at them through glass, nets, and bars. How selfish, but I too went to the zoo some time ago to enjoy seeing the lovely animals, but what I didn’t notice was the sadness that rests in the pupils of their eyes. Dark, morbid even.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not surprised. This world is cruel, I know this. Who said even the animals were safe?

Forty-one thousand four hundred and fifteen.

Today, I found out giraffes are becoming extinct, but I cannot be mad at this world because I am just as guilty as everyone else.

It came like the winter,
and a breeze that almost blew,
my brittle bones away,
once I spoke too soon.

Never break a pinky promise,
and that was set in stone,
along with the soft rock,
playing on the radio,
he never let me turn.

As my fifth finger,
wrapped around his,
I began to question,
his own motives,
and what he stood against.

I like Indie, too.
He kept a steady eye,
on the back road,
that lay before,
his rusting pick up.

I sat in unison,
with my soda pop,
in the palm of my hand,
careful not to look,
too dreary.
For he wouldn’t approve,
of anything of that sort.

Instead I stay still,
staring at the desert sand,
that scurries past us,
as we go 80,
on a speed limit of 60.
I rest my head back,
and close my billowing eyes,
thinking to myself,
I’ve already pinky promised,
and I can’t take it back.

man, you know what is crazy? this time next year, i will be eighteen and about to graduate.

i have always thought about this time, but i never thought it would be here so soon. i am scared of what happens next and so should you.

i should be scared because whatever happens next is up to me, to a certain degree. you should be scared because i do not know what happens next. that made more sense in my head. my advice to you is to make sure you have it together before now. i sort of had mine together, but not as together as it could have been, you know? i want everyone behind me to be better than me.

keep these things in mind, while going through everyday:

“when you take risks, you learn that there will be times when you succeed and there will be times when you fail. both are equally important.”

this is a lesson no one took the time to really teach me because it was always about winning and being the best. in reality, everyone can not be the best at everything. somebody has got to lose and learn the lesson. at the same token, i feel like the “winner” should learn something as well.

go for what you want and want for what you go. < get it! clever, right?

anyways.. things happen. life happens. and they both happen because you happened. be grateful for them happening. love them, learn from them, grown from them, never leave the lessons of them.

love, support, and inspire others. display to people what you want them to display to you. put out what you want to receive. the universe gives back the energy you send it. make all the energy you use, COUNT. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12th grade-college.

Lately, the topic the world has been focusing on is the burning of Notre Dame. On April 16, the news of the Notre Dame’s demise spread like wildfire across the world and a great number of people were shocked that such a thing had happened. It was said that there were renovations being made on Notre Dame and that a worker may have left something on, causes a lot of Notre Dame and it’s famous spires collapsed. There were many pictures and videos of devastated civilians watching their beloved symbol and holder of history collapse and burn.  The event was terrible and saddening, disappointing and hurting the hearts of many. No one, including myself, could imagine such an important symbol of history to be destroyed. But, while reading articles and seeing posts about this tragic occurrence, I began to think of other land marks artifacts, and historical symbols that are still standing around the globe.

Those bits of history aren’t here to stay forever like many think they will. Not everything is permanent. One day, far into the future, the offspring of many generations after us probably will never know of the Notre Dame, the Berlin Wall, Big Ben, or maybe even the Statue of Liberty because so many things happen. The reminders of history are already old and they’re obviously going to grow older, regardless of the renovations that might be made to save them. We can only enjoy them now while we still have them. We have so many natural disasters occur such as tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, wildfires and it’s hard to know if symbols of the past will be destroyed and there’s not too much we can do. Rather than history books in the future saying that the students can visit these places, they’ll talk about when they still stood and how they fell. It’s such a saddening thing to think about because Earth’s history is so important but not everything’s permanent. Notre Dame was such an eye opener to this. Something many thought would stand for so many more years to come has fallen. That’s something we must grasp. It’s hard to do but it’s a must. 

Alternate reality games (ARGs) are defined by Wikipedia as “an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players’ ideas or actions.” In other words- it’s an interactive game using different types of media to give players puzzle pieces to the story that is being told. Many ARGs have come and gone over the years, and most of them have faded into obscurity. The most common reason for this is their failure to use the tools at their disposal to create an interesting interactive platform while also telling a good story. Many ARGs have employed the use of codes such as the Caesar cipher, Base 32, and Atbash- however, many of these codes don’t lead to anything more than the occasional hint to plot or spoiler. If one is able to create an interesting story while also using the many media platforms at their disposal in a creative way, then this would be considered a successful attempt of creating an ARG.

Because of the modern success of social media, many ARGs have implemented these into their “games”- they often create accounts under cryptic names, sometimes even using simple jumbles of letters and numbers to create an account that may not look like much on the surface, but is hiding much within its folds. Before the rise of social media, however, alternate methods were used. The rise of the ARG began with a game called “The Beast.” This elaborate game was the cumulative effort of advertising a new line of Microsoft computers and a movie called “A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.” Fake websites, email exchanges, and voicemails were set up all as part of an elaborate murder-mystery story. The game was at the time called the “Citizen Kane of online entertainment,” and at its peak, boasted over three million active participants.

Between 2001 to 2006, ARGs were mainly used for large-scale advertising for movies, products, and other widescale commercial uses. However, when sites such as YouTube and Facebook began to gain popularity, a new genre of the ARG was born: the self-sustaining ARG. These ARGs were the first to use not only multi-media platforms but also social media sites, to tell a story of mystery that pulled in fans of mystery and horror. More often than not, these early ARGs were mainly the stories of famous “creepypastas” such as Slenderman and Ben Drowned. The latter mentioned character, Ben Drowned, is one of the most prominent examples of the success of the early non-commercial ARG. This story was one of a haunted video game that haunted a society of people who were unknown to the mainstream world. To access parts of the story, participants had to send in videos of certain songs used in the game “Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” to try to forward the story. Certain songs were used for healing, the passage of time, and in some cases, death. The Ben Drowned ARG has, unfortunately, been paused for an indefinite amount of time, but it was one of the earliest pioneers in its field of storytelling and spooky stories.

Unfortunately, most ARGs of the modern era have become somewhat stale- they use the same types of patterns, same twists, and same plot devices to tell a story that many participants of ARG community have seen time and time again. When will the genre be opened to a new and fresh take on the modern methods at disposal for storytelling and clue hunting? At this point, only time will tell. However, we can always look back at past events in this community and see what sort of success the noteworthy titles have seen, and can hopefully build a new and revolutionary story from there.

(cited article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_alternate_reality_games)

Lately I’ve been wanting to find my rhyming voice again, so I wrote this. This Poem means a lot to me and I’m actually really proud of it. I hope you all enjoy. I haven’t really figured out the title yet, so the title of the blog “A Dance To Remember” is going to be my cliche temporary title. If you have any ideas, feel free to let me know.

I’m a little terrified. I must admit.
Stay still, let me take a photograph of this.

Kiss me like you mean it one last time.
I just fixed my make-up, don’t make me cry.

Pull away and hold me close.
Let’s dance the only way we know.

Spin me around, dip me down to the floor.
I don’t want to love you anymore.

My heart is breaking at your every touch.
I can’t help but wonder how you do this so much.

All eyes are on me, can they smell my fear ?
You call me beautiful as you lose hold of a tear.

I trail my fingers down your fair skin
Knowing with a sick feeling that I will never touch it again.

You ask me what’s wrong and I say I’m fine.
I’m dying to have one last good night.

History dances circles around us like secrets and sin.
We laugh under our breath, whispering “remember when..”

Those were the days that aren’t now.
Our laugh are too quiet, our screams too loud.

I watch and think about what you will do
When I kiss someone else and love someone new.

I can hear your accusation like static in my head.
All of it are things that have previously been said.

You will find a way to hurt me again, I’m sure.
I don’t believe your intentions have ever been pure.

So much time has passed yet nothing has changed.
Maybe it’s time I turned another page.

We both knew this wasn’t forever, no matter how much we claimed
I’m scared if we continue, we will drive each other insane.

But, for now let’s dance and love for the last time.
Tomorrow, my Darling, I will say good-bye.

 

 

This Thursday we go on Easter  break, and I am so ready for it. Jennifer and I have been planning to make bao buns (steamed buns) for what feels like months. It was going to just be us, but now we’re going to have some other friends come over. You know what that means? I had to go back and modify the recipes several times to match whatever quantities we needed for five people. I don’t think we can, nor should make sixty buns for five people, so I just decided to quadruple the bun recipe, which will make 48 buns, and to double the other two recipes, splitting the buns into 24 each. We plan on making Char Siu bao, a barbeque pork bun, and dou sha bao, a red bean paste bun. The dou sha bao will basically be the dessert for the day, and if Jennifer happens to make rice, we can use the extra sauce to make fried rice or to dip the pork buns in. This weekend will definitely be fun because I’ll get to hang with some old friends that I haven’t seen since this time last year. I’ll get to subject them to my cooking as well, so that’ll be extra fun. I’m so ready for this week to be over with! 

P.S.: I added links for the buns we’re going to make because maybe one of y’all will want to make them one day!