I MISS THE OLD SUMMER

SaniyahLarkins Grade11 WesternHighSchool

Summer always gave me comfort

I miss the summers when break didn’t go by so fast When I used to forget what day it was while on vacation

The days when I used to see my brother run away from the waves Because he was scared of them

I miss the days during the summer thinking High School was so Far away

That it would take forever for school to start And for me to finally see my friends

I miss the summers when I used to not worry about what is happening In the world

Or how cruel it actually was

I miss the summers when I used to be with my grandmother

And hearing her say “Saniyah Zain” while I was sitting next to her In her room

My favorite place was with her

I miss the road trips to Jersey before Covid hit seeing my aunts and cousins While I was there

Maybe my “new” version of summer is a part of me growing up Maybe the breaks getting shorter

And me becoming more self-aware of the world

Is it just me getting older

MUSEO DE REINA SOFIA, MADRID, SPAIN

pomegranate tea

DevonReown Senior McDanielCollege

on the floor of a friend’s dorm room; them, me, their roommate three mugs passed between us filled with pomegranate tea laughter fills the room as we drink perhaps this is the life persephone dreamed of when she accepted the fruit from hades a gift a shared meal untainted by cold deception unchained from home’s embrace but there is no god to chain me to this carpeted floor tie me to this wooden bed no deception brought this mug to my lips only love a promise warm and kept a home beneath the surface when the earth spirals into eternal winter they will find me here warmed by love and pomegranate tea