ASP RETREAT #2

PhotobyNakiyaB.

Grade12

CRJ

AssataMakonnen

Grade12

BaltimorePolytechnicInstitute

Do you ever wonder why the caged bird sings?

Idk, Angelou had her theories but maybe it was just nice to be somewhere safe. Maybe it was just nice to be somewhere comfortable, somewhere where you didn’t have to think because thinking is dangerous, y’know?

Like, things start to unravel when you take a closer look, y’know?

Like how a melody might wind around your soul & whisper nothings so sweet but come to find out that the saccharine was just meant to hide the fact it was actually empty.

But a song is still a song.

Just as much as 4 walls make anything a home. It is safe to stay with what you know.

Aiming too high is a disaster when you are struggling against the air with clipped wings. So might as well keep your nose down now before you nosedive on your way out.

So, let’s stop chasing the stars

And settle for The Black Nothingness of space in between

Tricking ourselves into thinking we are satisfied But there ain’t no hunger like a dream

Ain’t no itch like the panic that your life is almost over but

You’re still singing.

There is nothing like the way a drug will masquerade itself as a habit

& promise to love you

There is nothing like the taste of metal bars against hot skin

It’s easy to cheap out on dreams if you forget your heart has a stomach

That your soul has a mind

That your brain speaks a language that can only be answered by a home with no bars a sky with no holes a sun dripping free down your back

Now how ‘bout that?

Or will we stop chasing...?

At some point, cold becomes our love language, & we sing it softly. Never knowing, perhaps, that We keep out growing. Demanding new wings, Instead of simply asking for the key.

Charm

Editorial Intern Bios

Nakiya B. is currently attending CRJ High School and will be a senior starting this fall. She is new at CHARM, and her hobbies include drawing, painting, journaling, watching anime, reading, and creative writing. Recently, she received a Grad at Grad award from her school for asking questions when needed and keeping up with her schoolwork. She had been inducted into the National Honors Society for her high GPA. Through this internship, she intends to practice her writing and editing skills while presenting creative ideas and stepping out of her shell.

Shubhan B. is a sophomore at UMBC. In 8th grade, he won a poetry competition which led him to have a poem for a CHARM publication in 2018 finally. By 2019, he joined as an editor and made poems for publications such as Filters and Love, also doing the cover art for Love. He has a passion for writing poems, stories, producing music, drawing, and painting.

Stephanie Jeghede is a sophomore at Towson University. She is new to CHARM. She received several awards while in JROTC in highschool. Her hobbies include reading, crocheting, and she hopes to learn a lot more at CHARM and contribute however she can.

Ju’wonte Jenkins is a rising freshman at Connexions: A Community-Based Arts High School. This is his first time working with CHARM. Ju’wonte loves dressing up, watching movies or You Tube, and his favorite day is Halloween. He also loves school and his favorite subject is in fact math. He’s 14 years old and his birthday is June 9.

Jenna Nesky is a poet and a senior at Carver Center for Arts and Technology. She was a finalist in the Narrative High School Contest, and is published in journals including Eunoia Review. As she enters college, she hopes to study creative writing and poetry.

Sarah Pobee recently graduated middle school (Mount Royal EMS) and is excited to attend Baltimore City College in the fall. Due to her interest in writing, she participated in CHARM’s virtual writers workshops and won 3rd place in a citywide writing contest with the Enoch Pratt Free Library. Other than writing, Sarah enjoys reading, dancing, baking, writing, cooking and spending time with her cats, Mu and Rho.

Devon Reown is a senior history major and studio arts minor at McDaniel College. When they were in elementary school, a poem that they wrote was published in CHARM Magazine. Their interests include art, creative writing, acting, and they’re slowly getting into graphic design. Devon hopes that, through working with CHARM, they will be able to continue improving their skills as a writer and as an artist.

Maya Walker is an incoming freshman at Chatham University who plans to study creative writing and Spanish. From Towson, she is fascinated by the intersections of language and writing, particularly poetry. She is the founder and editor in chief of Fulminare Review as well as an executive editor at Spiritus Mundi Review and a staff writer for Immortal Journal. Over the past year, Maya interned at Mason Jar Press and wrote a poetry book which she is currently trying to find a home for. She is excited to continue working with literature through CHARM’s internship sites.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Thanks to OZ Sanders for leading the graphic design process and for sharing your expertise with our student editors.

Thanks to editors Shubhan Bhat and Devon Reown for creating the cover art for this volume.

Thanks to Lynn Hade for the back cover photograph.

Thanks to Rob Dickerson at Work Printing and Graphics for another beautifully printed publication.

ABOUT CHARM:

CHARM: Voices of Baltimore Youth is a literary-arts organization founded on the belief that kids’ voices matter. We are on a mission to support young people as they develop as writers, and provide a platform to amplify their voices.

CHARM magazine was founded by a group of teachers and their students in 2013, and has since published 20 publications that feature the poetry, fiction, essays, and artwork of over 1,000 students from more than public schools in Baltimore City. CHARM magazine is curated and produced by a dynamic student editorial board, which consists of middle and high schoolers from across Baltimore City.

We also offer a host of other programming designed to support young writers and amplify student voices, including in-person and virtual workshops. Check us out at www.charmlitmag.org for more information, and follow us on social media @charmlitmag.

Want to get involved? Want to support our work? We welcome your contribution on our website (above), and your gift is tax deductible. We also offer monthly subscription options at www.patreon.com/charmlitmag.