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Mississippi Yearning
you are a veiny thing gossamer serpent stretching its neck from stem to stern
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The Fault of the Moon
Just as the ocean’s tides recede, the waves always come back to feed.
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Synesthesia
The scent of smoke burns my skin. All I can smell are the flames burning before me.
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HISD Open Door Policy (from the perspective of a student)
The beginning of a new school year is always an adjustment: returning to a regular sleep schedule, forfeiting free time as homework piles up.
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I Miss You, Grandma
I miss you Grandma, I know I'm not supposed to start a letter like that, but I’m also not supposed to write to someone who is no longer with us.
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Double Double This This
Double mirrors and doorways— Double keys and hard drives—
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Penelope
I stitch my shroud, in quiet contemplation It is time that I race against, leaving rough edges I never hope to finish.
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Warning to Firefly-Catchers
moving in the clandestine hidden in the brush i trudge along the undergrowth cloaked in musky dusk
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Space for Being Single
David Brooks, renowned New York Times columnist and journalist, recently published an article entitled “To Be Happy, Marriage Matters More than Career,” in which he posits, unsurprisingly, that marriage receives…
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The Stranger in the Photo
It is August 24th, 2008. I am clad in a backwards tan cotton twill cap, a linen tank top, and a pair of striped green seersucker shorts.
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Well-Meaning Advice and Other Methods of Dream-Crushing
Society told me that college was for “finding yourself,” or whatever that means. Countless movies promised me that college would include glamorous makeovers, revenge degrees (à la Legally Blonde), and…
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An Abridged Architectural History of Old Suburban Chicago
The Queen Anne never tries to hide, slyly aligning herself to the eyes of mindful passers-by:
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Old Photo Album I Found at an Antiques Store
You, holding the baby, crouching in a meadow, a child yourself. Your father: straight short hair, dark suit, slow face. Here he is holding you, here he is with your…
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As I Await My Departure
As I await my departure I drum my fingers on the desk I’ve made home.
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An Unofficial College Girl’s Guide to Adaptation
It’s not easy to look up from a year of college with neon blue hair, a different major, and crying because you and all of your new best friends/ life…
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Eulogy
Here lies a lesson for all daughters who swim towards stubbornity, who seek to satisfy that self-indulging instinct,
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If you’re reading this…
If you’re reading this, plant some flowers. As each academic break nears, I begin to excitedly anticipate returning home. I always miss my family, my farm, and my community. Duke…
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Dear Mother
dear mother, my magical cocoon, the safe haven within the walls of childhood where rose-tinted flowers grew beside hope-laden trees,
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Winter
I hated winter. I spent 17 years of my life dreading the end of fall because I knew what would come next and I hated every second of it.
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Difference
We can make the world a better place. We can make a difference We can empower others by uplifting them We can change for the better
