. . In Memory of Romeo and Juliet by Victor Tyne, St. Peter’s Preparatory School, Jersey City, New Jersey These twain ephem’ral lives were fraught with woes When they, a boy and girl in morn of life, Defied their due inheritance as foes And chased a star-crossed love as man and wife. Belovéd by their family, kin and friends, To honest, faithful vow of love they swore; Walked fortune’s path to meet their self-willed ends That ended ancient hate and true peace bore. Each fain would drink the pois’nous sip of death Or by the sting of dagger sharp depart, For entering the grave’s eternal rest Proved better than to live with broken heart. The sword of fatal love spared neither child, But through their deaths were households reconciled. . . My Somber Saunter by Rhea Mitr, Quarry Lane School, Dublin, California Rosy faces plastered with joy and cheer, Ambush of powder orbs dappling the haze, Wide-eyed legions exploring for reindeer, Imagination ablaze: holidays. Chestnuts roasting in the woolen fire, Vines draping the alabaster mantle, Resonating harmonies of choir, Faint flames waltzing atop a pine candle. Frail boughs sagging under crystallized chalk, Frozen spires clinging to withered wood, Fallen wreaths, stiff hinges, fractured sidewalk, A silent and deserted neighborhood. Life’s tender lattice is rather brittle, Easily slashed with my frigid sickle. . . The Forest by Kaley Henyon, Linganore High School, Frederick, Maryland In the forest, dark and daunting, shadows sneak so ever haunting The sun is gone there is no light, I’m all alone in the forest tonight Shadows deft with grapes of wrath, streak across the unmarked path My fear, it sears, my beat brain’s might, upon this eve I think of flight Filled with trenchant thoughts of plight, my heart, my skin, all gone white In the forest, on this night – As I walked the rigid ground, in the distance, a crackling sound A moment of vivacious light, I see a chance to make wrongs right I know it’s tempt within the fire, appealing to my deep desire I impugn this glow, its florid light, it ever stretches within my sight The sound, it grows, no longer slight, the temptation calls, no fear, no fright In the forest, on this night . . Creed of Communism by Jacyln Kennedy, Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek, Arizona Crimson hands, roses drowned with might With plucks and pricks, their thorns in flight As stems dwindled, wilted, they bled For who grew keen of raging Red? Cease the glow, gleam of glory Rise, cosmic purgatory Let its chains ring, surge with bones Bound as one, we weep alone Was it the Youth, palms thawed in blue? Blazing fingertips, softened Truth Hallowed hearts and high-handed heads Kindle the thirsts of the ill-fed Beyond these ashes, coast to coast Upon the West, a fruitful rose Bloom, blossom this sermon of fair A veiled vow to leave us bare Surely, in time, idolatry of blight Would grieve in seconds, the minutes finite Yet a hammer, They use, to slice the saved Even the Devil spits upon His grave To Reds, may I so kindly inquire Your hue’s scare ablaze, a rampant fire Why continue, lust for bedeviled buds? Blink a bitter tear, taste our salt and blood? Whistled from those flush, decayed petals for lips, “To let our thorns branch into dictatorship” . . NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary.
