“Self Portrait” by Katie McDowell (18), New Orleans Center for Creative Arts "An Old Man in Military Costume" by Simone Wuttke (18), Dartmouth College (recent Benjamin Franklin High School graduate) "This oil on canvas painting is inspired by Rembrandt's 'An Old...
All the Terror I’ve Never Heard Of
By MEREDITH DELONG
My mind wades in melancholy waters
For no discernible reason.
Twist my pain productive, please.
Tell me about falling out of love
For the same reasons as diving in,
Opportunities missed by inches,
Fairy tales with no glistening savior.
Etch the names of the drowned
On my water cup and
Tattoo the burned on my wrists.
Show me the dot of my infinitesimal
Existence on the barren plane of time.
I want to consume the data:
How soon till we all succumb
To one demise or another?
How many have already?
What sickening relief will saturate our
Bones when the final glacier melts
Beneath our callused feet, when there’s
Nothing left to save after all the Armageddons,
Nothing left to do but inhale before
Murky saltwater engulfs every orifice?
I want an 8-ball full of nihilism and
An upturned tarot card of The Devil.
Tell me something sad enough
To make the glass-eyed mannequin weep.
Meredith DeLong is a 15-year-old high school sophomore who studies creative writing at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. In her free time, she enjoys reading a variety of genres and crocheting hats for cats.