WINTER

2020-2021

BEST OF ISSUE WINNER

WINTER 2020-2021

on driving through an american city

east on exit 8b, and mile 3 of       highway-faded   concrete, 

carried on  s  p  a  c  e  d,  swiftly crumbling pillars [over the

neighborhoods they decimated]. | | | / / __    you c-r-e-e-p in

          at dusk—and downtown   is     deserted.

          * tycoons hold court only from 9-5.

then, harsh raps on the filthy window       and a reeling

man staggers across barkley/4th.      “spare a   dime, a

quarter?”    +    begging with clouded eyes, he rounds

the dim corner—and        d i s a  p   p   e    a      r        s.

         (i think of   those     huddled tonight,    swathed in

         thin blankets,     shivering    below rusted     railroad

         underpasses that snake     out to desolate suburbs.)

onward…    past decayed liquor shops, drab asphalt lots.

dark rowhouses     punctured   by  gaping,   grassy tracts—

         like  grotesque     rot, these     relics of       defunct

prosperity,  ravaged hulks  littered  with    shards of    glass

gleaming—scintillating        in  murky        moonlight.

         (i think of those    fortunate    enough  to depart, leaving

         nestled  in warm   cars;    i think of   those      neglected,

         abandoned—to the   cruelty  of    : :    unrelenting Time.)

Henry Hsiao, NJ, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North

EDITOR'S CHOICE WINNER

WINTER 2020-2021

in light of

you       breathe like an accordion, shuddering,     your body emptying, because you

hate      knowing he’s the sun to your icarus,         feel the wax dripping, and

the        sensation is a wisp of smoke                     you won’t find this

way      and you’re a moth drawn to this flame,     but you know 

that       you’re also a black hole,                            the darkness in 

smiles   submerging all light, and this,                   you can’t let this go, he

can       -will- hurt you but you’ll close your eyes, and you

burn     because you know this                               won’t matter.

Amy Liu, NY, Hunter College High School

ALL OTHER CERTIFIED NATIONAL WINNERS

WINTER 2020-2021

Man, We Chowed on Tsunamis - Edwige Ghembesalu, MD, Montgomery Blair HS

Hills - Benjamin Tchang, PA, Pennsbury High School

Under God - Bria Cox, IA, Johnston High School

The Vagrant of Athens - Donoven McAllister, CA, Loyola HS of Los.Angeles

heaven's gate - Trini Rogando, VA, Jefferson HS for Science & Technology

Satan in Satin - Georgia Slavec, MN, Delano High School

Abort - Kristina Pham, TX, Memorial Senior High School

dancing on heavy stones - Kendra Black, WA, Roosevelt High School

Feeling Anxious - Kennedy Suber, MD, North County High School

Renascence - Jennifer Chiu, TN, White Station High School

Requiem - Drisana Bhatia, CA, Mira Loma High School

Zeus Wept - Vi Pham, TX, Pasadena High School

trainsong - Jacklyn Vandermel, NJ, Northern Valley Regional HS of Demarest

Dan - Katherine Vandermel, NJ, Bergen County Academies

In Stillness - Eileen Chen, CA, Foothill High School

Mother as Sea Monster in America - Sarah Yang, NJ, Academies@Englewood

Culminations - Rylee Spencer, AK, A.J. Dimond High School

Survivor - Angel Jordan, GA, Augusta Christian SAchools

Pompei - Trinity Richardson, FL, First Baptist Academy

The Lack of Summer Shadows - Sompour Wolfe, CT, homeschool