by Karsyn Jo K., 13
Everyone in the world seeks power, we crave and chase it.
The most powerful thing is not fear, or even words, emotion doesn’t even compare. Not money, not love.
The most powerful thing I’ve ever witnessed ever experienced is the bond of children not yet adults but not children.
Viridity: naive innocence.
They hold on fiercely, loyalty unmatched, willing to die for each other, they fight for one another no questions asked.
Running through the dark, galloping like horses as the stars swoop through the sky.
The air is fresh and alive with electricity because these children that are not children have their own thoughts and ideas, they feel in control of their bodies for the first time.
A night of freedom has enlightened them.
They long for another night like this, they cling together dreaming of tomorrow.
A bond that will inevitably break but will forever be unmatched will always link them.
These children need only each other, with each other they could rule the world if they wished.
Hiraeth: a spiritual longing for a home that maybe never was.
Blood and tears are the same when either are seen; they surround like attack dogs ready to defend.
Do not call them emotional or young as if inexperienced. If you do, you have forgotten the sparks that ran through your veins when feeling such a connection.
To be this age is a gift we are given for only so long before it is gone. So give us no shame for using it to its fullest extent. You’d take it in a heartbeat.
Let us run through the grass screaming, shrieking, wailing as we dance in the dark.
Our youth pours out of us in a glow, our eyes alight like fire. It is a spell to be this young.
Words pour off our tongues in a song, our opinions matter and we will be heard.
Do not ignore the danger of this fragile age because we will not all make it through the intoxicating spell. Those who do sometimes cannot live without it, so they do not.
Shades of lavender and blue are the only memories I have of these nights skipping across highways, frolicking in the shadows like heathens.
We celebrate this magic, to keep it contained is an indescribable pain.
The otherworldly thrill that starts in your stomach and travels to your throat until you float through midnight wonderfully alive is a never-ending rollercoaster.
To experience this in a group, as your essence swirls creating a painting around you. You are unstoppable, you have your very existence at your fingertips reaching and grasping at what the word “free” means.
We are wild as our souls fly through the clouds, while the sun rises orange, pink, red.
Holding hands we watch in amazement, for a split second utter peace surrounds us and our troubles go quiet.
This spell, this enchantment, is called being a teenager.
Iowa, USA
Notes from our interns on selecting this piece: The powerful figurative language of this poem conveys the hopeful indignation of a generation aching for change and better tomorrows. The imagery of “running through the dark, galloping like horses as the stars swoop through the sky” and “eyes alight like fire” captures the electric feeling of being a teenager in beautifully descriptive ways. The shared pain this generation has seen creates a camaraderie and connection in becoming “attack dogs ready to defend” and “holding hands” in brilliant sunsets. The enchantment of youth is wonderfully captured in this piece, which made it a perfect selection for Voice & Verse.
Bridge Ink 