What is Black?

by Dylan Monge Hernandez, 13

Everyone thinks that black has no meaning. They use other colors like red and yellow but never black. The odd one out. The one who is always left out. The puzzle piece drifting away. Always hiding in the shadows. But there once was a time where black was in the color group. Always laughing, helping, and closing that missing gap. But now, he looks at the colors in the corner. Tears running down his face. Hugging himself through the tough moments. Reflecting on his past. What did he do wrong? Why him? Is he the problem? He sings a song in his head. He feels lots of emotion, anger, sadness, but especially feels alone. No one remembers his existence. He is always stressed out, trying to erase them from his head. He wants nothing to do with them. But he looks back once more and sees they already replaced him with another color. He starts to cry again, not finding peace. Choking on his own tears. He wants to find new friends but no one could replace them. He walks back to them. He waves at them but they completely ignore him. He walks back and doodles to quell the pain. He wants to get revenge, but he questions, am I better than them? He realized that they only kicked him out because he was all of them combined. He has all their traits together and notices that he doesn’t need them. One last tear drops on the page as he writes the last sentence: “Sincerely, Black.”

Red Bank, New Jersey

This piece won HONORABLE MENTION in our 2026 Voice & Verse Writing Contest, prose ages 12-14 category.

Judge’s Note: I chose this piece because it expresses how it feels to be left out and that when someone feels alone, they still have value and strength within themselves.