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Chicken Soup for the Teen Soul Book - Real-Life Stories by Real Teens

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Flower

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A flower, a synthetic pink bloom

Sitting in a vase in my dorm

All about which the winds zoom

Night's runny blackness covers a storm

In my heart.

But the flower remains, mocking me

With its everlasting artificial joy.

A dog barks, a dish smashes

And I don't know if I've heard these things

A centimeter of candlewick lies in ashes

A symbol, too, of my forgotten life;

I've played too long with wooden matches.

And still she floats in front of my face:

That bright, and fake flower.

Billions of times, well 20, I called her

But every time my tongue was as rope:

Bound and unreleasable. Why could I not

Be true, I'll never know, only feel

Just above my stomach, in the pit of my heart.

Beckoning to me was the flower, water

Beading off into the salty soup of tears below.

I took my lesson from the happy nylon

And put a smothering smile on

In hope never to wilt, but in awful knowledge I would never live.

This piece has also been published in Teen Ink's monthly magazine.

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Copyright 2009 by Teen Ink, The 21st Century and The Young Authors Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher: The Young Authors Foundation, Inc.

Teen Ink is a national teen magazine, book and website featuring teen writing, information, art, photos, poetry, teen issues and more. All articles are written by teen authors who are students at schools. The monthly print magazine is appropriate for any teenager -- teenagers age 13 to 19 attending secondary school: junior high school, middle school and high school. This publication is used by professional people including English teachers, writing teachers, language arts instructors, journalism teachers, school newspaper advisors, librarians, guidance counselors, K-12 principals in addition to the PTA or PTO. Each issue of Teen Ink magazine contains a wide variety of student work: we publish nonfiction, fiction, poems, community service, sports, heroes, interviews, college essays, college reviews, book reviews, concert reviews, movie reviews, music reviews, video reviews, video game reviews, the environment, opinion, sports, pets, cars, automobiles, travel and culture, jobs and money, health issues, artwork, photographs, cartoons, short stories, essays, writing contests, a college directory and the website also has a bulletin board and resources for teens and educators. Subjects include racism, eating disorders, depression, death, suicide, family, relationships, jobs, grandparents, violence, the college process, college information, colleges, driving, self esteem, the arts, movies and more. Teen Ink is also a book series published by HCI Teens. Subjects covered in the book include Friends, Fitting In, Love, Challenges, Family, Heroes, Loss and Memories. Teen Ink was established in 1989 as The 21st Century magazine by The Young Authors Foundation, a nonprofit organization. More than 25,000 teens have been published in the magazine and its companion Poetry Journal. Teen Ink runs a London Summer Program for teenage writers.