Teen Ink

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• Nonfiction > Memoir
  Ciekawy

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  I reached my plain hand to the counter where my citrus iced tea was ready. Citrus—I believe that’s what the Turkish woman had said it was. In my head I associated her deep skin tone and accent to some Middle Eastern country to remind myself that I was worldly and the rest of the souls in the lit...
• Hot Topics > Bullying
  To Be A Hero

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  In 2010 I had the privilege of accompanying my grandfather to the viewing of a film I had never heard of. As the lights in the theatre dimmed, my fast moving, popcorn grabbing hands began to slow to the gut-wrenching stories of women across the world that were no different than I, yet were living in...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  A Broken Man

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  I found New York In the eyes of a man Broken and alone I watched Silent As the broken man filled his rain boots with tears The broken man strummed His faithful guitar Water running down his back I found New York In the broken man's broken hands As his melodies filled Central Park W...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  The Graveyard

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  The heavy stone Swallowed by grass Makes light of what lies beneath The flowers have gone But their shadows remain Ghosts of wilted daffodils Hiding behind the moon The tree is still there Though Her tree Elisebath’s tree When it’s cold When it rains You can see her In the fo...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Pickle Juice Fish Dreams

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  I promise That every time you look up at the sun, it’ll shine a little brighter That each blade of grass is cheering for you as you walk down the side of an empty road carrying nothing but the wind in the back pocket of your favorite jeans I promise that trees will tell you more than your best...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Forget I'm a Fragment

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  So I guess then I asked you to dance I’ve always strived to be that imperfect contradiction Swimming through the mountains of another world I’ll try to keep you interested I make silly faces at you Mentally hitting rewind Park swings benchmarking lovers of your childhoods' inability t...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Balloon Catchers

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  We were the balloon catchers The tree jumpers And bread carriers We were the coat pocket hide-n-go-seek sunshine pals We were the cat walkers Boy kissers Closeline hanging dirty-kneed trousers We were the satin cigarette on the tip of your fabricated tongue We were the toad capturers Dru...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  This Glass Heart

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  The hard part is knowing that somewhere you're still breathing. Your heart still beating-- beating for me. The harder part is knowing that somewhere, out there in the world, you're still smiling. But not smiling at me. I guess you'll never know. Never know what the inside of this seem...
• Fiction > Thriller/Mystery
  Perpetual Grace

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  In the middle of the field there’s a patch of thick woods. In the middle of the patch there’s a clearing in the shape of a perfect square. In the middle of that clearing is a warp of black and white. A graveyard, nearly ancient, intact and untouched; detached from the world. It’s not on a map,...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  I Used To Believe In Myself

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  I used to believe in myself. And we all did at some point in time. Because children don’t internalize what they think and what they feel. They aren’t afraid to read you a chapter of their souls’. But then obscure conceptions of unspoken societal regulations demand your innocence and da** your ...
• Nonfiction > Memoir
  The Way Daddy Smiled

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  I think it made my Daddy smile the way I’d step out of our old brown car and look up at my bedroom window with glittering awe in my eyes. “It isn’t much”, he’d say. But I loved that great new house. I popped the screen out of my new, big window. At night, I’d peek my head out, and sing t...
• Nonfiction > Personal Experience
  Mommy

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  My Mommy was meant to be a Mommy. Because each of the three children that she had need a different piece of her. I need my Mommy’s courage. I need my Mommy’s strength. Sometimes I just need my 5 foot tall Mommy to hold my 5 foot 5 inch body, and never let go. I need my Mommy’s laughter. I need...
• Nonfiction > Personal Experience
  Mommy, I Wonder

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  I wonder if you ever wish that my Daddy had taken the extra minute to put on a condom. DO you ever go back in time in your head to 1994 and live out the last days that led you to this life? Did you cry when you found out? Did you cry the sad tears? I picture you and your perfectly innocent life. In ...
• Nonfiction > Personal Experience
  I Can't Be A Writer

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  I don’t think I can be a writer because I am full of many words, but not words that will easily take shape on my pad of paper. When I write, the words have to have this certain feeling. I can’t just fashion simple rhymes and call it a day. One sentence that I write carries an entire day’s wort...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  This Glass Heart

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  The hard part is knowing that somewhere you're still breathing. Your heart still beating. Beating for me. The harder part is knowing that somewhere, out there in the world, you're still smiling. But not smiling at me. I guess you'll never know. Never know what the inside of this seemi...
• Fiction > Realistic Fiction
  Drowning My Sorrows

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

    The water was cold at first. It came out slow, but then faster, and faster. I stepped into the tub, fully clothed in sheets of black. The tattoos on my stomach faded, until the colors twirled around, riding the small waves that my subtle movements had fashioned. I was at peace.    My ears we...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  This Tree

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  I"ll stand up for the tree That stood up for me When the world hid in shadows Of shades gray The truth is written On bathrrom stall doors Engraved in the pavement On the sidewalks Right in front of your picket fenced house And you miss it You walk past i...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Every Moment

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  Every day is spent waiting for the dark Because when I'm alone in the dark, I can cry I sing to you in the dark, one cheek to my pillow And the other to God Whom I pray will bring me to you Every night is spent waiting for the light Because I can walk alone in the sunshin...
• Fiction > Romance
  Eleven Stones

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  It’ll take me a while to forgive you; like sand through an old screen door. You still come around at night, skipping eleven white stones in the pond out my big window. Then you lay your head down in the prairie grass right outside my big, white window. And I know what you’re thinking. I know the...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Temptation

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  All you are All you'll ever be Is cigarette smoke And cheap perfume Black ink On the back of your hands Defines your life Static Noise Jumbled up words And cold kisses goodbye Whispering in your ear That the drink in your hand Is all you'll ever have...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Little Girl, Run

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  Bruises On the faces Hearts Minds Of women Young girls Mere children Untied shoelaces Dragging on the pavement Sad days passed More to come Life to lose Wars to wage Dimes to pay Wind in your hair As you walk down the street Cracked red tiles On lau...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  I Am Numb

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  Numb is not a feeling It's rock bottom It's the end Numb, is an understatement to describe my being death is far easier than life, and death i shall pursue for now, i am numb...
• Poetry > Limerick
  Mountain Climber

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  The higher you climb, the better it gets And each time you fall, you live with regrets I've learned that your dreams are always in reach That sunshine gets brighter, and odd ends always meet Patience is a virtue, yet I find it hard to wait But we each have a plan, our own predete...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  Stepmom

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  Nobody will ever tell me that I have your blue eyes The same color hair, or long legs and thin thighs Nobody will ever say that I “got it from you” They don't have to lie; I know it's not true But I'll tell you a few things that people know about us You taught me to love, to be kind, and to...
• Poetry > Ballad
  Here I Sit

  

  By emilyjoe, Algonquin, IL

  Here I sit, on Pleasant Valley Farm Cross-legged in my prairie, staring at the rusting barn The pad of paper sits on my lap, as I click my pen against the dirt I swear my mind is empty, as I ravel up my tie-dye shirt I have no strange misfortune, or story sad enough to tell I lack a tear-provok...