By Calista Shang ’20. Art by Angie Kang ’20.

IS SILENCE OKAY?

…

/ laughs /

WHO DO YOU WISH LOVED YOU?

I am on Earth, looking above. I reach up to the sky.
My arm extends e x t e n d s  e  x  t  e  n  d  s
I can almost reach it
But my arm falls off

I think I’m unlovable.
Used up. Thrown around.
Maybe someone thinks of me every now and then.
Maybe the thoughts are good.
Maybe the thoughts are bad.
Scarring. Traumatizing.
That’s what love is.
So, no one.

WHAT GIVES YOU MEANING?

An empty room.

The walls are unpainted. There is no carpet. There are no decorations.

People wander in and out all day.

I don’t see the point, but I’m still here.

WHY ARE YOU WHERE YOU ARE NOW?

I am where I am now
In the past
Good and bad. The choices I have made
A collection of moments.
Right place. Right time.
Wrong place. Wrong time.
Am i even here still?

HOW DO YOU COPE WITH DEATH? WITH SADNESS?

Shut it all out. Stuff it down. Hold it all in.

Forget it. Ignore it.

But it spills eventually.

And you just sit in the dark against a wall.

Or lay down on the floor, the bed.

And you don’t cry.

You just sit.

You suffer.

You blame yourself.

You physically start to hurt.

Until you are drained.