Evelyn Bell Ms. Lee R4 Poetry CompilationScreens Weare all ina glass case our lives in closed in a glass screen this glass screen has its hands around our necks squeezing so that the world around us goes blurry We hold the world in our hands sometimes in our pocket or on the counter although we are always attracted to it ‘we bury Ebola in Africa, war in Afghanistan eruptions in Hawaii ‘we suppress this beneath our lavish rugs of social media primp them so that they can hypnotize fresh minds teach future generations that likes will get them farther than knowledge That by projecting their lives to the world it’s OK to not know what that world consists of Tfa song or movie or a poem is enough for us to break free of that grip then we should all be singing about injustices documenting hate writing so fiercely that Shakespeare takes notes Cardinal We saw a daddy cardinal today Bright red wings at rest by his side Perched on a limb trying to swoon a female ‘Tear slip down mom’s face They were the runaways of her compressed feelings | Today marks seven months She later tells us how grandpa loved cardinals he loved that the only way they communicated was by singing You could never hear grandpa sing unless he thought he was all alone he would hum “put your head on my shoulder” while boiling crab He lost a tooth eating crab one Christmas he laughed and stuck it back in with superglue Mom always gets flowers now i although we can’t keep them alive for long [ean hear him muttering nope when I water the orchids We all fake having moved on but everyone still grips their boxes of grief‘we all still dress in black clothes Upon Brody“s fourth birthday he asked where grandpa is mom swallowed hard “Grandpa is in heaven baby” Brody couldn’t seem to grasp the concept of death ‘And after minutes explaining that we won't see grandpa for a long time that we'll go to heaven one day and he'll make crab for all of us but heaven is far away ‘The pure, inquisitive, shy smile spreads across his face ashe says “How long does it take to drive to heaven?” Pencil fo eraser Is it weird if I say [love you? 1 feel like you do all the work, like you ciean up all my messes [know other people always hold me they keep me warm and push me to create. But you're a part of me and I feel you rubbing away the more create the more you fade I'm sorry that your tamishing it’s my fault that you're getting darker. Fading 1 think you left me when you married dad. Tthink I stood there in my white flowered dress. T think I thought you would come back. Now I'can’t find myself in my own house. I push past finger paintings and toy cars, looking for something of mine.Photos of your three shining stars devour the walls. ‘There is one of me in the study. I think maybe my words are too heavy, maybe they drop to the floor I think that’s why you don’t listen, I think as [ grow older I fade slip through the cracks blend into the background. Harness We climb up the mountain naive pushing past sharp edges and rough patches. I look around to see billions of people climbing. ‘They all wear hamesses but not me. They use their ropes of f tic them to God’s hands he pulls hem up like marionettes. Sometimes on will slip although they fall back on their harness. I choose to take off my harness when I do I see the reality. [see the birds of the sky and the spiders of the mountain die, New ones are born it’s a cycle. Tam part of the eyele. 1 see that when we do reach the top of the mountain we die, Lwon’t come back. ‘The others are pulled into the sky. latched onto God’s ropes gleeful to reach the top,