Give me strange loops-
Like Bach or Escher.
Give me wonder
Give me Piranesi-
Imaginary prisons that feel more real than anything else!
Give me a ground that pitches and ripples
A world written in a language I do not speak.
Give me alienation-
Pure unresolvable alienation!
Give me quiet boats on a quieter sea
A world that is mostly smooth waves
Mostly silence
Mostly empty
GIVE ME LIGHTING!
please!
Give me neon and noise
Give me rollercoasters-
Give me dizziness, shallow breaths, pain
Give me everything all at once, impossible to hold!
Every story, every triumph, every tragedy!
Let it destroy me-
an ant staring down a flash flood
Let me look upon divinity-
Pure undilutable divinity-
Let me look upon divinity and be burned!
Arden Howard
Grade: 12 / CEGEP I
Burnaby Mountain Secondary School
Burnaby, BC
“My poem was influenced by a combination of the prompt “stick to things” and something that visiting poet Elee Kraljii Gardiner talked about when visiting: writing a poem from a perspective of defiance/saying no, but in a positive way. My poem is about being scared of how the world feels very confusing and scary and overwhelming, but embracing it, because I am stuck here in this existence. Rather than give up, I take a somewhat absurdist perspective and learn to accept the harmless but scary aspects of life. It is also about exploring a part of myself that I don't necessarily like but that is still a part of me.”