Longing to Climb | Teen Ink

Longing to Climb

September 26, 2022
By Lydiaq ELITE, Somonauk, Illinois
Lydiaq ELITE, Somonauk, Illinois
179 articles 54 photos 1026 comments

Favorite Quote:
The universe must be a teenage girl. So much darkness, so many stars.<br /> --me


Longing to Climb

 

Tender, full, closed eyes

swaying like meadows—I lay down

I can’t open my heart’s door

and love is becoming

like heaps of wretched dishes

by the overflowing sink

too much to comprehend

in too little time

 

I long to drift away downriver

on a plastic barrel.

I long for a tree branch—

I long to hold the tiniest

ladybug forever and name it

and make pets of elusive spiders

I long to live alone with the wild berry

I long to strand myself

on an island and peel

the stars’ messages like tree bark

I long to make my ink pen a wand

 

darkness crumples like tissue paper

as yesterday’s balloons reach the floor

and somebody’s dying far away

I wander in empty ecstasy

 

black and white

ink lines, letters, writing

I sew my roots in between

the poppy and the dandelion

my words, ripe and black as figs

as fluid as leaves on water

I write everything I’m not—

pink and purple plum sunsets, birthday clouds

all images formed by eyes

from formless stars

I breathe at the foot of the evergreen

longing to climb

 

and love is becoming rare,

and I am becoming everything I don’t know

as I lay down in despair

longing flows on in me—

then again, love is becoming

suddenly, not so hard to find

 

ordinary as breath

and everything I do forever

sleep, eat, drink water

moon cycles, winter and summer.

Love is becoming

like my name—ordinary

and not hard to say

but I am contained

in every fire

in love’s silent river.



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This article has 3 comments.


on Sep. 28 2022 at 2:30 pm
Bumble_Bee PLATINUM, New Athens, Illinois
38 articles 2 photos 123 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You will be found" -Dear Evan Hansen

I love this! The way that you wrote this and the words you choose were absolutely beautiful. Awesome Job! I can't wait to see what more you'll write!! <33

Lots of Love,
Bumble Bee :]

Lydiaq ELITE said...
on Sep. 28 2022 at 2:15 pm
Lydiaq ELITE, Somonauk, Illinois
179 articles 54 photos 1026 comments

Favorite Quote:
The universe must be a teenage girl. So much darkness, so many stars.<br /> --me

Thanks!

on Sep. 28 2022 at 11:12 am
TheRareBreed PLATINUM, Lambertville, Michigan
43 articles 0 photos 60 comments

Favorite Quote:
“The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." I guess that means we're just products of whoever made us and we don't have much control. The thing is, when people use that phrase, they ignore the most critical part: the falling. Within the logic of that saying, the apple falls every single time. Not falling isn't an option. So, if the apple has to fall, the most important question in my mind is what happens to it upon hitting the ground? Does it touch down with barely a scratch? Or does it smash on impact? Two vastly different fates. When you think about it, who cares about its proximity to the tree or what type of tree spawned it? What really makes all the difference, then, is how we land.”<br /> ― Val Emmich, Dear Evan Hansen

I- words fail me as I read this. You captured this so vividly that I can literally see the moments like a movie in front of my eyes. I truly love this work and hope to see more like it from you as well. If you get a chance, you should check out To Sun, From Moon either from me or my dear friend Afra. I believe you would understand it more than most. Keep writing, TheRareBreed