Over footprinted sand and through unmowed
grass, on top of cracked concrete and in the
middle of freshly paved streets, we keep on 
walking. 
If our feet grow tired and gnarled, we will
walk slower, but walk nonetheless.
Never stop moving-- it keeps you young.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! I find so much peace in my (almost) daily walks, and I think the message to always keep moving is an important one, both mentally and physically. Although some recent obstacles have come my way with remote learning and family issues, the reality is that everything will work out. It always does 🙂 Feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

I wait for the day that there's no one 
in the passenger seat, when there's 

freedom in silence and going to the store
or to lunch to meet up with a friend,

but not an obligation to sit in the car
and make small talk, or pick the right

songs on the right playlist. These seats
are comfortable, the leather creased

and every adjustment made to the right
angle, but you can only sink in and 

fully enjoy it if you're alone, just for
a little while.

I hope you enjoyed this little piece! I’m writing this the night before my driving test, so wish me luck. Hopefully I can have this experience driving alone very soon 🙂 Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

How many times are we going
to play this game? How many times
is life going to swing back around?
If only we knew, but I don't want
to know, because then it would be
clear when the last time will really come.
It's easy to say goodbye to the beach
and the pool and long days doing nothing
when you know they'll be back next 
year, but it's hard to say goodbye at all.

I hope you enjoy this poem! I can’t believe summer is over… even though quarantine’s been a long and crazy ride, the summer still flew by so quickly. Junior year, here I come 🙂 By the time you see this post, I’ll have already finished my second week of school! Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

Repeated statements and one-sided
conversations, empty words, cutting
remarks, and awkward smiles.
All on the menu when we interact, 
not knowing what is genuine and
what is a joke between two people
bound by blood.
Guilt often settles in my stomach
like a bad lasagna dish at lunch,
but it only boils over to make
me angrier and lob pointed
insults I'll later regret. 
Don't expect me to come back and
mend what has been frayed for
so long, but don't expect me to 
go away.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! It was slightly longer than a lot of the pieces I’ve been posting lately, so that’s progress 🙂 Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

I miss when all we wanted
was for things to speed
up, the trees and melted sky 
blurring in the rearview
mirror. 

Climbing under tables 
in both restaurants 
and at home, 
unshaven, knobby legs 
running down
the streets and embracing 
the cuts and scrapes
that come with falling. 

I hope you enjoyed this piece! My sixteenth birthday was a little while ago, and I’m kind of hitting a point where I actually wish time was slowing down a bit. I mean I don’t actually want it to slow down, but I can appreciate the childhood I so desperately wanted to fly by when I was younger. Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

There are many things that don't stop
when you ask them to, and tears are 
one of them.

They flood the streets, leaving me 
stranded with my emotions and too
much time to think about them.

I'll watch them carry away what
I took for granted as stable, 
nothing left behind or visible.

Sound the alarm, get to high ground--
there's no guarantee when the 
waters will calm again.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! I know I said I’d try to have some longer poems in the works but I struggle to finish them…I’d love to hear your thoughts on that and possible prompts/challenges/inspiration in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there!

Brooke

it's hot and humid but I can't help wanting 
to curl up under blankets and watch movies
and drink hot chocolate; nothing's guaranteed
and we're stuck inside, so why don't we pretend
it's winter and wait for the snow that won't fall?
I'm ready for lights and tree-scented candles
and cable-knit sweaters we'll replace with hoodies
and sweatpants and we settle into this comfort
even more. there's making ourselves comfortable,
and there's the fact that i'm comforted by you.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! I’m honestly ready for winter and the holidays– if we have to be inside and quarantined, I want to have that coziness! Winter’s my favorite season 🙂 Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

I want to learn alongside you about places
far from here, what colors the sky turns 
on the other side of the globe 
(are they the same as the colors we see here?)
how deep is the ocean really, and what
lurks beneath the waters in the places
unmapped and unknown to man
what local delicacies lie in markets waiting to be
discovered by our watering mouths
let's go visit and find out for ourselves

I hope you enjoyed this piece! There’s so much we don’t know about the world…there’s even so much we don’t know about ourselves. I’m the kind of person who wants to absorb as much knowledge as I can, and there’s so many questions like this that I ponder. Please feel free to share feedback and writing challenges in the comments. Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke

I am in the countryside, sipping on a cold drink
on the patio and surveying the trees. The sky is
brighter here no matter what time of day, 
and I can run through the hills if I want to.

You should come visit someday, and we can grow
grapes and make it a vineyard. The deep reds and 
light greens will add more color to the land,
and people will come from faraway to see our

selection. We'll build an addition to the house, 
and keep building our country life. Until we have
built enough and move further into the country,
where no one can find us.

I hope you enjoyed this piece! It’s wishful thinking to consider being able to travel soon, but that’s exactly why it’s been on my mind as something to write about. I don’t completely love the ending of this poem, but I couldn’t think of a different direction to take it in. Maybe I’ll go back and change it soon… we’ll see. Please feel free to leave feedback and writing challenges in the comments! Stay safe and healthy out there.

Brooke