Valley Visions 2018 : simplebooklet.com

Valley Visions Magazine Volume 17 April 2018 Boise Idaho Valley Visions District Coordinators David Archibald Seiffer Literature Debbie Chojnacky Art High School Advisors Literature Boise High School Sharon Hanson Borah High School Maxie Rogers Capital High School Paula Uriarte Timberline High School David Archibald Seiffer Student Editorial Board Literature Boise High School Emily Hinton Tarah Otto Borah High School Isabella Palacio Alex Webster Capital High School Shelley Tousseu Peyton Wagner Timberline High School Julia Tan Will Titmus Student Editorial Board Art Boise High School Anne Nygard Aidin Andrews Borah High School Jerusa Arroyo Emma Coffey Capital High School Colton Rothwell Annamarie Lorrondo Timberline High School Kyle Kerr You Jean Cho High School Advisors Art Boise High School Melissa Thompson Borah High School Debra Chojnacky Capital High School Cathryn Younger Timberline High School Patricia Thorpe District Services Art Cottage Janine Cornett Table of Contents Cover Artist Statement P Nort by Isabelle Hanson In these teen years happiness is hard to come by We are so stressed with school and social status we sometimes forget what joy truly feels like I drew my good friend Parker to remind people of this His smile radiates off his face and his eyes sparkle with happiness Back Cover Artist Statement Franky the Sheep by Luis Georg Mueller Everybody has experienced loneliness Franky was going through that dreadful feeling too He was the outsider of the sheep herd standing alone in the field I walked by he saw me and came closer He wanted my company My camera and I gave him his heart s longing friendship I promised to show him to the whole world through the mighty power of photography Each student published will receive one free copy of the 2018 Valley Visions publication Additional copies for family members will be available for purchase at the celebration reception cost is 15 00 each Valley Visions is supported in part by Foundation donations If you d like to support young writers and artists in future volumes please send your donation to the Boise Public Schools Foundation 8169 W Victory Rd Boise Idaho Dedicated to Valley Visions Magazine Fund BSD Or visit http boiseschoolsfoundation com Thank you Many thanks to all high school students that entered the 2018 Valley Vision jury competition and to all the high school Art and Language Art teachers that encouraged and coordinated entries Special thanks to All Language Art and Art Advisors Becca Anderson Deborah Harmon Janine Cornett Richard Tony Maurer Graphic Design Advisor Joshua Wesselman graphic design production and Justin McGee owner Hi Tech Color Valley Visions is a collaborative project among the Boise School District High School programs in writing and art to showcase the authorial and artistic talents of its students Literature and Images prepared by Debra Chojnacky and students Krysantha Soward Zakkary Findley Sydney Beasley Alexzandrya Owen Miranda for photo prep data entry and organizing Design and layout by Tony Maurer in the Graphics Arts Department Dennis Technical Center Valley Visions is printed by Hi Tech Color Boise Idaho COPYRIGHT 2018 All Rights Reserved Resemblance of fictional characters and or events to real life is purely coincidental Submission and Selection Process Every high school student in the Boise School District may submit up to two pieces of original artwork or writing Selection for publication is conducted in a blind process by the advisors and the members of the student editorial boards Thanks to all talented student artists and writers who enter the Valley Visions Magazine contest each and every year Special thanks to support efforts of our high school Language Arts Art teachers WRITING Page Title ART Author 3 2020 Presidential Election Elijah Lusby 4 Alone Anders Zunich 4 Avoiding Auschwitz Grace Ward 5 Barely Surviving Katelyn Alcorn 5 Because She is All I Have Kennis Liberty 6 Between the Lines Hallie Hinchman 6 Blood Flow Kaden Stanger 8 Daiquiri Ice Tarah Otto 8 Dearest Femina Lily Randal Antram 10 While I Create the Best of Life Christopher Sullivan 10 ET Love Affair Celia Hausake 11 Goodbye Shelley Tousseau 11 Honor Vow Jaden McGinty 12 I Attract Broken Tarah Otto 12 I Remember Do You Ruby Henderson 15 I Write to Save My Life Sierra Howell 17 In the Blink of an Eye Beatrix Zwolfer 17 Light Lauren Lloyd 19 Like Father Like Son Jake Anderson 20 Love and Hate Maia Dickinson 22 Love Abigail Spencer 22 Multiverse Abigail Spencer 22 My Brother Isabelle Early 23 My Chest Still Hurts Cheyenne Lee 23 My Mother s Perfume Miah Mayes 24 Night Drives Azalea May 26 No Trespassing Micki Leibow 26 No Words to Describe Claire Gorringe 25 Perfect Stella Blumenstein 27 Porcelain by Michelangelo Baylie MCCallister 28 The Ruby Miner s Daughter Sofia Edgar 29 Scarred Truths Camden Mullens 31 Sea Glass Will Titmus 33 Suffocation Jake Anderson 33 Surrender Charese Kelly 35 That One Person Audrey Sand 35 The Dimension of Intangibles Dana Kenney 36 The Kodak Girl Fiona Stanton 37 The Piano Man Lauren Lloyd 37 The Stain You Left Emma Walker 38 The System of Life Ryan Yong 38 The Truth Ellen Min 39 The World You Can t See Sofia Duncan 40 This Poem Was Bought Camille Weihe 40 Underwater Caitlin Walsh 41 Uneaten Cake Margaret Dyer 42 Used to Be Maddie Riddle 42 When Nothing is All We Had Emma English 43 Where I m From Max Manning Floch 43 Yes Paris Davis COVER ART P Nort Isabelle Hanson BACK COVER ART Franky the Sheep Luis Georg Mueller Page Title Artist 2 Atlanta ID Carly Hanna 3 Soft Audrey Wipper 5 Untitiled Paloma Link 7 Couple Hannah Marker 7 Deer Skull Jerusa Arroyo 7 Free Falling Alexander Spoon 7 Vibrant Alex Carcano 9 Mt Si William Auston 9 Inner Turmoil Lillie Mellish 10 LOUD Kyle Kerr 12 Cat You Jean Cho 13 Spiders and Needles Seth Gingerich 13 Raging Rhino Sungbin Lim 13 It s Not You It s Me Lucy Reeves 14 Animal Fusion Paloma Link 14 Malibu Jerusa Arroyo 16 Northern Lights Cameron Solon 16 Black And White Alex Carcano 18 Cerberus Emma Coffey 18 Self Portrait Jacey Adams 19 Women s March on Idaho Colton Rothwell 21 The Faun Laura Stoddard 21 Screaming Monkey Luis Mueller 21 African Crane Sandra Nielsen 23 Untitled Colton Rothwell 24 Sister Wives Claire Manning 25 Right Through Me Haylee L Huillier 25 Hokus Pokus Sapphire Monroe 26 Oil Portait Kaitlyn Legato 27 On Top of the Mountain Kyle Kerr 27 Raku Strips Madeline Bowers 29 The Great Yukon Paul TenDoeschate 30 Orange Windbreaker Isabel Stevens 30 I m Gonna Make You Roll Anna Getzin for That Actually 30 Owl Canyon Sarah Magbunuku 32 Snow Leopard TeAndre Mclane 32 Emotional Roadshow Sadie Atkins 32 Simber Ari Berg 34 Outside Looking In ShaSha Kingston 34 Typewriter Mikayla Wymer 34 Grumpiness Overwhelms Aidin Andrews 35 Frozen Idaho 3 Evan Senderowicz 37 Detached Lucy Reeves 38 Floral Frida Madison Roth 39 Peachy Nina Ater 40 Spaciously Sound Sophie Flock 41 Hawaiian Jungle Easton Anderson 42 Personal Space Roxy Albig 43 Life Preston Cline 44 A Tear Among Raindrops Brynne Coulam 44 Neon Thoughts Seth Nims 45 AP Art Rips Out My Heart Jamey Dunn 45 Geometric Reflection Asher Hadden 45 Jellyfish Magic Haylee L Huillier

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2020 Presidential Election Elijah Lusby Timberline High School Hello My name is Craig Blitz but my friends call me Craig or they would if any of them were still alive or had existed in the first place My childhood was pretty average for somebody as great as me My parents were eaten by a rhinoceros when I was just a kid I never knew them Although they must have been pretty cool because I m pretty cool I always have a black trench coat on like the Matrix and my hair is slicked back and shaved on the sides I grew up in a pastafarian orphanage If you didn t know pastafarians worship the great noodle god in the sky I had to go there because all the other orphanages were full They were nice people but I didn t agree with their beliefs So when I turned 18 I left the orphanage for good I was going to go back and visit but it burned down I was a pretty smart kid and I made a lot of money selling chicken noodle soup So I went to Harvard and graduated a few years later with a degree in business I got hired instantly at what was going to be my lifelong job They were like daaaaaaang Craig yo degree in business is bomb yo you hired I don t have any friends at my job they probably just can t handle my superior intellect I went to my boss office a lot Every day he would call me in to tell me about how the company wanted to buy another one of my ideas I let them have my ideas for free because I m just that nice They especially loved my Shamwow idea back in the day but I heard that it didn t sell very well or something When I heard about the next presidential election I thought that it couldn t be that hard so I quit my job and ran literally and figuratively At first I didn t know how to run there s no place to sign up or anything so I just posted a video to my 7 twitter followers saying that I was running I later learned who my rivals were I hadn t heard of any of them Some guy named Ted Cruz another dude named Ernie Banders One of them Ronald Frump was a businessman like me but what he said made no sense He wanted to build a wall to keep the Canadians out Why would you want to keep them out They made canadian bacon that s my favorite kind of pizza Everybody thought that Ted Cruz was a serial killer and Ernie Banders was going to make college free Our country was doomed if I didn t run By the time the first presidential debate happened i barely had enough votes to get in Everything that could have went wrong did I was the first one there and the debate started at 7 00 and I hadn t left my apartment until 7 05 Once I got there the moderator had the most disappointed look on his face Frump Cruise and Banders all showed up soon afterwards This was the first time that I had seen them in person Frump s styled Pidgeotto hair and all Nike attire made him look like a generic white boy even though he s 40 Ted Cruise s face looks like he is having an aneurysm and at the same time is holding in a laugh after the teacher told him to be quiet He was wearing a purple suit orange tie and white tennis shoes Ernie Banders was crazy rich but he spent all his money trying to look like a homeless person He had bought all different kinds of yeezy s and other assorted torn and tattered clothes He hadn t shaved his beard so he looked like Santa Claus Then the debate started Frump interrupted everyone so almost no one talked Banders was using every bit of slang wrong It was so bad that memes had to be outlawed a few days later The moderator was also just some guy that they found on the street to cut costs or whatever They were probably the worst moments of my life The second and last debate was the best and worst Cruise had dropped out since he was losing It started out pretty normal Frump had taken over all of the talking and Banders wasn t even paying attention I had nothing going for me But a miracle struck Right as Frump started talking about ISIS he and Banders were assassinated at the same time So they had no choice but to make me the next president Atlanta ID Carly Hanna Boise High School Soft Audrey Wipper Boise High School Valley Visions 2 Resource Screenshot by Park Jimin Valley Visions 3

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Alone Avoiding Auschwitz Grace Ward Boise High School Katelyn Alcorn Timberline High School Barely Surviving Because She is All I Have Alone is a word to describe the state of being separated from Dear Evalinda Karela Horvath The name they gave you here was Eva I was veritably swimming in paralyzing and clinical depression My meds should be adjusted I should attend a weekly support group A rotation casts of character In various states of tumor driven wellness The side effect of dying Young cancer survivors His depressingly miserable life story The relief that he escaped But what came only the most generous soul called for his life to spare You too might be so lucky 20 percent chance of living for 5 years You look around and think as any healthy person I gotta out last 4 of them I have many things I guess you could say I m lucky in that sense I have stuffed animals warm blankets and a blue chair in my room I have a loud mouth a broken heart and perfume that smells like vanilla I have insecurities a fragile sense of self and a best friend When I step back and look at the bigger picture all that matters to me is my memories with her The first time we went to Albertsons I got a glass bottle of Sprite I couldn t open and a scrape on my knee from falling off her mom s bike in the parking lot In early September we went into a Halloween store and laughed for hours over nothing but a lamp hat a robot pug and a toilet mask When I forgot to study for a history test she was the one who was late to second period because she was quizzing me until the last possible second and then some Anders Zunich Boise High School others of your species Alone is 2 00 A M when the darkness begins to color the edges of me like the hot black decay that spreads across burning paper Alone is brushing my teeth Making eye contact with myself Looking into empty brown pits Alone is 6 30 to 9 30 Monday nights Alone is paranoia setting in Alone is Active 1m ago Alone is the empty click of Hellish rodents wired and slaved to a machine Alone is snow cracking beneath my feet like the bones of a crow Picked clean of their meat by the biting cold Alone is the space between our world and the next Alone is a word to describe the state of being separated from a world filled with others of your species A loner is a person who takes great pain and care to avoid others A loner is not what most people are A loner is someone who hates to be touched A loner is someone who shies away from the tips of human fingers They grab him They want to pull him into the abyss between our world and the next He pulls away and recomposes his visage A loner is a person who takes great pain and care to avoid the touch of others I am a fellow flyer of the sacred flag green stripe below blue stripe held together by a red wheel Nine spokes on that wheel Nine cousins from your youngest daughter My father is Travis you said he had a white boy name but that is what you get for letting your daughter marry a gadjo Now her children look like gadji too because we lost the culture It slipped through our fingers like sand on Normandy All of us bare the blue eyes that saved your life all those years ago We can sing like true Karela people low and loud and passionate musician class just like you I look like you but my skin is whiter I am two generations away from your skin that shone golden like the sunset over Bohemian fields of lupine That is why no Roma women will ever let her son court me They say that our children will be confused as to which road to take Rom White Man Nazi I look like you but even deeper I am you but I can never be you I am you but I don t hide I don t have to Kennis Liberty Boise High School She was the only one who could make me genuinely laugh for a month after my first heartbreak She tells me of her dreams of Humpty Dumpty cookies and the boy who looks like Newt I tell her my stories of polar bears brothers and Lake Disappointment Australia She tells me of her plans of chemistry college and a small two bedroom apartment with a big tub in the bathroom I tell her that my plans are with her She is the smile on her face as the raindrops showered down along the canal or the laugh that filled the theater when we went to see movies together or the expectant look in her eyes when she played me a song that later became my favorite just because it reminded me of her Sadly she is also the tears on her cheeks after a boy she nearly loved broke her and the crack in her voice before she started to cry She was my first I love you You survived an infant tucked away in the basement of a singular woman who didn t think the Roma were pigs The French woman mumbled Of course this is my child look at the blue eyes to any soldier who quizzed her about it Evalinda you were a pneumatic anomaly Saved by your blue eyes that nobody can explain When it was safe for you to come to America you were shipped like a package from Paris to Chicago The only languages on your tongue where Czech and Romany and the people of the city spoke English It was a bitter English that you didn t understand Your mother the Gypsy and your father the Bohemian War Criminal were hidden away in a studio apartment but you found them 8 year old child finding her family in a venomous city It was never a headline I have bits and pieces of her scattered around the blue walls of room Polaroids of McCall trips purple hair and milkshakes hang on a string above my bed Pieces of writing about avocados ugliness and Valentine s Day are pinned to a corkboard by my window Song lyrics sprinkled throughout dozens of notebooks about memories and plans The bits of her hold me together even when we are apart like the string a ratty old pair of blue jeans I am nearly 18 and I have yet to even find myself I m not like you Though in my heart I am made from the same things you were made of black triangles pasted onto jumpsuits and ankle bells that ring every time we step along to the guitar I am made from you and I am made from your daughter who you married off at 19 and I am made from her son born 7 months after the wedding I am tarnished but I am also proof that our culture lives on Today I will be more like you When I m broken and I can t think straight because my eyesight is clouded by tears she wipes my cheeks and helps me see When she holds me I m not thinking about how the boy I used to know found someone else or how sometimes I feel like a waste of space or even how I m losing friends faster than bread bag ties I m thinking about her because she is all I have Sincerely Gracelynne Karela Elaine The name they gave me here was Lynn Untitiled Paloma Link Boise High School Valley Visions 4 Valley Visions 5

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Between the Lines Blood Flow What I m kicking myself as he looks straight into my eyes We erase a flag and we call it a symbol We keep fighting but we just can t win though But here s what I see when I look out my window A society where people are trying their best and despite all these progressions we are never impressed and all this change we digest As our population gets more and more stressed So we focus on temporary solutions hoping that it will lead to societal evolution But we forget the rules to our own constitution As we lose ourselves in the endless confusion We kill people they die The people that do it don t fully know why Soldiers given orders like just kill the other guy It will be fine And five years down the line he hears that shot and he can t unwind he s confined within the walls of his mind Because in his youthful obedience he knew he was blind That s what we ve learned from the past that these scars of war just last and last until at last they are torn down by your own hand No way to hide this no way that you can No way to disband You just took the life of a man A man who was in stone immortalized What do you wish for after you die Do you want for your name to be erased then replaced and everything you stood for disgraced Defaced Does it feel great To kill people you don t appreciate Because of the majority not because it was them Because of the examples put on show Be careful not to tip over a domino Because as the support of our symbols grow The further apart our blood will flow Hallie Hinchman Boise High School My ears stopped working as soon as I saw his face His eyes are the same hue of the hot cocoa you hold tight between your hands while you sit by the fire and they re splintered with the very green that decorates all the most exquisite trees on this earth His skin is clearer than the sky or my head have ever been My brain is flooded in the split second I meet his gaze before I have to look away to avoid combustion Can I sit here he repeats without a trace of irritation I realize I might have just avoided blowing another one of my social nine lives which is a relief because I m pretty sure I ve used my last one a thousand times by now Yeah That s it This jaw dropping thought penetrating being wants to sit next to me and that s all I could eek out Another social suicide I scoot right up to the window putting as much space between us as possible which is exactly the opposite of what I want I grip the leathery skin of the bus seat below me as my knuckles lose color I m hoping it isn t feasible for people to float away when their heads begin to inflate as they fill with too many thoughts Thanks He shoves his backpack under the seat in front of us I m the one that should be thanking him but not a word escapes the cage of my lips My whole body shivers and I m sure he can feel it through the seat I stare at my corduroy pants concluding that they were a doltish mistake for the first day of sophomore year I can already hear Ricky McFarland snarking about me to his posse Dude the lines on his pants are straighter than he is I m sure the boy next to me is thinking the same thing but I m not taking a chance on trying to sneak a glance Instead I try to convince the tremble in my hands to move to my head to Kaden Stanger Boise High School Couple Hannah Marker Borah High School Free Falling Alexander Spoon Capital High School shake the thought but I don t think that s how it works A shriek from the bus brakes brings me back to reality as they wail against the asphalt I look out the window at uninviting Gates of Hell and as I step off the bus as he turns to go he says one thing I like your pants Valley Visions 6 Vibrant Alex Carcano Capital High School Deer Skull Jerusa Arroyo Borah High School Valley Visions 7

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Daiquiri Ice Dearest Femina I don t write about love I write about heartbreak I write about ripping your heart Out for your own sake I lather in ink filled with regret Black isn t always the safest bet And then I met you Mysterious black morphed To metallic maroon I smiled in colors Words about love Became newly discovered A definition i ve yet to cover A rainbow left to hover After a storm that s just blown over To all the women Who have ever felt anything less Than endless love and light Who have been told their skin isn t sweet That the coffee tone makes them bitter Whose flesh and blood has been disregarded For being too thick or too frail Whose minds have been shaken By prejudice and insecurity By toxicity By hate Whose hooked noses are held down Instead of looking to the sun Whose hijabs and languages Have been torn off Tossed aside Whose passions are belittled And never taken to prize Who feel stuck Who feel damaged Who have taken their lives Tarah Otto Boise High School I am so full of words but you left me speechless Sleepless My mind swirls with thoughts Thinking of the way you re hair curls In clots perfect ringlets when it rains a lot Thinking of ways to describe what I saw The first time I even saw you at all Everything is jagged Like an old quill I am ragged Heavy with baggage But you are my feather You make everything better And when you re thumbs were introduced To my cheeks I thought they were rose petals Let s whistle to the tune of tea kettles Let our teeth meddle with giggled kisses Clanking like knives and glass dishes Let s trace racetracks on my thighs Because you ll love hot wheels till you die Because life is like a playground But yours is the kind I d stay around Even if my pinkie Is to nimble to promise This is a dollhouse That won t be demolished Love is hemlock but ours is a strawberry dream And I swear I won t ever eat ice cream before I kiss you Because it makes your lips blue Because it gives you sick flu because you re allergic to Every food that I love But our hands intertwine like Their meant for one glove So it s okay We can make cake and cookies your way It s just fine Replace dairy with wine Lets lose track of time And change my perception I don t write about love But you re an exception Valley Visions 8 Lily Randel Antram Boise High School Honey you are so much more Soft has a lamb grazing the fields of Ireland Every curve every cave Dewy in the morning light Your tongue flows like the surging river Cutting them short stealing their breath Galaxies live on your thighs and stomach Dark dense Ever changing ever growing Orbs filled with icy waters Plunge into everyone they meet Heart so red So tender so malleable Every prick every thorn Sends you flying shoots you off Strong and calloused your hands Well worked well worn Have the unmatched ability To tug your soul back in Before rain Turns to storm Inner Turmoil Lillie Mellish Borah High School Mt Si William Auston Capital High School Resource Photo by Christine Haensli Valley Visions 9

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While I Create The Best Of Life ET Love Affair Goodbye Honor Vow While I create the best of life Death comes to tear it down While I create the best of life Death is always around I swallowed spoon fulls of wonder coated with honey and almond butter sandwiches Watching violet pastels and brotherly kisses Aching from the second hand stabs and wounds from angry boys and even more angry men I revolved around an encapsulated world Wrapped in blankets that posed as dresses during the mornings in which my mother s robe clung dirty I sat under the hiding hands of the sun through a window I was not afraid of the love of another I was not fearful in the face of a friend I lived on the M M trailed tall tree castle dialing for home on an empty swing set The sunflower in my sister s eyes blossomed with a glowing finger Alive and screaming she swallows the wonder I was too full for I have seen the skin of the night Freckled with stars and birth marked with shadows Bruised with anonymity How romantic how enticing To see it all end well for someone else I didn t know him very well but I Now I shall shut my eyes And I shall vow my honor and my pride On this the sacred oath I confide I kneel here with no selfish motivations No mental reservation No purpose of evasion To take this oath Christopher Sullivan Timberline High School He ruins all I fabricate He s here just to destroy He ends all life and none escapesThat s all that brings him joy He follows me around the worldTo do his dreadful task He has no shame or sympathy A break is all I ask Whatever I make ends this way With their fateful demise Whenever I create something That s when problems arise All i ve ever created Has lost to his decree Most like to think of life this wayBut none are truly free Celia Hausske Boise High School Shelley Toussau Capital High School knew about him What value does the face of another person have So much that one act can bring about the tears of so many And to think about this act the snatching of one s own life Does a person really get to judge how valuable their own life is He didn t know how seeing his face everyday made me smile How his grin the way his cheeks lit up would make my day He didn t know because we never got the chance to speak and now we never will While I Create The Best Of Life Word Count 110 I didn t know him or the inner workings of his mind While I create the best of life Death comes to tear it down While I create the best of life Death is always around But I do know how human nature works I know that we bash ourselves down because He ruins all I fabricate He s here just to destroy He ends all life and none escapesThat s all that brings him joy of comments people make He follows me around the worldTo do his dreadful task He has no shame or sympathy A break is all I ask This pressure we put on ourselves We criticize every little detail about the way we act look talk to the point where we can t take it anymore this value in life we Jaden McGinty Boise High School I swear Not to waste the air I have taken To spit every syllable of wind I suck in I swear I will never let pride overcome my honor To drop the chains of my dignity and stride onward I swear To always be brave A defender of those in need until I rot in my grave I swear To never let the love of life diminish Even when my heart is broke And I m threatening to choke I will never give up the ghost of hope I harbor in my soul I swear To be a defender of humanity A warrior of good no matter the circumstance I am just a step of life s dance But I will defend it with every breath I steal With my metal metaphorical or real For I am the steel clashing against the foes we face I am the life laid down for the human race I am a simple smile I am the stalwart shield I am the snarling sword I am a defender of humanity As I will always be I vow freely To be a spark of light In the long black night forget to cherish it deserves better Whatever I make ends this way With their fateful demise Whenever I create something That s when problems arise It deserves more And so did he All i ve ever created Has lost to his decree Most like to think of life this wayBut none are truly free LOUD Kyle Kerr Timberline High School Valley Visions 10 Valley Visions 11

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I Attract Broken I Remember Do You Like miscellaneous smithereens Nesting their way In between my arms And my ribs I attract broken Like a magnet around Loose nails Like a boat With loose sails I am floating On an empty sea I attract broken Like alleyways And glass bottles Like the breathless Feeling in your chest When you realize That you can t make him love you I attract broken like Saltwater and cigarettes Like porcelain plates piled Too high by the sink Like the strain in your voice When you re brain doesn t Know what to say I attract broken Like purple pillows Blocking sundays sunrays I attract broken Like needles and pipes Like endless nights Like bloodshot eyes Blatant lies Like benzos and addicts Like blankets and static I attract broken Because I m seen to be full Seen to be whole But like words I carry a silent tune For I am only Half a moon Remember that I lived for you That I spent days crying and only you could bring me back Out of the rain the ocean and rivers You just said you hoped I was living but I just made it all worse Tarah Otto Boise High School Ruby Henderson Boise High School Remember that I would die for you If you wouldn t eat I went hungry too When there were cuts on your body my wrist would sting too You do to you what you would want me to do to myself Remember that I know when something s wrong A gut feeling that I can t act on anymore You hurt yourself and it hurts me Like domino s we fall tripping over the other and wrecking the masterpiece Remember that I know it s my fault I should ve overloaded you with feelings and words That would be better than the unreasonable silence from me Too much would be better than the too little that is now nothing My heads going down into the water And I need your hand to pull me out more than ever It s Not You It s Me Lucy Reeves Boise High School Cat You Jean Cho Timberline High School Valley Visions 12 Raging Rhino Sungbin Lim Timberline High School Spiders and Needles Seth Gingerich Capital High School Valley Visions 13

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I Write To Save My Life Sierra Howell Boise High School I lie in my bed thinking about the events of that day Key points play back inside my head like a little movie I think about the amazing rehearsal in choir I had felt connected to the other people in that room and I think about how they had changed my life I run through what I have going on that week I glance at the whiteboard hanging on the wall There are three sections Each section is filled with the weather a daily to do list and weekly plans Each month I have chosen colors that corresponded with the current month to fill in all the spaces Red and orange are the colors I have written with for September I have to cheer for a boys basketball on Wednesday and then girls basketball on Thursday I also have my choir concert on Monday On top of that I have a timed write in AP Lang on Thursday and a test on the first chapter in AP US History I picture the notes I wrote for AP US History The notes are also in various colors I feel ready for the test Once I feel prepared for the week ahead of me I let my thoughts wander to far off places I picture the Sawtooth Mountains towering above Redfish Lake I picture Ketchum and imagine walking down Main Street in Boise Idaho with a Chai latte from Java in my hand The room is dark except for the bright red gecko light glowing in the corner It casts a red glow on the normally bright lilac purple walls I hear my phone vibrate and lean over to look at the text that had just come in Blue and white fill my vision My heart flutters In that moment the flutter vanishes and is replaced with one thing pain Pure pain Malibu Jerusa Arroyo Borah High School My heart feels like it s caving in I m heartbroken and we re not even dating And then another emotion washes over me like a tidal wave anger I m pissed He s being an idiot He s having a pity party In an attempt to keep the anger from boiling over I roll out of bed and throw the phone onto the pile of lilac purple lime green golden yellow and turquoise covers Why am I fighting for him His track record shows that he most definitely doesn t deserve it But I keep fighting for him I fall to the floor and my hands press up against my forehead that s wet with sweat and tears When had I started crying Sitting on the floor the soft warm carpet didn t bring any comfort I m so overwhelmed and I m sure my brain is going to explode There s one thing left to do that can bring me relief I slowly rise and walk to my desk I turn on the lamp seemingly blinding The drawers to my right hold the keys to my relief Squinting I pull out a small bright blue notebook covered with an assortment of flowers Next I pull out a bright blue gel pen that matches the cover of the notebook I snatch a rogue hair tie from the corner of my desk and pull my hair up into a tight messy ponytail I open the notebook to an empty page It s crisp and clean I click the gel pen to reveal the tiny metal with an even smaller blue dot on its tip Then I write As the blue tip connects to the white paper I take a deep breath and immediately feel grounded I feel the stress flow out of my body as the ink flows out of the pen I start from the beginning Page after page fills with bright blue ink As the pen glides across the paper I am transported out of my body The stress seeped out of my body I am no longer living it I am a reader My body shifts from being an emotional wreck to being an artist who is crafting a beautiful masterpiece No one is there to judge me This is my story I am my only judge And honestly I don t judge myself Not in this setting in this mindset with this feeling Pages and pages fill with colorful writing I m not thinking I m just writing I am letting the words spill out of me What do you notice when you welcome the world And what do you miss Animal Fusion Paloma Link Boise High School Valley Visions 14 Valley Visions 15

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In The Blink of an Eye Lauren Lloyd Timberline High School When you open your eyes from sleeping a sigh or the breath of a blink What do you notice My mother was born blind which meant that she had never seen the pellucid ocean the flowers in our garden or any of the constellations in the night sky She had never seen houses lit up with Christmas lights or a campfire or a sunset we tried to describe one to her once but it didn t do much good as she had never seen colors before This had always made me pity her a little there are so many wonderful things to see and all she got to see was darkness But Mom had found her own way to see the world So despite all of this she knew how clear the ocean by our house was which flowers were her favorites and which constellations she was fond of She knew the ocean was translucent because she could feel the way the light reflected off of the water Yellow tulips were her favorites because once when dad picked some for her she said they smelled better than any other flowers She knew she liked the Orion constellation because it was the only one she could envisage when Dad and I described it to her Do notice that the painting on the wall the one with the mountains and caribou Is set in a monochrome of green Or that the bird outside is actually your mother whistling Do you realize that you recognize the stranger before you by the back of their head even though you ve never talked Or that your thumb is smeared with ink Do you realize that the clock reads nine forty six That there s a cloud above you head shaped like a newborn foal Do you notice that your shoes don t leave a print in the mud so much as allow themselves to be swallowed in it Or that your notebook only has eight pages left Do you notice that you haven t laughed today That your socks don t match Or do you notice that someone is calling you name Do you notice that you can only name three constellations two if you want to be poetic Cassiopeia and Orion Do you realize that the Big Dipper looks like that antique that hangs above your grandmother s fireplace Or do you notice that the vee of geese in the sky is one member short of symmetry Northern Lights Cameron Solon Boise High School Light Beatrix Zwolfer Boise High School But as a benighted child there was one thing I could never comprehend how she knew she loved my dad if she had never seen him before So I asked her one day She collected her thoughts then explained to me that it was the same way she felt the clear water in the ocean She said it was hard to describe but when she met him he emitted a light that outshone the darkness she was accustomed to She had experienced this with other people too but his light was so much brighter than anyone else s Then she paused and smiled To answer your question dear I didn t have to see him to know that I loved him because anything worth seeing in someone cannot be seen with the eyes So as I grew older I always had that idea in the back of my mind It is why when I look in the mirror I don t see myself as decorative attractive rather than useful I see my qualities in my reflection I look beyond my eyelashes cheekbones and freckles and see my dignity compassion and intelligence I see a girl whose eyes are set ablaze with passion and motivation a girl with the potential to set the world on fire with the flames in her eyes I see a girl that is a force of nature untamable by man a girl who knows what she wants and goes out and gets it What I don t see in the mirror is a girl whose worth lies solely in her appearance Instead I see my light Black And White Alex Carcano Capital High School Valley Visions 16 Valley Visions 17

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Like Father Like Son Jake Anderson Boise High School I remember when you were still my dad When you coached my little league baseball team with Jackson s dad and Max s dad When you d come home from work and see if I wanted to go play football with you in the backyard We d stay out until the sun nuzzled the foothills that used to grow out our backdoor and when Mom called us in for dinner you d look at me and ask One more quarter I remember back then when living in a world without you or Mom or Emily was completely unthinkable like the Titanic sinking I remember on every Christmas Eve when we d watch the movie The Family Man When Emily and I would snuggle up wearing our new pajamas on the green sofa across from fireplace You walked around our tree around our playset train tracks and out the door Your boots crunch crunched on the stale snow and your axe as you chopped the firewood beneath the dark cloudless sky You walked back in arms full of wood bringing with you the chill of December night air After stoking the fire you settled in and we started the movie Cerberus Emma Coffey Borah High School I remember when it ended Emily and I hurried from the couch to our rooms so Santa could come deliver his presents When morning came so did the sweet smell of cinnamon rolls and bacon as you and Mom sat with us under the tree Emily and I tore apart presents like heroin addicts on a euphoric high gleefully blind to the world outside our own Little kids aren t meant to be unhappy Still dad I still remember when life wasn t going so well When Emily was in the hospital again and again and again Mom was with her I was home alone but where were you In the morning when I made my own breakfast my own lunch and had to ask around for rides to school every day where Self Portrait Jacey Adams Boise High School Valley Visions 18 were you Maybe you were at work or maybe you were out on a run or maybe our ship just hit ice and you didn t try to swim to shore At night when I was rolling over my mountain of sweaty sheets wondering if my sister would wake up tomorrow what was hard for me to believe was that if I was in your shoes and she was only my daughter I would ve had an easier time sleeping Maybe the phrase like father like son isn t so true after all I am not like you I will never be like you When I m a dad I won t make my kids sit through watching me scream at their mother in a drunken blur while she s trying to make them bowls of oatmeal before school When I m a dad my kids won t be excited for the leaves to crumble and die and school to start just so they can get out of their own home When I m a dad I ll go visit my daughter in the hospital whether she s in China or an entire 20 minutes from home When I m a dad I ll find my son when he s the only person left on the planet and tell him he s not alone Tell him I m scared too The truth is when I m a dad I ll still take my kids out to play football in the yard and coach their teams just like you did but that doesn t mean I m going to be like you The truth is dad that every day I miss our home our backyard the hills how I felt on Christmas morning as a little boy I miss our old dog Otis playing football in the backyard and eating burgers on our deck in the summer I miss the smell of our house and the look of your stupid little glasses that always sat too high on your nose But I don t miss you I know our old house and our new dog and the old yard and the new you are only 10 minutes away but I don t want to see you I don t miss you I just miss having a dad Women s March on Idaho Colton Rothwell Capital High School Valley Visions 19

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Love Abigail Spencer Timberline High School 1 The feeling in your chest when she laughs all silve chimes and blue lips and you feel her shake the ricket bench the same way she shook away your sadness 2 The electricity in your spine when he comes around the corner and takes you by surprise a grin in his eyes and a hand in his hair and you wonder how the cosmos can be so unfair to someone like you 3 Home Multiverse Abigail spencer Timberline High School In Astronomy We have the Multiverse Theory Where Outside of our dismally average world There are a hundred different worlds Living in many different ways And that if something happens in one universe Then somewhere else The exact opposite is true If this is fact Then maybe we are in the terrible universe where we never love But there are universes where we do In one universe we may be Rulers With jewels in our hair And books in our hands Beloved by the people we lead Or Perhaps We are the igniters of rebellion Running red amongst a black mass The king had ruled for far too long In Another We fly across the world With nothing but each other And an eternity of blue My Brother My Chest Still Hurts My Mother s Perfume I don t remember much All I have are snapshots of people colors sounds I can remember looking down at my bubblegum crocs but I can t remember if my mom and I were alone I can remember the throbbing heat but I can t remember if I cried or not The memory is overwhelmingly yellow the shade of summer of old photographs of childhood innocence I was sitting on the front porch the sunburnt concrete leaving marks on my legs watching my mom park our silver minivan She was back from the doctor s office I know she must have gone around the side of the car to get my baby brother out of the backseat but I don t remember that All I remember is her face I remember watching the tears silently race one another along the contours of her cheeks wondering what horrors could possibly make my mother that paragon of happiness cry She sat down next to me and her voice breaking explained that my brother would never be able to walk That he would have trouble talking That he would nonetheless be my little brother She was right on all three counts When he was little strangers used to ask us Where d you get that stroller It looks really nice We d reply Well it s actually a wheelchair The only time my brother has ever walked is when we would hold him under the armpits and walk around the house with him his socks drawing lines in the dust His smile was so bright I swear he was hiding the sun somewhere in his skull On his first wheelchair we put a sign that said It might take me longer to talk than most people Please be patient By the time we got his second wheelchair he had gotten better at talking his peers had matured and the sign was no longer necessary My brother is 11 now a sixth grader He has curly touched byMidas hair that wouldn t look out of place on a Roman statue sky green eyes and more freckles than he knows what to do with He can t walk strangers can rarely understand what he says and he is undoubtedly still my brother I know this seems a benign statement But I tend to overthink it as I do many things I feel it every time I take a deep breath A sharp yet throbbing ache in my lungs My doctor says it s from the valley air the damage of 16 years of breathing the filthy almond dust finally showing through She says it could take weeks to stop hurting I m not sure I want it to It feels like the only reminder of the dilapidated underfunded valley I grew up in surrounded by almond orchards which were subject to some machine that shakes the almonds to the ground And with the almonds the dust is released into the valley for months on end I was one of the unfortunate few to live directly adjacent to the mess My mother didn t teach me the things little girls are supposed to learn from their mothers She didn t teach me how to put on makeup she never wore any She didn t teach me how to do my hair she didn t know herself My mother never taught me how to wear perfume she couldn t stand the scent Isabelle Early Borah High School Cheyenne Lee Boise High School The people of this city call it the Treasure Valley and I couldn t agree more It s certainly a breath of fresh air compared to the San Juaquin Valley literally and metaphorically This valley is full of history and culture while I learned to drive hearing Look out for the drug addicts on bikes they always wear all black at night But I still miss my home You have the smoke season we had the shut the doors and crank on the air filter for a solid four months season But it didn t work The damage still made its way through and I can still feel every breath Part of me wants to overexamine the ache Think that maybe it s the pains and worries of a land 600 miles away still haunting me every minute That no matter how far I try to run my trials are still a part of me that I can t shake Well I will in 6 8 weeks but that doesn t line up with my psychological analyzation so hush Miah Mayes Timberline High School To me though my mother always had on perfume My mother s perfume is oranges that she peels for her children who claim she does it best My mother s perfume is hand sanitizer from the long hours she dedicates to her job at the hospital My mother s perfume is the crisp autumn breeze from the long evening walks we take together My mother s perfume is the Costco pumpkin pies she hoards in fall and winter to last her all year My mother s perfume is highlighters that she was found frequently holding when I was young and she was in medical school My mother s perfume is not Chanel or Dolce and Gabbana her perfume is hard work and love My mother didn t teach me the things little girls are supposed to learn from their mothers she taught me so much more than that Or maybe my own psych analyzation is going the wrong way Maybe it s less old ghosts haunting me and more just missing what isn t worth missing What I left was a trash riddled town where the residents just shut the blinds and pretended it was Mayberry The name of the town was literally just Lard in Spanish and the state of the town reflected it perfectly Logically I should not miss the California equivalent of Sodom Gomorrah But I do Maybe I miss it because despite how my friends and I would hang out by laughing together them immediately choking on dust and slamming the windows shut there were still friends in the picture The ache may be a reminder of the ghosts but what s a little haunting if it comes with a side order of memories from the agriculture center of Compton But in 6 8 weeks the reminder will be gone The ghosts and the memories alike will fade I m not sure how I feel about that But for now all I know is my chest hurts I wish these versions of us the best of luck And turn away Because if I do not They will never exist Untitled Colton Rothwell Capital High School Valley Visions 22 Valley Visions 23

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Night Drives Perfect Alazea May Capital High School The car shakes as a knob is twisted until it can move no further Slow melodies of broken love rings in ears that are used to harsh words and in hearts that wish to stop beating The music is meant to drown out the deafening voices in our heads but something of such loud magnitude can never really vanish We lay there together my friends and I all knowing all understanding one another The three of us make each other feel a little less empty comforting one another without ever having to say the words Perhaps that is really all you can ask for in a friend We all hurt in different depths and in different numbers of layers The pain is there whether we acknowledge it or not Pedals are pressed down loosely by feet that ache from running trying to catch up to love that scampers much too quickly Speed limits are not paid attention to for the only time we move forward is now Outside of this silver shelter the only movements made are backward Lights blur together the green the yellow the red The good the bad the everything in between It all looks the same there is nothing apparent to distinguish It does not take long before the knock on my mind has appeared The thoughts of you are indistinct in severity but always arrive on time They invite themselves in never leaving making room to stay in an already crowded space My eyes fill with salty anguish as I am reminded of better days Moments filled with laughter with genuine happiness Everything used to feel so okay in my chest but now it hurts even to simply breathe Stella Blumenstein Timberline High School You are everywhere in this city just not physically The night skies are a reminder of when everything was clear and unheavy The moon reminds me of you only present on lonely nights miles away beautiful without ever knowing You are hidden in the hazy gray fog you bring a darkness I do not recognize blinding me from your intentions which are anything but pure The cold air stings my scentless skin and only further reminds me it is the only thing that has touched me in a long while Your fingertips the most used part of you used to dance on my pale skin but after you left I would look down only to be greeted with deep purple and dark green marks Houses pass by slowly history hidden within cemented bricks secrets behind locked doors love in upstairs windows curtains drawn You suck out all of the light and laughter leaving only a black hole that once used to be me I have not been myself in a long while So much is felt in a five minute song So much is felt in a lifetime Pain is the most familiar I shake myself from the trap that is you Get out of my head You are not welcome I am brought back into a car surrounded by people who love me I smile knowing that you are no longer needed in order for me to be happy For I have finally realized the healing begins the day you let it Sister Wives Claire Manning Boise High School Valley Visions 24 Joan She stares into the void she calls her life Looking for the empty pieces yet nothing Days and days soar by passing her and everyone Still the same neverending Make your hair look a little better Paint your face they can t see you bare Squeeze into those miniature jeans please She struggles to fill the void that is her life Everyone the same but she is the hole She is the outstander she doesn t follow She is the difference people wish they had the guts to express and she shows them being alone is good She fills the void for others who can t She is perfect Every warm memory with you is so fleeting quickly turning frigid with time The love is associated with the pain Right Through Me Haylee L Huillier Borah High School Hokus Pokus Sapphire Monroe Dennis Technical Center Valley Visions 25

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No Trespassing No Words to Describe Porcelain by Michelangelo Her body is a forest like wonderland blooming and evergreen Towering mountains and deep valleys roll across her hips and thighs strong and tall they stand Waterfalls cascade down her hair down her back to the hot springs pooled at her toes roaring and confident it flows When I told him to stop and he said You ll be fine He was wrong I wasn t fine and I felt I never would be again He had all the power over me I was utterly hopeless and even though the ordeal likely lasted 5 minutes it felt like 5 hours All the air left my lungs as I suffocated in the pillow Until he finished my mother used to say a dishwasher herself how my soft and delicate hands are those of an artist s how they resemble porcelain or the china plates she washes on the daily Micki Leibow Boise High School Claire Gorringe Timberline High School Baylie McCallister Boise High School I do not have callouses from raking or piling wood no scratches from table saws or potato peelers Trees of every size and shape dance along her arms and legs clearing a path for lovers to follow Freckles of stardust splotch rose gardens on cheeks and illuminate all the different animals making homes here In this forest difference is beauty my fingers spin twine worthy of spider s silk skin stained with blues and greens and yellows like glass panes in Catholic churches But some explorers don t come for the scenery They come to chop down the trees and drain the rivers crumple the mountains and steal the stars to build up their own lives while leaving her barren But this is your forest and next time a wide eyed explorer comes along remember you decide who s trespassing my nails chipper catgut strings on bridges of wooden violins horse hair strumming across the board pizzicatos splattered on the ceiling Raku Strips Madeline Bowers Boise High School my palm is lined with coffee cup clay and pressed pen marks intertwined with veins and papier m ch the gardens of my toiling are only watered by splashes of murky paint water and brushed with repellent delicately to keep fingerprints away there has never been any fingerprint meant to harm never been a touch that was anything more than feather light the only meant to be was to create porcelain out of porcelain Oil Portrait Kaitlyn Legato Boise High School Valley Visions 26 On Top of the Mountain Kyle Kerr Timberline High School Valley Visions 27

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Scarred Truths The Ruby Miner s Daughter Camden Mullens Boise High School Sofia Edgar Timberline High School 287 Was the number of seeds In the pomegranate That she held in her hand Was the number of times He wished he could quit Carefully She broke the Skin of the fruit With a small slit of the knife He lifted The pick axe heavy with sorrow And prepared for another blow Every seed Meticulously plucked from Its guarded prison Was cleansed of its impurities By delicate fingers Removing the bits of pith Barely clinging on Like fragments of faded memories On and on Until each gleamed In the light streaming in through the Opened window Each stone Extracted deep From the underbelly of the earth Was taken And shipped And handled And cut And polished Until it no longer looked like a stone But like the ruby that it really was A beautiful shining ruby That he never got to see Three drops Of juice dot her wrist Come from a seed Which burst in her palm Spilling its value Onto her skin It is now worthless Of blood dot his head The dynamite shouldn t ve Couldn t ve gone off But it did Right there Before his very eyes And just before they closed He saw rubies Right there in the sky Like stars singing him to sleep 287 Was the number of times That the sweet juice Exploded on her tongue Each a sharp reminder that I knew innocence A second grade boy He had blue eyes And a slow smile I can t understand How one equals the other My brain refuses to compute The equation to equal two I know a druggie A high school dropout He has blue eyes And a slow smile The Naive Victim And without fail I cannot connect The two in my memory For each is unlike the other I knew a child Who imagined a better world Carrying scattered freckles And stories to tell The Innocent Druggie I know a teenager Who s lost hope on fixing Earth Carrying scattered freckles And stories to tell I knew naivety She dreamed of becoming a singer She had a pretty voice And red curls I ve lost hope In ever combining the two Even if they hold The same name face mind I know a victim Of the worst sort of violation She has a pretty voice And red curls For life changes us Scars us beats us Rips us in two And we continue on regardless 287 Was the number of Days her father had been dead They said it was a mining accident The Great Yukon Paul TenDoeschate Capital High School Valley Visions 28 Valley Visions 29

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Sea Glass Will Titmus Timberline High School My family and I we used to live by the sea gloomy dark sea the ocean was clear and green There was a big mountain beside our house with a big city but we never visited we never wanted to My brother would collect seashells I would collect beautiful rocks my mother every day would collect sea water and boil it It would make our house smell like a storm She would boil the water the whole day until all the water was gone and all that was left was a fine powder We would take a bit on our finger and put it right in the middle of our tongues We wouldn t close our mouths just let it sit and sink in We ate that salt with every meal My father collected a different kind of seaglass seaglass he made all on his own It was always brown in shards his hands were always bloody Why would he collect something that would hurt him I would think I m Gonna Make You Roll For That Actually Anna Getzin Capital High School He would sit out on the beach on our faded lawn chair watching the tide come in and out tickle his toes and then disappear back into the dark swirling waves When our salt wasn t the storm in our home he was the storm A tornado of man Whirling fists throwing my rocks breaking my brothers shells My mother would cry and beg him to sit down He always replied with the same words I am the storm I am the waves There will be no other thing in the home of a God Owl Canyon Sara Magbunuku Boise High School Valley Visions 30 Orange Windbreaker But the seaglass my father collected was still the same When I was even older we went to Las Vegas to visit cousins the sea was not there but the seaglass was still the same I live by myself now I see the glass everywhere I go in the streets in the people s hands I pray they are not tornadoes I pray their seaglass is beautiful and green I went to Maine once I found a piece of translucent green seaglass as big as a quarter like I had never seen before It was round and beautiful and I held it up to my eye and looked out over the gloomy crashing waves I saw my father and his swinging hands and red face I saw my mother crying silently cleaning I saw my older brother waving goodbye to me for the last time with tears in his eyes glancing to my father and back at me as if he was afraid and worried I saw the salt we used with every meal I saw myself standing finger in my mouth watching the world happen I threw the seaglass to the ground and it shattered I wished for my mother and my brother and wished for my father because I knew I should because he is my father I picked up the shards of the glass and wrapped it in my scarf I went to my friend She made a beautiful necklace with the scraps I gave her Then he would fall asleep My brother would pick up his shells my mother would clean up the mess and I would lick the salt I kiss the green beautiful smooth sea glass and it tastes like the sea back home on the shore next to the big city we never wanted to go to Sometimes my brother would ask my mother Why doesn t he help with the work Pointing at me I thank God for the sea and I thank him for my mother and brother and father because I know I should because he is my father Because he is still a child Luci and so are you Both of you go play outside Because I m supposed to love him and his tornado fists and red face My brother would go back to picking up shells Because I m supposed to love him and his seaglass And I my salt But I don t When I was older we went to the Caribbean Instead of the Isabel Stevens Boise High School Valley Visions 31

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Suffocation Surrender The palms of your feet kissed sage and cheat grass when we ran through the field your field A storm quickly approaching didn t stop us from having our picnic under the oak tree like we always did on Sundays Chocolate milk in hand you stared at the bluebird above tending to its babies before the inevitable rainfall Away from the city away from people I knew you loved it there under the oak alone in charcoal hills of brush Desperation fills the air Devastation creeps into sight No longer given the power to ignore fate Our heads bent in dejection Hope once was a thought in my unrealistic mind Now vanquished in the face of war Looking back into actuality Realizing that my death is imminent I surrender Jake Anderson Boise High School And nothing Behind me the screen door clicked as I took another step towards you your jeans rolled to your knees and toes caressing the forest of grass that lay underneath our cedar porch For years I was a stone listening to you hum The Smiths and stare vacantly at passing clouds Mom you asked head still stuck in the sky what do real people do with their lives I smiled and I know you did too I couldn t answer that But when blue sky turned to rain drop you never talked much Shadows cast over your slumped emaciated body from dawn to dusk and dusk to dawn The evening before you went to the hospital for good I saw you curled up in the windowsill Your hands running along the naked scalp where your blonde pigtails and pink ribbons used to be Nose pressed to glass and soppy eyes fixed on the hills like they always were Soon you d be absorbed into Earth like gasoline on dry grass Soon Simber Ari Berg Borah High School Emotional Roadshow Sadie Atkins Borah High School The sage still asks about you from time to time I tell the sage and the oak that you miss them That you cry about leaving them just as they did I whisper to the bluebird and the cheat grass and the hills that you just want to be with them again Just want to be with us All of us Truth or not I m lonely too Charese Kelly Timberline High School We have you outnumbered But we are broken and forlorn Arms outstretched in surrender Signaling that we no longer can ignore our destiny You are only one but you hold the gun While resting at your side It still holds the power to controls us Isn t that enough I surrender Monsters roam this place Feeding off the fear of the innocent Man s inhumanity to man We are invisible through their lens of perception Too weak to envision beyond Too defiant to see through A plea for peace Yet ignorant I surrender Many pay the price of our innumerable mistakes Nothing is gained from this ineffectual game Lives dismantled in the horror of war Families never came back whole Undeserving victims of inhumanity The real demons are the ones behind the guns Holding the gun You are not strong But rather scared of the strength of your opponent To understand Rip the labels off us and them We come from different walks of life But only placed into one category Beaten down by the words of our own men Doesn t seem to matter that we are all the same In the land claimed to be free We are punished for our thinking Never given the chance to be rightfully heard Snow Leopard TeAndre Mclane Borah High School Valley Visions 32 Valley Visions 33

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That One Person The Dimension of Intangibles I know ghosts In the dead of winter They move through me Soak through my clothes A comatose cold Audrey Sand Boise High School We all have that one person right The person that you know is yours You re not claiming or marking them as your territory but to you that s your person Motivation You wake up in the morning because of this person But you also can t fall asleep at night dreaming of them Just the little hello s and how are you s when you pass each other for just a few seconds brightens your day You can t wait to suddenly make eye contact with them when you re twenty feet away from each other in a crowd of people because when you do you smile at each other The smile makes your cheeks rosier and your heart warmer This person drives you insane but a good insanity a happy insanity an insanity that makes you smile because of love Without your person what s left That s how you feel at least When you don t see your person you re counting down the seconds till you do Grumpiness Overwhelms Aidin Andrews Boise High School Typewriter We all have that one person right Or maybe we re still searching Mikayla Wymer Boise High School Outside Looking In ShaSha Kingston Boise High School Dana Kenney Boise High School Time moves faster for the eternally dead They get used to the passage of time Like we get used to the smell of our own homes The mold in the shower drain The lavender and cream in the kitchen Time turns to static Like our eyes grow numb And tune out the dark Ghosts don t move in four dimensions They drift in patterns Incomprehensible to the human mind In the dimension of intangibles From hatred to blinding love Between the jolts of our neurons Across tectonic plates of consciousness Through our dreams while we sleep And what a ghost may see as a quick necessary jaunt From A To B Can feel like a rearrangement of the switchboard wires of the soul To our fragile Corporeal Lives Frozen Idaho 3 Evan Senderowicz Boise High School Resource Photo by Steven Fernandez Valley Visions 34 Valley Visions 35

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The Kodak Girl I was born telling truths To family and tree and ghost and cat and worrying Of course my god the worrying I eventually became fluent in that puritan art of hysteria Red and blossoming in the snow I lived it one at a time as I live everything My soul they tell me was little more than a lost cause You know I am far too obsessed I play cards and drink I am intensely pious my house dress is holy and smells like Noblesse I blame the census takers for Making their mistakes royally unwed mothers unnamed the servants watching from below stairs And as for Alain Delon Errol Flynn and Robert Redford James Dean and Misters Gable Valentino Grant They held up not even a match to the live ins I held like decades In my heart My mother smoked half cigarettes and spoke to me about our ancestors and their Poor Appalachian hearts I know all about the Irish girls and French boys about the Bennett curse stolen children and a dark prettiness As well as who I take after when I laugh I live for the idea of excommunication of stuffy sanctioned loves Maybe it is because I was raised on Solar eclipses night walks and jet airliners My mother s cold hands by the fireplace my father s camp songs the wavering yellow star of Lydia My dark haired brothers Like pastoral holidays I lived to celebrate And even when the sky looks like rain Pale and dramatic and lovely as a sister I open the window The screen door and give up my throat to the weather The rain storms pass fast in the desert I long for the biblical things which bloom in the South And on the Atlantic coast I took the oath when I was just sixteen When my believing was still Sedentary When my body fit in the bath and I Could see the Big Dipper from my bed The Piano Man The Stain You Left He would sit down on the bench and let his fingers glide across the ivory keys Like an incantation was placed over him That allowed his hands to play the melodies Without any guidance as if he was numb to the world Some may call this muscle memory but he did not concur Because that was not nearly as romantic of a notion I still feel your fingertips on me Like spiders crawling up my legs Lauren Lloyd Timberline High School Fiona Stanton Boise High School A spinster I decided Then I would not have to cross that bridge That hand holding traverse something I d rather die than commit Adultery I decided was a ritual Not in my blood Never fall in love with a red headed boy You ll seem him everywhere Like redemption and cheap horror movies I longed to make paleontological discoveries Once but not now What of that What of the rosy libraries I thought so much of What of my little girl gods Blue light of late evening The smell of cinnamon cake cooking A music box cherry and gold I long now for a clean breeze and the ocean with its Brand of mournful birth Rushing and falling and coming back and always Going I dream about Wales and the Deep reds the burgundy of New England The cliff edge is more meadow Then stone The sky more cloud than emptiness I am Willa Cather Margaret Sanger Nellie Bly He played his instrument as habitually as one sleeps or breathes It was as natural to him as snow falling in the winter Or autumn inspiring the varying colors of leaves Both playing the piano And the presence of his lovely soprano Were second nature to him now He played his scales as often as he and his wife shared their morning coffees He memorized notes like he memorized her stories He practiced chord changes just as often as they made each other snicker He loved his music almost as much as he loved her He would miss her the same way he missed page turns It s funny how a man s love for his music and his wife almost seem to intertwine Emma Walker Timberline High School My stomach was always in knots after we were together Was it from regret or what I swallowed The taste of your name is bitter like black coffee But I miss breathing it out under your sheets I lay awake at night thinking about why you left And the things I could have done that would have made you stay You had me when it was convenient And left when it wasn t Even when I wouldn t get a reply I would still text you Because I d rather have the worst parts of you then none at all Maybe you leaving was for the best Because losing you helped me become myself Why bother holding onto the thing that does not hold onto you He played for every celebration or special occasion Every birthday anniversary or wedding Grandpa would play with such persuasion It would take a moment to commence the applause Because everyone was still in absolute awe He had a way of inspiring chills and dropping jaws But as those occasions repeated themselves year after year Time for practicing became limited Just as the years left for the woman he held so dear His fingers began to grow stiff The pages were too heavy to lift The spell had worn off His music had become so synonymous with his love That when she died So did his art A marriage and the music were brought to an end But would always remain inside his heart I still tell truths and I curse the puritans For their panic Detached Lucy Reeves Boise High School Valley Visions 36 Valley Visions 37

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The System of Life Ryan Yong Timberline High School Time A form of energy Yet nonrenewable Believed to be boundless The source of life For a mythical beast Age The beast s tenacity Diminishing every passing moment Mature Realizing the boundaries The wasteful actions Repeated relentlessly Exhausting energy supplies End The beast in a pursuit to escape A fate that is inevitable Death The Truth The World You Can t See I should have seen it But it came in the dead silence of night Like an anxious little child It approached me with fright It s cold It s dark It s lonely They don t hear my screams They don t look at me They only ignore my cries Ellen Min Timberline High School I should have pushed it away But it refused to leave It whispered into my ear Until a message unweaved I should have listened to it But I was deaf to its plea Unyielding to its begging With no hint of apology I should have let it go But I confined it in chains Judged it Inspected it Questioned it Until I felt myself becoming insane I should have known better But I did not know then I killed it to shield myself And never saw it again Sophia Duncan Timberline High School Yet I need them to see I m drowning within myself Within my own head And it s killing me I m begging for help And running from my demons This killer isn t one people can see And they don t want to It s a monster It s hungry for blood And my flesh is available Why would anyone want to see this beast As this monster stalks me though My mind gives up It tells me help is pointless Heaven knows I ve tried before And my mind is right For I m asking those without a heart Maybe there are other monsters Maybe I m surrounded by them Maybe I m being killed by more than what I can see Yet I can only see one true monster And who else is there to blame But myself I am the one stuck in my head I am the one not speaking I am the one with thoughts of death This is all me I am the one to blame And I am the one who will pay When I was young I thought I d have a future I thought I d be happy But I also knew my time would end I always knew I d have to say goodbye I just never thought my hands would finish it Peachy Nina Ater Capital High School As my monstrous self holds a blade against my throat I put on my favorite mask A simple smile is enough It s never failed to hide me And as I slip away I know that I m alone Floral Frida Madison Roth Boise High School Valley Visions 38 Valley Visions 39

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This Poem Was Bought Underwater Uneaten Cake This poem was bought No matter how genuine or true No matter how much molded thought Or how far it makes it through My hair floats around me as I dive underwater The never ending roar of ongoing life is drowned out while the waves crash over me I blow bubbles out of my mouth and watch them flutter up to the surface and finally burst when they meet the harsh air I watch amazed as the reef buzzes with minnows weaving in and out of the brightly colored coral No one likes the smell of hospitals Most associate it with needles and broken bones wrapped in pasty white bandages with pain and heartbreaking news I associate it with long nights of sitting in an uncomfortable chair and the beeping of the heart monitor close to my ear When I was younger they would dress up the expensive surgery bills to pink sprinkled animal crackers and children toys but that never actually worked Babies still cried and people still died I was still sick and no amount of praying could help me and my bald head recover They told me it was a Stage III lymphocytosis anemia and an enlarged liver that it was maybe fixable with some chemo But the cancer who took my frail body over thought different It couldn t be tamed or controlled by a simple fix or a quick cut and go It was here to stay and take over my life and anything that came close to the surface of it My childhood was ravished and torn apart by an incurable beast that followed me with every limp down that stainless hallway of Saint Luke s Hospital in Las Cruces New Mexico Camille Weihe Timberline High School It can t escape this destiny Or ever dare be free It was not written by my will And it will never be Consider this fate You reader have wrought This poem is broken This poem was bought This Poem Was Bought Camille Weihe Timberline High School This poem was bought No matter how genuine or true No matter how much molded thought Or how far it makes it through It can t escape this destiny Or ever dare be free It was not written by my will And it will never be Consider this fate You reader have wrought This poem is broken This poem was bought Caitlin Walsh Timberline High School I resurfaced gasping for air Immediately after I hear the constant chatter of people caught up in their own private worlds They speak so loudly I can hear them from the water People can be so arrogant thinking they are the sole purpose in everyone s life so blissfully unaware of the many ecosystems around them I breathe in deeply before submerging underwater yet again Once again I am engulfed by the loud silence of the underwater world The brightly colored Parrot Fish whips across my view I follow it closely watching as it leads me to a fresh area filled with a rainbow of new fish Schools of fish swim in synchronized movements moving as one majestic animal I surface again not ready to leave this world but knowing I must See like the many other people talking on the beach I must join back with our world Our world filled with politics taxes and stress Maybe I am the arrogant one after all for thinking I could escape reality for just a minute without realizing reality had been hanging over my head this whole time Spaciously Sound Sophie Flock Boise High School Valley Visions 40 Margaret Dyer Boise High School A sniffle or a cough became a life threatening sign not just a simple silly school illness being passed around My Mondays were taken up by Dr Wilson and his beige painted walls not play dates and the newest Barbie dolls Instead of going on field trips to the local zoo like all the other kids I flew to different states in hopes that someone in the world knew what was wrong with me and could fix my damaged lung The only mail I got was not Christmas cards from old relatives but the results of blood tests None came back clear and that was the slippery slope down the rabbit hole that is now my life Stage III soon progressed to Stage IV and the pity smiles weren t worth the wait anymore The get well cards from old school mates telling me that everything was going to be okay didn t make my heart beat any faster than the swipe of a baby wipe on my inner arm before a needle pierces into my chilling skin I remembered the pounding in my head vividly before I was told the news if I was going to survive to the age of 17 or make it in the newspaper obituary section My neighbor Rosa said she was going to write it She told me it would entitle a loving picture of yourself with some of our greatest moments together She would later cry just thinking about it I tried to tell her I didn t need one that I was okay being a nameless grave stone on a patch of yellow grass She slapped my arm and told me to never think of such things that I was strong and going to survive through it all Her mother would come visit me sneaking in enchiladas and blueberry lemonade for me when I was craving it Sometimes she would leave a little note too on a napkin signed with her signature red lips like when my mom would leave little notes in my lunch box on the first day of school The last note I ever got from her was before my last supposable week It was the night of my 17th birthday and my liver failed causing a last minute surgery I still had my plastic fork in my hand and the Wonder Woman theme plate of uneaten strawberry cake on my lap as they wheeled me into the last available room If I knew that Funyuns would have be my last meal I would have chosen the Cheetos instead Death isn t quite what I thought it would be It was slow and filled with more drama than a high school classroom after lunch I never thought it was true when they said there was a white light at the end of the tunnel and there isn t The only thing I saw was grey No memories flashed through my mind just the sound of my heart failing I could hear the nurse begging for me to wake up she didn t want to have my blood on her hands Everyone seemed to be crying but me they all acted like whatever was happening hurt them more And maybe it did Maybe the constant scream of the defibrillator rattling my rib cage just reminded everyone that I wasn t going to make it That my heart was drowning in my blood and couldn t swim to the surface in time to breathe in time to beat But there was no lifeguard in this pool to save me I realized that now Hawaiian Jungle Easton Anderson Boise High School Valley Visions 41

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Used to Be Maddy Riddle Timberline High School When Nothing is all We Had Where I m From Poem Yes We remember because we re surrounded We remember because of a text from a girl half way across the country but in reality worlds away I am from a basketball from Wilson and All Star things I used to occupy my time I am from the small brick house on the dead end street warm happy It looked safe I am from freshly mown grass and tall creaking pine trees flowing with sticky sap I am from church on Christmas Eve and curly hair from mom grandma and dad I am from arguing and raised voices to rough and tumble fist fights From the child proof plastic lock and pounding on the doors From Be Quiet and N O and Nes Repond PAS Cheeks that sting and empty stomachs From hiding under the bed when the floorboards creak From stiff collars and early Sundays From forcing a smile before the guilt cripples me I m from Boise Michigan and France from Ratatouille and leek soup From the sore legs of getting injections from the yells of GET OUT Happy photos stuffed in an overflowing album tucked away on a shelf Those smiles that haunt me I am from the dead end street where my life began I will not ask the questions That lock themselves in boxes Swallowing keys in front of my eager eyes Emma English Boise High School I can t even look you in the eyes today What happened to that innocent face Where did the girl that I once knew Suddenly escape to Why did you choose this life You re standing under a hanging knife You left me With my arms wide open You abandoned me Now my heart s completely broken You wanted to be free But is that the life you re living Freedom doesn t come from a life of sinning And winning doesn t come from a life of freedom I wait for you to come back to reality I keep my hopes high on what used to be We grieve because the wound is fresh We grieve because we are scared when another s hand glides over our scars We sleep so that we will dream of what might ve been We sleep so we don t have to be awake with all our thoughts Something was in our hearts Love you could call it Something made us take risks in school doorways confessing our feelings Something made us kiss soft and gently after eating frozen desserts in the harshness of winter Something made us laugh Conversations perhaps For in two years there will be no happy endings like what we promised In two years I ll start the rest of my life and you ll move to finish yours Max Manning Floch Borah High School Paris Davis Boise High School I will not talk in class Instead I will raise my hand until My forearms become so numb I can chop them off and let gravity take me I will hold posters in my hands Instead of words between my lips I will stay in bed and watch women make history As I am one but I am too afraid to speak because What if I die What if I become the hate crime that I am fighting against What if I forget how to love myself because I m so busy loving the world that gave birth to me but also the world that took away its promises Written on a paper saying all men are created equal But I am not a man So do I deserve what is said to be equal It will be apparent how young I truly am as I learn about the world while you settle down with a wife A wife who isn t me We had something It s gone now and that hurts The pain is something I feel every night when I try to exhaust myself before I fall asleep so I won t think of you when I lie in bed The pain is there every moment in the days that I think of your face and your words But in two years it will be nothing So here I sit praying in two years when someone asks what came of you I ll be able to shrug and say Nothing is all we had Personal Space Roxy Albig Boise High School Valley Visions 42 Life Preston Cline Capital High School Valley Visions 43

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Valley Visions 2018

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