Artemis Burkemper, 17, he/him/his
Tell Me Why
Ode to the Bathroom Ceiling
Some think it vanity
To believe the rustled leaves
Of hushed conversation
Are about you.
But the incessant clatter
Of a heart against a ribcage
And the flow of paranoia
In taunt veins
Longs to cease
Their chatter.
Crumpled hopes and dreams
Lay in wastebaskets
Because you know
The FBI won’t hire you.
Your own family
Regards you as
A sick sinner
Scary and avoided.
I have no contagion.
But mom and dad pull
Me out of school
To quarantine
Their diseased kid.
My friend’s parents barricade
Their doors.
The delinquent sits
Outside on rainy stoops
A bad influence.
King Midas sulks
Jealous as I
Destroy the lives
Of those I touch.
My “therapist”
Told me
Jesus heals.
But church brims
With stares
Judgement on tongues
For communion.
Don’t worry.
god already punished me.
With screaming lungs
From binded chest.
Severe depression
And cracked mirrors.
A vampire
I cannot see myself.
Every sunrise
Presents another obstacle.
Just existing
Is difficult enough
Tell me
Why must you
Go
And make it harder?
What is gender?
Smooth waters glide
Elusive hands
Hold my body.
Suspended.
Time and purpose
Lost
In warm steam.
Only here
I exist.
A true self
With no use
For binding tape or pronouns.
Merely me.
Gender lies
Heaping
With dirty underwear
In the corner.
Birthed
From merciful liquid
I sigh
And slip it on.
Visual Art by Devin Box, 17, he/him/his
Artist’s Statement: I have created this piece as a part of my concentration which explores the effects of loneliness on different kinds of people. This piece shows the depression and separation that loneliness can bring a person; the color blue and the single tear is to show the sadness that is represented in this piece. The earbuds represent how the person is blocking out society and trying not to listen.
My plans toward the future are to achieve an associate degree at Tallahassee
Community College, then to transfer to either The School of Art Institute of Chicago or Florida State University to graduate with a major in Animation and a minor in Education.
