“the poet” by Aamina Mughal
March 30, 2023
the poet this is you on your knees, surreal roses unfurled in a ghastly inversion at your feet. you balled your fists and balled your eyes out while you were patted on the back, like the ancient, qura...
SAL/ON
A Blog of Seattle Arts & Lectures
Category: Youth Poet Laureate
“The Just Compromise” by Adhya Kona
February 7, 2023
Plato once asserted that justice, in the scheme of morality and goodness, ultimately comes down to compromise. We discussed it in class, so it must be true, but tell me, philosopher, if perhaps I coul...
“Standstill / Stand Still” by Kiana Gladney
January 23, 2023
At the peak of my anxiety, consumed by emotion, overwhelmed by intrusive thoughts, I’m at a standstill. I don’t know when my home got bigger or I when I simply shrunk, but my house is far ...
“Cubism” by Zinnia Hansen
November 28, 2022
“With your pictures you apparently want to arouse in us a feeling of having to swallow rope or drink kerosene.” – Braque to Picasso Maybe it’s as simple as this: Maybe God’s hundredt...
“Don’t Worry, Ma” by Kyle Gerstel
November 22, 2022
He sits at the desk beside Teacher, scribbling words on the back of the coloring sheet while the rest of the class enjoys the playground and each other. His mom asks her maternal comrades what to do, ...
“Pesto” & “Toast and Other Things” by Bayla Cohen-Knott
November 9, 2022
Pesto She dances Whirs and grinds and her arms rise To ragged rocks of sea salt Where she sleeps She puckers up for a kiss Feels lemon when there is bitterness Goes dark when left alone A moldy solitu...
“Lorelei” by Keegan York
October 26, 2022
I can’t tell you how it kills me. …..Song like the bleeding heart of fire ……….breeds the incandescent waver of ……………water rapt in wrapping ‘ro...
“Lived. Moved. Wanted. Got?” by Zora Sowinska
April 18, 2022
“Here” feels so lonely. The hands of a ghost who loved another ghost, the space between fingertips, the hall light under the door. Whispers that evaporate into thin air like an August creek. Ferns...
“War Zone” by Avni Rao
March 8, 2022
And as dusk neared, The laughs were replaced with nonchalance, For it was dark and unsafe now One mustn’t do something to provoke— An ill-fated destiny corsets hung from old, battered joints An ur...
“Womb” by Zinnia Hansen
September 14, 2021
Do you remember when that tickling in our stomachs had a name? It was called God. The flowers bloomed to God’s rhythm and we danced in our underwear. Our families burned weed and bras and incense an...