Expectations
The opening of her mouth signals more
And more words. She throws me in the fire to succeed, and
Yet I burn. The possibility of work floods my senses.
I know I must be great, but how can I with her lurking
Around my mind every waking moment. Homework.
Programs. All things I enjoy,
When she doesn’t expect something from me.
To look out for her, to clean up after her
When I come back from my evening endeavors.
I am a rule follower, I do no wrong.
No harm among the world, and yet
Her words send signals
Of her perfect daughter to be.
Asking her when she is going to succeed.
She closes her mouth with the taste of honesty,
She knows that I could never
Live up to her expectations, of who she wants me to be.
My Mother’s Love
My mother’s love extends wisdom,
Beyond my ear
My mother’s love is no one else’s.
It is beautiful and merciful, like the sun.
When ready to shine, her love scatters my mind.
My mother’s love acquires armor.
Delicate and cautious, when met face to face
With the wind.
It is impacted by screams.
Honest and true, I move through and through
My mother’s love fears no fools.
A fool like me, fears nothing
But her.
It is true, her words float around me.
Yet, her cloud may pull me back down.
My mother’s love.
It is my mother’s, no one else’s.
My mother’s love.
Magic in the Woods
A trip to the woods,
Won’t hurt anyone.
She goes because everyone else goes.
They go to party
To have fun
To release
To get away from the parents that haunt them.
She follows suit among the crowd
The trees watch from a distance
Waiting for her to get lost
Waiting for her to follow that path.
And then she is gone.
Lost in the tracks, a branch helps her find the way
Not to her friends, but to where they all have been.
Flying in the air, the girl is lost in a hole
She ends up in a place unlike home.
A place where everyone is free to be themselves
Or whoever they want to be.
Where you can dress up, or watch skits for hours.
This is a place where time doesn’t exist.
Where hate and kindness are not balanced,
But one conquers the other.
The girl lost in a trance, stays in the place
Till time collects her.
Which is hard since time doesn’t exist in a
Place full of magic, that hides under a hole
Where everyone stumbles for free.
But yet, they always end up paying a price to leave.
Prayer about the Moon
As the sun and moon say their goodnights,
A little girl in the distance prays.
Her words battle against the night sky
For her God only knows why,
She prays in the darkest time.
She couldn’t help but ask for guidance from up above
She couldn’t help but ask for God to watch over her family
She couldn’t help but ask for her to see another day.
Now, the moon is watching
Waiting for the right of way,
To bless this little girl’s day.
She prays for love, in the darkest moments
She prays for faith, in her weakest moments
She prays for hope. Hope that she can see the sun,
Until she crosses over to meet the moon.
The moon hears her, in every which way
He dreams of her prayers to be answered,
That her God will bless her until her dying days.
The girl couldn’t help but pray for the moon
She, looked at the moon for every possible question
Hoping that he could grant her blessings.
She finished her prayer, so that the moon could teach her a lesson.
With an Amen hanging in the air, the girl hoped
For the moon to never disappear.
Jazmyne Moseley is in eleventh grade and goes to Franklin Towne Charter High School. She likes to write poetry and short stories for fun. She also likes to read and build lego sets. Her favorite color is blue, and she enjoys living in quietness. She lives in Philadelphia, PA with her dog, Bailey, and her mom.