Annie Ma (18)
My mother’s eyes have cold-blooded pupils
That seek their prey in havens hidden deep.
Her claws gut the earth for bloody spoils
And shatter my tranquility in sleep.
My mother’s teeth are fortified with steel
That penetrates the skin beneath the rough.
I am a wound too overlooked to heal;
I am a deer not sharp nor fast enough.
But though her glares are furious and crossed,
Their brightness brings to light my way a spark;
And though her breath bites harder than the frost,
It is the tongue that washes me in dark.
For, nested underneath black stripes austere
Is her love for the cub she cradles dear.
Annie is a freshman at Stanford University, where she is interested in studying the intersections of computer science with the humanities. Her poetry and prose have won several Scholastic Writing Awards. Annie was a co-editor-in-chief of her high school's literature and arts publication, HELM, which has won Columbia Scholastic Press Association awards several years in a row. She also loves photography and has a portfolio at www.anniema.co.
My mother’s eyes have cold-blooded pupils
That seek their prey in havens hidden deep.
Her claws gut the earth for bloody spoils
And shatter my tranquility in sleep.
My mother’s teeth are fortified with steel
That penetrates the skin beneath the rough.
I am a wound too overlooked to heal;
I am a deer not sharp nor fast enough.
But though her glares are furious and crossed,
Their brightness brings to light my way a spark;
And though her breath bites harder than the frost,
It is the tongue that washes me in dark.
For, nested underneath black stripes austere
Is her love for the cub she cradles dear.
Annie is a freshman at Stanford University, where she is interested in studying the intersections of computer science with the humanities. Her poetry and prose have won several Scholastic Writing Awards. Annie was a co-editor-in-chief of her high school's literature and arts publication, HELM, which has won Columbia Scholastic Press Association awards several years in a row. She also loves photography and has a portfolio at www.anniema.co.