Poetry Festival will be held:

Saturday, April 27, 2024

2022 Winner

When the world ends

When the world ends, won’t it be another day?

Waking up to a shining blur in my eyes

as I venture into a building, to be churned and kneaded

til I’m numb and left to serve an apathetic organization

and a CEO somewhere who flaunts his wealth

and promises a change he’ll never bring.

Heading home alone after a temporary eternity

with a goal unfinished and a life

as something other than a corporate slave to be desired.

The same as always.

Is that how the world ends?

Instead of ending like the past, maybe it could end like a dream?

I will be collecting crystals and manifesting more joy than ever

cherishing all my possessions, both material and emotional.

I will be crying and screaming and venting all my anxieties into a void,

no soul in sight to tell.

I will be cheering, embracing and loving everything about me,

my melanin, my queerness, and my femininity.

I will be resting in a lavish home that is not my own,

munching on every snack I like in every corner store and every Giant in sight.

I will be laughing, raging and flaming as I and the pleasant people play Uno,

accepting our losses and our victories.

Oh, to end so beautifully truly is a dream deserving to become reality.

When the world ends, what should I expect?

Hope, despair, paradise, or purgatory?

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Christa Madikaegbu

Ballou Senior High School

Grade: 11