Poetry

The Ditch

By: Carson Stewart

I fought the enemy today.

His banners are blue, mine red.

We had both fallen in a ditch.

And now he lay dead.

Shelling kept me in this hole.

A dead enemy mere feet away.

My ears heard only the orchestra of war.

Just to be home, oh what I’d pay!

I searched the enemy’s pockets.

For wealth is wasted on the dead.

I found letters and a locket.

Inside was a woman lying in bed.

The letters spoke of their new son.

How their baby boy is waiting for his return.

He was named after his grandfather, William.

Reading these words made my stomach churn.

These were the enemies I was told.

They hated my country and my freedom!

But this man, was he my enemy?

What about those who need him?

I killed a man today.

His banners, once blue, now are red.

His soul lay at the bottom of a ditch.

And over this land, armies still tread.

Askance and Attention

By: Natalie Burgess

One teardrop fell on his skin

Dripping down from cheek to chin

Teardrops, erupting from within

Askance from them all

One teardrop smeared on his hand

He reached out but could not demand

And they would never understand

Such askance from the crowd

One teardrop fell from from his mind

Into the sun of what would never shine

Through the dark he couldn’t find

With the askance of the crowd

A Most Disgusting Ideology

By: Carson Stewart

The ends justify the means.

A dictator’s favorite phrase.

You can defend whatever you please.

Even if it sets innocent people ablaze.

There are acts that can’t be justified.

Some sins are just too vile.

I wonder if their ideology will defend them.

When they are put on trial.

But this ideology exists in many.

Only those who wouldn’t have to die.

Because when their life would be in danger.

They’d run from their own beliefs, or at least they’d try.

We all have an equal value.

No matter class, job, or birth.

But fools will trade some lives for others.

To them, some have more worth.

Photography