Pegasus 2010

And no, I don't mean the winged horse of Greek mythology. "Pegasus" is the yearly literary magazine at my high school. It's published at the end of the year and features the school's best young writers and artists. I submitted three of my poems, two of which got in. Of my three, "The Jester King's Court" and "Open Eyes" got in. "To: You From: Me" wasn't as lucky. Here are this year's winners:

The Jester King's Court

The time is now, come gather around
The fire's high, the sun's gone down
Friend and poet, come make anew
Gypsy, drummer, and lute player too
The blood red flames are dancing high
Kissing excitedly at the star draped sky
And close by, within the fire's hypnotic light
A bold and roaming passion is sweeping the night
Gypsies dance and singers sing
All performing for the Jester King
And joining in, drummer pound
Onlookers tap their feet upon the ground
The rhythm grows and oh so fast
As if bleeding into the future and past
Guitars and lutes all start to strum
From somewhere off, the mountains hum
The skies whisper encouraging chants
And swifter the gypsies start to dance
Distant bells are softly swelling
We storytellers are storytelling
The night goes on, but we never slow
The pulsing music seems to flow
The time is now, come gather around
The fire's high, the sun's gone down
This is no place of challenge or sport
Only music and merriment in the Jester King's court

And "Open Eyes" goes:

Come dawn, the world awakes
And all begin to rise
Tis beauty at waking
That paints the azure skies
Flowers emerge from leafy shells
Evergreens seem to raise their heads
Mountains yawn, the breeze is sweet
And songbirds stir from treetop beds
The beauty of a summer day
When all is quiet and still
With leaves of green and whispering streams
The peaceful times do fill
The days grow short and cold
Green trees lit aflame
Winds blowing through red and gold treetops
Seemingly whisper some forgotten name
Snow covered mountains
And valleys painted white
Tis the beauty of deep winter
That grades both calm day an night
A rose wilted in the garden
Succumbing to November frost
Tis beauty in death
When life, not in vain, is lost
There is beauty in gloom
Though somewhat harder to find
And hearts and eyes that diligently search
Discover such beauty, refined.
There is beauty in a child's laugh
And in an infant's smile
There is beauty in the forest grove
Where you stop to rest a while
Many see the world through closed eyes
And settle for only this
Never stopping and wondering
The beauty that they miss
Open eyes see far more than they that hardly see at all
Open eyes know the beauty
From watching sun and stars rise and fall
Come see the flowers, trees, and streams
And soft clear springtime skies
Come see the beauty of the world
And see it with open eyes

Pegasus comes out May 20th and I'm so excited. One little reminder to look for my review of "Ender's Game". (As soon as I finish reading it.)