by Gabe Emerson

This piece originally ran in Read This!, a literary magazine written and edited by high school students from San Lorenzo High School, ranging in age from 14 to 18 years old. This issue of Read This! was designed at 826 Valencia with the help of our tutors and volunteers.

I look around the crowded room
Seeing the products of many lives
Many are poor, wealthy, happy, sad,
And some are husbands and wives
But one thing they all have in common
Which joins them, and sets the par
Is their existence in this empty life
And their desire to reach the stars

But I am not like the others
My world has been set apart
I’ve been placed in a room of confusion
That is lonely, cold, and dark
My future has yet to be set
For I know the stars are beyond my reach
Because the lessons I need to learn
I don’t think anyone can teach
The only reason I survive
Is because I thrive off those that succeed
But little do I know
That is not all this body needs

What I need is a mystery
A problem left unsolved
I wait and search for answers
But no conclusions have evolved
I’m fixed with a limited time
So as you hear me pour my heart through this pen
Know that I’ve tried and gave my all
But I’ll never be the same again

I wasn’t meant to be here anyway
Somehow as an accident I slipped through
Just remember sometimes you don’t like your life
But there are people who would kill to be you

The light is beginning to fade and the walls slowly close in
As I come to the brink of my life I regret it was filled with sin
I wish the best for all, and hope all broken hearts will mend
Now I can only look forward and hope this is the end.