The CHIEF April 2022

Student Poetry By Rykel Jensen

“Hay, Snow, Baby Powder, and Rotten Clementines: A Compilation of Dreams”

Rising from the ground in my backyard, I am covered in snow. I roll around, and make snow angels, watching them fly when I finish them. I go inside my grandmother’s house, I stare into a mirror, and see my sunburnt face. The sunburn hurts, and I walk fully clothed into a cold shower. As my skin cools, I melt, like ice. I melt down the drain, like sludge, and land on a dock. I fuse back into myself on this dock, but I am not the same. I have changed, but the change is soon forgotten, when I see A little boy, drowning in the lake in front of me. I jump in, and save the boy. I bring him to land, a man waits for me, his fingers look like claws. He grabs me, and bites my shoulder, I scream, and slap him. The slap sends me backwards into the lake, I sink. I sink, and water melts me yet again. I turn to sludge, and fly away. I land in my bed, covered in baby powder, and wet pajamas. I sit up and sigh, glad I am free from the clutches of the man in my dream. But another beast awaits just beyond my bedroom door. Before I worry about that, I jump up through my bedroom window. The trees above me stand tall, I jump to them, and then to mountaintops. I glide in the air, above all else. I prove to myself, I can fly, fly free. Gracefully, I land in a barn. I lay in the hay, the smell hits me, it’s comforting. Just before I can get comfortable, a box of clementines lands on my head. I ate every single one, I didn’t notice they were rotten. A parrot lands on the box. “You’re quite gross.” The parrot squawks at me. “I disagree,” I reply, “I’m rock and roll” The parrot grabs me in its talons, cutting deep into my shoulders, and screeches in my face. I lay back in my bed, covered in hay, snow, baby powder, and rotten clementines. I’m glad to be home, the beast behind my door long since forgotten. That was a mistake, letting beasts be forgotten. It opens my door, and smells the air. Salivating and hungry, it lunges for my throat. Into the long night before me, I run barefoot into the world. There are many things I have yet to discover, yet to learn.

As the beast lunges for me I realize, The beast is not a monster, It’s my own face. Staring back at me.