By Neko Ikels, TIWP Student I’ve bitten my tongue,More times than I can count,Held it,Restraining myself from saying something,The wrong thing. I bite my tongue when I have nothing nice to say,When my words feel like leaves that fall and blow away,When I am in a room full of people who talk so much of […]
The Rules of Being a Teenage Girl
By Lina Norris-Raman, TIWP Student Don’t raise your hand in class. Nobody likes a know-it-all. Just sigh and stay quiet, knowing your answer has layers that the boy beside you (so proud of his simple response) can’t even imagine. Don’t speak up when some prepubescent boy says something truly misogynistic. You’re supposed to want them […]
Behind the Screens
By O. Deng, TIWP Student Friendship is one of those things I’ve learned everything about, but also nothing. Maybe it was my struggle to make new friends at a school whose demographic I wasn’t used to. Maybe it was the way I was sheltered from making new friends as a kid, where I saw the […]
Not Just Ink But Essence
Inspired by the poem, “what can a poem do?” by Darius V. DaughtryBy Lina Norris-Raman, TIWP Student A poem cannot stop time,but it can still a recurring thought.It can quiet the chaos,slow the churn of overthinking. It cuts through walls of anxietylike a flood through San Francisco—rushing, breaking,dismantling intention and purposeuntil the mind lies in […]
Will I Go Gently?
By Zara Quiter, TIWP Student As I listen to the creekin the corner of my streetsI hear the whispers of stories,songs from the grave,hushed memories long forgottencreeping through my window They filter through my mind,and return to the worldunder cracks of doorsinto the ears of few,They are changed, revised,reborn into something new,So that they may […]
Redwoods
Audrey Harris, TIWP Student Some days I feel purple. Purple like plums, like grapes, or like any sort of fruit you can think of. I don’t really mind the color purple. And other days I am red. Not a raging red, more like a passionate red. Red that expresses love, devotion. Red that leaves your […]
Patience
By O. Deng, TIWP Student “Thank you for your patience!” they say, and I just nod and smile because what can you do except wait? (I spend my minutes waiting for the hours to pass, and I spend my hours waiting for days to pass, and I spend my days waiting for weeks until weeks […]
To Be A Girl
By Lina Norris-Raman, TIWP Student Each glance in the mirror shows someone new, every version battling, not a nice enough view. Her nose too big, her waist too wide— never pausing to think of what’s inside. The guilt that pangs when she takes a bite, she keeps it hidden, locked in tight. With trembling breaths, she steps on the […]
Untangling Worms
Jake Sawyer, TIWP Teacher I’m not angry anymore. It feels like a waste of energy to be angry. But I do have an unfamiliar feeling inside. One I can’t quite explain…. like there’s a bundle of worms in my gut, tangled in a knot so intense that no amount of wriggling can free them, forcing […]
Joy Doesn’t Care
Inspired by the poem, “Joy Chose You” by Donna Ashworth By O. Deng, TIWP Student Joy doesn’t care if you’re sad, hungry, tired, or ugly. She’s like a small explosive at the back of your head, that you sometimes forget about but when the time is right she bursts, leaving you wondering how long the high […]
The Intuitive Voice 