To Gerard Manley Hopkins

By Cate Barry Gerard Manley Hopkins, I love your deep insightful thoughts, How I need to read out loud your poem, If I really want to understand its depth. But of course you, sitting across from me, Don’t think like that. You tell me that it’s all God’s work, You just retold it here, and...

On Being Watched By a Taxidermy Display

By Miranda Tucker My head hangs low,solemn eyes watchingyou gawk at my presence,beckoning your friendswhose mouths gape and spewaffirmations,congratulatingyou endlessly for mybeheading, my lifelessexhibition.

The Turtle

By Alison Francisco A bright green turtle, With brown and white checkered across the shell, And big eyes that seemed to hold the whole world inside. When I saw this small stuffed animal, Waiting patiently for me in the store, My thoughts drifted To the newborn baby I’d soon meet, The one who held all...

I Didn’t Take a Picture

By Alison Francisco I didn't take a picture the first time I saw a bald eagle.It was soaring in the clear blue air,bathed in the glow of the morning lightas the determined sun rose over the towering trees. I didn't take a picture when I I glimpsedthe boisterous sun disappear,finally quieted for a momentby the...

Rice Gravy

By Sophia Mannion Boilesen Mom used to make us rice gravy all the time when we were little, my older sister and I. Rice                               Cream of Mushroom Soup                       and Tuna 3...

My Experience

By Patrick Frerichs Hey, what’s up UNL.Long time no see, na.I am just kidding, but for real though man.I am going miss you and all the people who showed up,for they are one of a kind and unique,and I don’t want to leave this camp and waitfor the whole school year just to come back...

How to Share Your Heart

By Shaylee Pokorny My heart is Big. Just like my mother’s heart. Just like my grandmother’s heart. I didn’t get much time with my great grandmother but I know her heart was strong. My heart is so big, my innate behavior to give. I was raised to be kind. I was taught to give to...

The Sower, Boobs, and the Sexual Awakening of Several Male Classmates

By Emma Krab In the fourth gradeMy class studied Nebraska historyFrom a green-freckled book of cottonwoodsAs they lifted to the radiant Nebraska sunIt was required readingLines upon lines of faded textAnd, on occasion,A separate column to the leftKnown by several male classmatesAs The Boob Column “Boob” was the f-word of the fourth gradeMy classmates gulped...

To Anya

By Jeanna Snyder These walls that keep you in,They climb so high,You can’t see over them. You’re almost there.You climb a little higher every time you agree to see me,But every time you see me,Or do something they may not like,You risk them finding youNear the top of these walls,Gazing at the slivers of light...

True Emotions

By Tanner Meyer Trapped in my own thoughts like a prisoner in a cell or a bird in a cage. Let my free, Tanner let me wonder and explore. But no I never let her I keep her close and content. Only letting her see so much I keep locked drawers full of folders I...

Older Words

A Series of Haikus Written in Morrill Hall By Emma Krab To witness true death Echoing in rib cages Is to be haunted Pound into the earth Make your impression on me Leave footprints behind Plunge me into dark Let me know the way of life That predated eyes You glow in the dark The...

I Hate Love Poems

(like a lot) By Julia Ramsey I hate love poems. I hate sappy in-love poems And angsty out-of-love poems. Listening to them gives me the same feeling as when I eat scrambled eggs then get a headache right after; I don’t quite know why it’s the case But I sure as hell I don’t like...

Welcome to Society

By Jessie Storz Welcome to society; We hope you enjoy your stay, and remember to enjoy yourself, As long as it’s in our way. We’ll love you just for who you are, Unless you’re gay or black. Then we’ll shame you, kill or blame you, And oppress you till you crack. Society’s very welcoming, so...

Garden of Thought

By: Julia Ramsay I want my writing to be a gardenWhere poems bloom like lilies.They will start out as a soft greenThen move into a yellowThat becomes the warmest pink you could ever experience.Novels will be bushes of hydrangeas.The pages will come together as flowers to form a sphereThat apart would still hold beauty. I...