Cubed blocks in a rainbow of colors,
four smooth sides, one hollow side and one bumpy side.
All fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Compactly form an abstract notion
like a fire-breathing dragon.
An azure locomotive with a light-gray face.
Thomas, always with a grinning expression.
A steam-engine bellowing cloudy smoke.
Churning down wooden tracks
in a path unknown like a shiny bullet.
A black-silverish handle attached
to a slender extendable plastic purple frame.
Electrifying neon plasmas,
severing and slashing hundreds of troops
storming in their white suits.
Black letters etched on delicate pages.
Proper use of words make strong sentences.
Stacks of sheets bonded together with a paper or hardcover.
The tale’s language comes alive like a dystopian
queen ruling a universe of chaos.
Multitudes of random items jumbled everywhere as chromatic
pictures on a flat large page.
Eyes must search continuously for a specific
set of things such as a piano, bowling ball, nail pin,
cowboy hat, keychain, plastic spider, and a seashell.
Green and yellow polymers form a cylindrical canister
with a tiny plastic red trigger.
Streams of cold moisture surround a leathery beast
growling in pain with turquoise
blood sizzling the asphalt.
Glossy paints encasing the body,
four little metallic wheels
and a chiseled engine VROOMING!
Threads screeching on a race track
all taking place in a calm mind.
Five dolphin skinned ships hidden on a serene lagoon grid.
Each ship sculpted roaming the endless sapphire seas.
Red and white pegs pinpoint for the targets.
An iron torpedo cackling dooms a silver
ship consuming it in flames, debris, and ash.
Kids play with toys that are real
but what they see in their mind is different.
Everyday touchable items turn into
Something deeply imaginative and creative.
None of these objects have to be technological.
Technology creates a distorted reality.
Digitized games, virtual reality, and
anything screen-based does not stimulate the mind.
A child’s wish list can become
something beyond its physical manifestation.
Huzeifa Amiji is a senior civil engineering major with a concentration in environmental
engineering and a minor in English. He is from West Chester, Pennsylvania. He likes
reading, writing, watching movies and TV shows, running, and even hiking.