The hardwoods sunbathe in the increasing intensity,
their skin covered by pockets of silky velvet.
Voluptuous blooms showcased,
their irradiance hidden from those unworthy.
How long will the prismatic blossoms last,
as petals fall like grains through an hourglass?
Delicate hearts scale the rustic wires,
tumbling in the spearmint breeze.
Mournful cries echo through the void
burdening the air to bare the tune of lost love.
The air lays silent as if in torpor,
Our beating hearts the last source of melody.
Passerines arise to serenade the apricot dawn
whose sweet aroma permeates the soul.
Stems ever-reaching ache to touch the heavens,
on even their points they dream.
Spicy smoke from the simmering heat
tantalizes and seizes the process of all thought
Emerald spears of grass choke as the pierce the Earth,
blackening as they carbonize under the intense rays.
Will you miss the emerald grass
whose blades lay broken and burned?
Vibrations oscillate through the old gray bones,
ubiquitous screeches leave no place for shelter.
The Sun stands guard in the turquoise sky,
proving illumination to all of which it governs.
The horizon is devoid of all but ash,
the land frozen in disorientating twilight.
Murders appear with every sunrise,
only to be eclipsed by a crying colony of white.
Cerulean laughter from the crests of the surface
tempt us to enter the malleable crystal.
Cinnamon leaves drift in the blustery breeze
their crimson colors sweeten the brisk air.
A pandemonium of hooded shamrock
bend and sway in the gingerbread bows.
What will you do when bows lay shattered,
annelids sewing quilts of ruin?
Vibrant emerald and sapphire plumage
litter the feet of the dull murmuration.
Their warbles are pleasant and soothing to the ear,
contrary to the cardinal yowls of sparrows.
Alabaster osseins protrude from the loam,
their blossoms of carrion revolting and obsidian.
Decrepit towers depress the soil,
serving only as highway for arthropods.
The nightcrawlers witness a celestial battle,
the lustrous glow prevailing only to dwindle.
Darkness omnipresent begins to take its hold
Red, green and white cast away the old man.
Hexagonal crystals, delicate as silence
Decorate the world in an ethereal light.
What will you do when the crystals cease,
the torrid blaze forging apparitions of their beauty?
Laughter and song echo through the ether,
scarlet tolling rings from every corner.
Nymphs tremble in fear, cold and naked,
facing without prejudice the wrath of Thor.
Forlorn hearts ache for the chime of bells,
hopes shattered in a flash of thunder.
Hurricanes of pewter rampage the innocent,
wails of tempest wraiths permeate the gloom.
Gifts of snow hold joy of the future,
while windows behold the triumph of the dawn.
We did not appreciate these sunders in time,
lives so velicious that every instant was lost.
Memories can spare the fate of a moment,
but they too shall crumble in the hands of Kronos.
Don’t waste a breath, or a blink of an eye,
for by living cybernetically you are waiting to die.
Never let an equinox pass you by,
gaze into the solstice with rivers down your eyes.
Elijah Hayes-Olivera is a sophomore in the Schreyer’s Honors College, currently
majoring in Immunology. Even though science is his focus, he also loves writing short
stories, poetry and reading (sci-fi is the best). He tends to integrate his knowledge of
biology into his work, so it is both cryptic and knowledgeable. He won Best Poem in this
issue, and he was also the Nonfiction Editor.