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Blue Marble Review

Literary Journal for Young Writers

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cicada avalanche

By Althea Downing-Sherer

august
stretches
out before me
like dirty kitchen tiles under my feet

hope
is whistling
from the mouth
of a ceramic teapot

the scrape of chair legs against tile:
foreshadowing
i sit down
and

my name fades
like phosphenes
behind
rising eyes

i hope
that the moon
tugs at my
feet

and i pray
until
the trees outside tremble
with heat

august braids my hair
with paper crane
hands

i anticipate the collapse
inward;
the lions

gaping jaws
but i am only met with
silence

and then
cicada avalanche

 

 

Althea Downing-Sherer is a high school junior from Iowa. She is an alumna of the Iowa Young Writer’s Studio, and reads for Polyphony Lit and The Dawn Review. She is forthcoming in The Origami Review ,and Coexist Lit. She has also been recognized by the Scholastic Writing Awards. When she’s not writing, she can be found creating elaborate Pinterest boards, listening to Taylor Swift, or preparing for Mock Trial competitions.

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: Issue 30

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