Honorable Mention – 2024 Beverly Hopkins Contest for High School Students

Wallflower

by SIMON EDGELL
Saint Louis University High School

In halls where chatter rings like birds in a tree or bees in a hive,
there exists a silent thing – or three, four, or five.
A head-down-walker, fast talker,
quick to leave and last to arrive.
Spying their plus one, other half, or lover, sparking a fire and starting to thrive.
A ball-dropping, hideout-hopping
small creature, no matter width or size.
In silence they stand, as if planted by hand,
another wallflower on the vine.