Honorable Mention – 2024 Beverly Hopkins Contest for High School Students

Lunation

by PAUL THIBODEAU
Saint Louis University High School

Look for me under frozen lake water,
in crevices mountain passes, between your layers of perfume.
Peel back your wallpaper, unearth your time capsule, refasten your dreamcatcher
— this is where I’ve been residing.

Ever since the moon began to wane
and the blackened night obscured
my pond-water reflection,
I have been looking for new ways to hide.
Did you catch me slinking underneath the waves?
Could you make out my voice in the wind?

Tonight, the darkness has drawn its veil over the star-studded sky
Tomorrow, when the sun rises and its light breaks over the canyons,
the moon waiting to show off its new ribbons of light,
I will rise, phoenix feathered, my eyes taking on that old sort of new brilliance they used to have.

Quick!
Catch me before I change shape again.
Wrap me in your arms and sneak me through the basement door.
Take me to that place where peaks form into plains
and all I can fathom is the perpetual light of the sun.

Follow my beating heart.
It often gives away my hiding spots.
Open your lantern, peer beneath your floorboards, listen to that ringing in your ears. You’ll find me again.