2011 - Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science

Seeds of Beauty
“I was beautiful,”
My grandmother tells me
As she traces my face.
“Yes, yes those eyes,
And, ah! That smile!
That smile that you call yours;
It was mine,
They were ALL mine, you know.”
The Chlorinator
Katie Bryant
Photograph
“Roses kissed my cheeks, too, once,
But jealous Time clutched onto my hand,
Until it plucked me from the garden of
Beauty,
But he did it just in time
To let me throw out a seed,
And my, my, my,
Won’t you LOOK at what bloomed.”
22
“Gogo, thank you for sparing that seed.”
My grandmother throws her head back,
Sending a mane of curls dancing down her back.
Precious pearls bloom from
Their cherry-stained curtain.
She has a smile that puts the sun to shame.
Crinkles creep up her face,
Putting thin lines on her almond-shaped eyes.
They are always a twinkling pool of joy.
Cackles of laughter explode,
Slapping the walls and smacking anything else;
It is their painful pleasure.
For a second, I notice her cheeks flush a deep red.
No wonder roses still steal kisses from her
cheeks.
No wonder time wants to hold her hand.
My grandmother is beautiful.
Summer Daisies
Amy Wilcosky
Photograph
Maleele Choongo