Whitney Albright

(Age 8)

Oh heart, oh heart, why must you beat?
Oh heart, oh heart, why must you weap?
...

Full moon’s beaming
What is baby dreaming?
Of sweet little sonnets,
Blue baby bonnets,
...

Their little hearts beat
Inside of their mother
Tiny hands and feet
You kill one after another
...

I walked in to the marshes sad
And spotted him there on the lilly pad
He sat there, so very tiny
With slippery feet that were way too slimy
...

Though last nights prayer
Brought on deep conversation
I found myself
In a sleep aspiration
...

In a sense, it’s not the heart or the mind
That triggers memories so deeply confined
They only play a common role
In those mad moments that flood the soul
...

A Honduran man left his kids and wife
To give them all a better life
Of no more hunger, no more thirst
No more waiting on misery to spread worse
...

I asked a languished friend,
“Why did you never marry? ”
His pupils seemed to transcend
As he thought on the contrary
...

I saw a toddler pondering at the grass
Wondering what it was as she passed
She pulled wild flowers out from their patch
How'd that get there? She thought as she’d snatch
...

A father and child walk in the garden lane
Under the flourescent trees which reign
It's the garden of Eden in modern day
They gather flowers for babies' bouquet
...

I walked into my room and slammed the door
The mirror fell onto the floor
So frustrated, I my head shook
I turned around to give it a look
...

Age 12

Many tears cover my eyes,
For many burdens I bear.
...

I propped my elbows on the old white picked fence
And watched the daffodils lie down with the wind
The honey-suckle filled the spring’s thick air
With the daffodils, they too seemed to bend
...

I’ll give you a flower, mother
I’ll give you a flower, dear
For life is but a garden
To children of 5 years
...

Dear God, I can barely look at him through this window of my car.
So God, how can you stand to watch from this window in your heart?
The rain drops are trickling just as quick as my tears.
Sweet Lord, you seem to know that I am crying in here.
...

Age 10

We all of shoes we try to keep clean
As we walk down the roads of life
...

There is an ocean in those eyes of yours
Which washes me away to distant shores
Entangles me in its corals and colorful weeds
Loses me in its unsteady speeds
...

I intended to create a love scale
For anytime I had a doubt
I knew when I thought of love
The scale would balance out
...

This little bird, with his velvet head
Frisks around with his tummy fed
Ducks down deep in the wet mud
To the others he’s such a stud
...

O, my days of April, I've pined for you so long
And waited to see your gardens return where they belong
O, my days of April, which find me with a fellow
Do you see my new smile outglowing daffodills yellow?
...