The Summer I Turned 13 | Teen Ink

The Summer I Turned 13 MAG

April 15, 2016
By Rachana1999 GOLD, Hong Kong, Other
Rachana1999 GOLD, Hong Kong, Other
13 articles 0 photos 3 comments

summer like apple core crunch,
an litany of swear words
in a girl flush-brown thick-screamed;
summer like learning how to speak
to strangers (conversating with the mirror,
door turned window – hi, hello, how are you),
chugging air like syrup,
a little too bittersweet (for girl
dreaming: thunderstorm/
crickets chirping/
giant birthday cakes);
summer like unfinished essays,
letters too sharp (tongue bleeding cement)
girl thinking scared/hair braided/glasses askew;
summer like ignoring the ache,
chocolate melting under her tongue
sheets shucked clean & girl
never asking what went wrong
(this time)
but she laughed at the boys shivering
under their own weight (a different
kind of cruelty learned at summer camp)
biting down on the ice-cream
melting in their hands;
summer like flightless birds –
sky turning fresh shades of broken,
girl mouthing bhajans at a bathroom stall;
summer like forgetting how to pray,
summer like singing at her friend,
summer like sore knees & scraped hands &
memories that stung in the daylight.



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This article has 6 comments.


on Apr. 29 2017 at 9:43 am
Rachana1999 GOLD, Hong Kong, Other
13 articles 0 photos 3 comments
Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed reading it!

on May. 18 2016 at 3:42 pm
snappingbats BRONZE, St. Louis, Missouri
1 article 0 photos 7 comments
Your structure here is chaotic, but it works wonderfully for this poem. You have so many images fluttering through line-to-line, it's a lot to imagine all at once, but that feeling perfectly encapsulates turning thirteen. I absolutely adore this piece! Please keep writing.

on Apr. 21 2016 at 6:31 pm
Rachana1999 GOLD, Hong Kong, Other
13 articles 0 photos 3 comments
Thanks! :)

on Apr. 21 2016 at 11:26 am
LittleRedDeliriousPrince SILVER, Parma Heights, Ohio
7 articles 0 photos 100 comments
Amazeballs!!!

on Apr. 21 2016 at 9:23 am
Rachana1999 GOLD, Hong Kong, Other
13 articles 0 photos 3 comments
thank you!

on Apr. 20 2016 at 8:12 pm
ambivalent SILVER, West Bend, Wisconsin
7 articles 0 photos 180 comments

Favorite Quote:
everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. the worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. [sylvia plath]

keep writing, man. this is really rad.