~Hanwen Tang, Class of 2024

A whirlpool of thoughts surrounds my head
Words floating out, embalming me like thread

My eyes widen and I look down in fear
I’m at the edge of the cliff, my end seems near

A kind of monster I do not know
Emerges from the shadow, swinging to and fro

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out
I try to raise my fist, but something holds it down

My hands shake, the earthquake inside me quaver
The monsters come closer, and the whole mountain wavers

My hands, a mini tornado, do a little spin
As I glance down toward the bottom, my brain searches for a way to win

I tiptoe backward, the monster comes near
My fate seems to be crystal clear

The color in my face slowly drains
I fear the monster is here to have me slain

The end of the cliff catches me off guard
I fall in slow motion, frail hands reach out and grip the edge hard

Like a drop of water, I cling to my source
The only beacon of life and light, I hold onto it with force

The monster recognizes victory, its trudges its massive legs forward
Each booming step makes my mind feel tortured

The end is near, it appears
Beads of sweat drip off my face like tears

Gasps of breath mix in with my groans
My first finger falls off, dipping down towards the unknown

Like a chain of dominoes, more fingers plunge down
It’s over now, in the dense air I start to drown

One by one, they succumb to defeat off the cliff
Until four fingers remain, each frozen stiff

The monster gets closer, and roars with might
Two more fingers slip off, shaking with fright

The monster approaches the edge and takes a ferocious swing
I reach up and grab is arm, he roars and gives it a fling

Yelling in fear, I grapple with the beast
We fall down together, heading southeast

I look down and realize, maybe I shouldn’t be scared
Death would be so fast, yet I was unprepared

The ground was running up to be so fast
I braced myself for the fatal blast

Sweat flowed like rivers all over my head
I screamed out loud with pure, pure dread

But nothing happened. Everything was black
I felt myself laying down on my back

Is this the afterlife? What had happened to me?
I’m surely dead, it's a guarantee

But wait, this is my room, this is my bed
Was that a dream? It was hurting my head

I felt like an illusion, I was an illusion
But aren’t we all, in a state of confusion?