brothers

I don't want you to be lonely.

Your cheeks were puffy and swollen, and your eyes watery, void orbs.
You saw right past me for the first time.

Do you remember when we decided to run away together?
We packed extra socks, a blanket, Ritz crackers and apple juice into a duffel bag and headed down across the alfalfa field behind our house. The afternoon sun beat down on us as we slowly plodded towards the woods, the world...towards everything we thought we wanted.

But something called us back home .
Maybe it was physical hunger, or the feeling of alienation among the deafening silence of the open field, or maybe it was fear.

I grew up after that point believing that we would always come back to where we grew up, if only to feel warm and safe again.
I was wrong.

Just the Three of Us

By Matteo Björnsson
Woodstock Union High School, Grade 10

It’s always been
Just the three of us
Through all the years
Of our lives
Brothers, sisters,
Siblings.
Although we are each other’s
Greatest annoyance,
We also hold each other’s
Greatest trust.
A bond that cannot be broken