Noah Detzer

He walks quietly through the woods,
The darkness is setting the tone.
Despite his confident demeanor,
The traveler walks alone.

Isolation is not an enemy,
He’s dealt with it long before,
But he misses the haven behind him,
And fears what else is in store.

He’s unsure of the way forward,
The woods are strange to him now.
He knows he must venture onward,
But he is still quite unsure how.

His sanctuary long behind him,
No longer a welcoming place,
The traveler continues onward,
Sadly, he quickens his pace.

He no longer relishes the darkness,
He wants to return to his home.
Despite his hopes, dreams, and wishes,
The traveler walks alone.

The Woods

By Noah Detzer
Hartford High School, Grade 12

The darkening sky
Closes another day
As it does every day.
The vanishing light
Leaves the silhouetted trees
Standing in their monolithic glory
Giants sending the day
On its final voyage into the unknown.
And we are left
In the empty void of darkness
Enveloping all light
And sealing it away
For hours, until
The dawn of a new day approaches.

At the end

By Noah Detzer
Hartford High School, Grade 12

So soon it ends
in one year
everything will change.
everything.

All will leave
Some will succeed.
Some will fail.
Some will be left behind.
Some I may cross paths with
but
All will leave.

In a sense
it's a reboot.
a new beginning.
a success.
a new way of living.
the first day of the rest of your life.
so they say often
repeating it as though it is law.

Some parts are good
leaving behind
the fake,
the plastic,
the insecure,
the immature.

Yet some are far worse
leaving the best friends
the ones who really mattered
the ones you love
for a new life somewhere else.

At the end
all of the struggles,
the successes,
the pain,
the sorrow,
the sadness,
is rendered moot.

At the end
everything changes.