embrace

embrace

the sun caresses the horizon

it showers the treetops with delicate kisses

it tilts so others can feel the precious heat of its gaze in the sky

 the gift of growth and warmth

it explodes with passion

tinting the clouds with dedication

one of its many gifts to the galaxy of beings

the sun leaves when it is ready

it returns when it is fresh

to give thanks for the energy and love the sun relentlessly provides

is to feel and express praise to the rise and fall of daily life.

-Michaela Yarmol-Matusiak

love poem/4

love poem/4

as i lay in the field of wheat

i am

also running

through the gaps

in the tectonic plates at the core

the creek which balances my valves

Peach-scented dirt envelops my toes

the worms welcoming me home

as i lay in the field of wheat

i am here and there

i am the peaches which grow from the root

i am the plates that collide in chorus, making themselves known through devastation

and i am the seeds and strands of wheat which i lie in

which provide life and sustenance

i emphasize that i am part of the chaos

the bricks around me

We are each other

-Michaela Yarmol-Matusiak

love poem/2

love poem/2

Did you hear?

Can you feel it?

What!

I can’t hear you,

I’m sorry.

I love you!

I truly cannot hear you;

There is smog coming through my bronchioles and filling my lungs,

Chaos floods my ears.

Fires burn in my arteries.

My heart is being pumped dry of my sustenance, the oxides overwhelm the oxygen.

My capillaries are exhausted.

My legs will not stop shaking with the weight of the atmosphere.

Skin marred, my hands are unknown even to me.

There is dull constant pain throughout my frame,

But I will still hold you though.

What did you say?

When you fall, I’ll still hold you.

When your limbs are trembling, I’ll still hold you.

When you smile, I’ll cherish you.

I will always carry you home.

-Michaela Yarmol-Matusiak

jumble

jumble

the past is untouchable,

yet

it may wrench your hands into knotted root systems.

leaching water,

lack of nourishment.

weeds and delicate flowers which compete for space,

thought, nitrogen, carbon, worms.

in the chaos of new.

yesterday is the dandelion,

and the Queen Anne’s lace and the black-eyed susan plants

are both full of

commending, honourable traits.

although seen in different lights,

both have purpose in teaching how to interact,

with vivid days of sunlight,

and dreary days of hydrogen.

love letters and declarations of independence are one in the same,

desire and dependence rule them.

/i am the flowing ink of love that connects and divides

   hills and hawks and birds and bones.

/i am the free-flowing oxygen

circulating in an external, eternal embrace.

all mimic one another.

patterns and rules,

yet

to be understood.

-Michaela Yarmol-Matusiak

Past Sky Blue- Laura Kim

Past Sky Blue

We told ourselves panels of wood

Would never know more

About ourselves than we do.

And yet each grain

Held a tear of our loss,

A smile of our happiness,

A mouthful of anger.

We told ourselves each remnant

Of our pasts would never

Bleed past the green.

And yet each memory

Like a drop of ink

In a watercolour world.

We told ourselves

To be happy

Past brick

Past light

Past sky.

And yet here we sit

And lie against the grass

Waiting for a shooting star.

- Laura Kim

The Toronto Star Short Story Contest  ...is open again!

From yesterday's online edition of the paper...

• This year’s contest runs until 5 p.m. on Feb. 28.
• The winner will receive $5,000 and a creative writing course from The Humber School for Writers.
• The second-place winner will take home a $2,000 prize, while third place will be awarded $1,000.
• The winner can choose a 30-week creative writing correspondence program, valued at $3,000, at Humber, or a week-long summer workshop, worth $1,000, at the college’s Lakeshore campus in Toronto.
• Stories can be about any topic the entrant chooses, as long as it’s original, unpublished, and amounts to less than 2,500 words. Entries are limited to one per person.
• Submissions will be judged by a panel of the Humber School for Writers and narrowed down to a short list. The three winners will then be selected from that list by city librarian Vickery Bowles, award-winning author and journalist Kamal Al-Solaylee, Toronto Star books editor Deborah Dundas, and the Star’s former theatre critic Richard Ouzounian.

FULL DETAILS available here. 

• You must be 16 years old to enter.
• If you're not 16 this year, plan ahead for next year or the year after.

Creative Writing Support for Young Writers

If you are looking for support to help you take your writing to the next level, consider these options:

Toronto Public Library Writer in Residence

• Ayelet Tsabari is Toronto Public Library's Winter/Spring Writer in Residence. Writers of memoir, fiction or creative nonfiction are invited to submit manuscripts for review and feedback. 

• Find out all the details here.

Toronto Public Library Young Voices Programming

• Also consider going to some of the TPL Teens writing workshops… they happen at Brentwood, right by the Royal York Subway station

• Dates for the upcoming Winter/Spring session are as follows: Tue Jan 09, Tue Jan 23, Tue Feb 13, Tue Feb 27, Tue Mar 13, Tue Mar 27, Tue Apr 10, Tue Apr 24

• If Poetry is your speed, mind what promises to be a fabulous workshop session with Lee Maracle during March Break.  Details here.

Story Planet

• Story Planet offer youth led story workshops 
• Find all the details here.