Teen Ink: Poetry: Upright from our Teen Magazine

Teen Ink: Teen Magazine, Poetry, Blogs, College, Music, Movie & Book Reviews, Fiction

Advanced Search

Article title:
Words within article:
Section of website:
Article appears on:
Author's first name:
Author's last initial:
Author's city:
Author's state:
Author's country:

Teen Ink
Print Magazine >

Past Issues

« Previous Article

Poetry Index

Next Article »

Upright

Sarah L., Holualoa, HI

Rate this article:

By Aaron O., Gilford, NH

Donning the ability ring from the bottom of a cereal box
and October’s shrunken Spiderman costume,
he heads back toward the hall closet.
I call him crazy. He calls himself a crime fighter.

Invulnerable behind his polyester breast plate,
he withdraws his secret weapon from its holster
and struggles through my bedroom door.
He offers to rescue me. I tell him to save the rest of the house.

He bounds down the steps, weapon in hand,
two at a time, to the chaos of the family room.
With deafening blows he brings truth and justice,
and leaves perfect lanes on the blemished carpet.

If only for a moment he defeats his nemesis,
restoring order the only way he knows -
hiding dysfunction in a disposable vacuum bag
just like his mother used to.

Clutching his plastic sidekick, he flies upstairs
and hurdles the wooden rails of his command center,
lying awake until the people need him
and it’s his time once again.

This piece has also been published in Teen Ink's monthly magazine.

« Previous Article

Index

Next Article »

Home | Privacy Policy | Site Map | Contact Us | Tell a Friend

Teen Ink PO Box 30 Newton, MA 02461 (617) 964-6800 editor@teenink.com
Copyright 2008 by Teen Ink, The 21st Century and The Young Authors Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher: The Young Authors Foundation, Inc.

Teen Ink is a national teen magazine, book and website featuring teen writing, information, art, photos, poetry, teen issues and more. All articles are written by teen authors who are students at schools. The monthly print magazine is appropriate for any teenager -- teenagers age 13 to 19 attending secondary school: junior high school, middle school and high school. This publication is used by professional people including English teachers, writing teachers, language arts instructors, journalism teachers, school newspaper advisors, librarians, guidance counselors, K-12 principals in addition to the PTA or PTO. Each issue of Teen Ink magazine contains a wide variety of student work: we publish nonfiction, fiction, poems, community service, sports, heroes, interviews, college essays, college reviews, book reviews, concert reviews, movie reviews, music reviews, video reviews, video game reviews, the environment, opinion, sports, pets, cars, automobiles, travel and culture, jobs and money, health issues, artwork, photographs, cartoons, short stories, essays, writing contests, a college directory and the website also has a bulletin board and resources for teens and educators. Subjects include racism, eating disorders, depression, death, suicide, family, relationships, jobs, grandparents, violence, the college process, college information, colleges, driving, self esteem, the arts, movies and more. Teen Ink is also a book series published by HCI Teens. Subjects covered in the book include Friends, Fitting In, Love, Challenges, Family, Heroes, Loss and Memories. Teen Ink was established in 1989 as The 21st Century magazine by The Young Authors Foundation, a nonprofit organization. More than 25,000 teens have been published in the magazine and its companion Poetry Journal. Teen Ink runs a London Summer Program for teenage writers.