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• Poetry > Free Verse
  it's science

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  they said your pupils dilate when the “one” walks in the room, but he came in, quietly, gently, laughing so his eyes crinkled up on the corners i’d kissed sweetly another time he’d laughed and i was struck by the way he stood and his shoulders were strong and held promise...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  our madness

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  i can think of nothing i’d like more than for you to spoon me to sleep so we can sleep talk our secrets and fall desperately in love with our madness....
• Poetry > Free Verse
  seasons

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  he was shaped like summer, eyes that shone just a little brighter than they should have, with the arrogance of humility and secrets of hearts he held in the palm of strong, confident hands that spoke louder than words in critical moments of holding on or letting go. and he said it w...
• Nonfiction > Memoir
  A Seventeen In-Between

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  True love stories are not that exhilarating. Real love stories start with “Once upon a time we fell in love…” and end with “And we went our separate ways with broken hearts…” Every. Single. Time. Heartbreak hurts. I should know. I have this… talent? Curse? Tendency? I don’t kno...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  goddess greek

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  it was like some sort of dream or a movie - driving away in a mist of white, trees laced with untainted snow. and we agreed that the moment could not be more perfect, unless we rode away in a chariot drawn by some pegasus, because we left as a greek god and goddess, dressed in ...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  On Butterflies' Wings

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  he pulled me into his arms, coaxing me with the way his hands moved and his breathing, begging me to trust him while I struggled to control my heartbeat and the butterflies' wings were laced with fear. he held his lips close to mine keeping his promise not to start me on the road ...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  In Their Eyes

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  i could see it in her eyes, the flash of determination, the spark of hurt at a memory, the color of broken mixing with healed, leaving her eyes a storm of living, colored scarred. i could see it in his eyes, the deliberate shifting from the scar colored eyes because the pain and the an...
• Nonfiction > Memoir
  If you're a major, i'm a minor

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  Dear Friend, I read a book where a boy wrote to you, telling you his life. And he made you sound really nice, so I thought I’d write to you too, because you’re nice and I know you won’t judge me ‘cause you don’t know me. And I’m going to be completely honest in this letter, because I ...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  sounds serentipitous

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  it takes tiptoes to touch, and taste together. to indulge in infinity. to fall for our fleeting forever. to surrender sanity for sentiment and speech for silence. it takes tiptoes for lips to meet while hearts beat bold. bold and brash and beautiful....
• Poetry > Free Verse
  always waiting

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  the world was waiting for something, caught in that silence before the storm. the whole world, waiting. and he said, “let's do something rebellious.” and i said, “let's climb a mountain and watch the stars shine.” and then we laughed at the absurdity of our words, push...
• Nonfiction > Travel & Culture
  Japan is Words

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  Japan is words - written, spoken, sung, and unsaid. I think of the journal stashed beneath my nightstand, crammed with pages of lists. Lists of people, places, food, memories and moments I get to keep. Our picture in the Japanese newspaper tells a story and adds to the hours spent each night writing...
• Poetry > Song Lyrics
  funny how i forgot your name

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  funny how it starts with a heartbreak, and it ends with one, too. ‘cause i was just recovering from him, i wasn’t gonna fall for you. but with those green eyes, just took you one night, to sweep me off my feet… i called you darling ‘cause you wrote me pretty things. i ...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  a lovely place

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  the world is a lovely place full of beautiful things and beautiful places and beautiful people. things like the way it feels to watch stars from high places. the way rain sounds when it falls on pavement. things like blue eyes and racing hearts. country songs and waking up to a ...
• Nonfiction > Memoir
  The Art of Life

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  Define music. The words lash out at me in a contrast of black against white, right against wrong. I ponder the statement for a long time, rolling possible answers around in my head and dismissing them with a frustrated sigh. I don’t remember studying this word from my vocabulary list. I’m beginn...
• Poetry > Song Lyrics
  You Just Lost

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  You've got eyes that could drive a girl wild, and a way too good to be true perfect smile. So maybe I fell for what I thought I saw, but you're done breaking hearts, 'Cause I'ma tell the world how you really are. Every sweet little thing that you said, that you did....
• Poetry > Free Verse
  You'll Find Me

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  so maybe you lost me, but if you’re looking, you’ll find me somewhere between where i’ve been and the places i’m going, in the sound of rain pounding on the pavement, and behind a genuine smile and blue eyes that know. you’ll find me caught up in beautiful things with be...
• Nonfiction > Memoir
  His Favorite Color is Gray

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  The storm raged outside my car window, drenching the world in heaven’s tears and a thick coat of gray. Inside the car, the silence between mother and daughter raged its own storm, as I wondered how I’d got here. The spunky, determined, and cheerful girl I once was had been replaced by a bitter, ...
• Poetry > Song Lyrics
  Diagon Alley

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  i couldn't see the sky, but i was so caught up in your eyes, i don't think i was looking anyways. brick walls on a one way road, leading to another closed door, but we found our way back to that iron gate. and in that moment when you asked my permission, i found a piece of me i ...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  all ours

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  there don't have to be words when butterflies fill the spaces in between lips, hands, and hearts. instead, the beautiful sound of breathing and light brush of cheeks fill the silence. the shooting stars and racing hearts define this moment. there don't have to be words when w...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  it's complicated

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  i wonder if you’re feeling what I’m feeling. we are complicated. life is complicated. but for one moment – as the sun shines so bright we close our eyes, it’s perfect. for one moment – nothing else matters but feeling you warm next to me and the sun warm on my face. ...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  elegance

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  there's something elegant about the silence of the speakers replaced by the words, memories, and dreams of two kids from a small town. there's something elegant about coffee shops and band names scrawled in hopes they'll one day be read by two kids from a small town. the...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  I am the

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  i am the sound of the rain pounding on the pavement, the color of the sky as the sun falls out of view. i am the flavor of lemons and dove chocolate, the strength of the fallen heart who stands back up. i am the beauty of a moment remembered by someone, the scent of pink and bright, summe...
• College
  Guide > College Essays
  The Truth About Falling Water

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  Water falls. No, I did not say “waterfalls,” as in a river rushing over a cliff. I mean water falls – H20 descending from somewhere due to gravity. The first is a sentence, noun and verb, subject and predicate; the other is simply a noun, yet if read aloud, you can't tell the difference. It al...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  the sound of a secret

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  the sound of a secret, dream, wish, and desire escapes with the scratch of a pencil in the margins of a notebook filled with truth. the sound echoes through me lulling me to sleep like a friend i've missed. the sound begins to fade as sleep takes its hold and the truth fil...
• Poetry > Free Verse
  sweet sixteen

  

  By MandaLark, Melba, ID

  the dull, repetitive process of going through the motions, textbook questions, with textbook answers. monotony. the headphones save me from a cruel death of creativity, but it's barely enough to keep me alive. i'm waiting for something, and then all i see is yellow, and green, ...