Here is “Gospels,” by Logan Pritchard, another piece from Crossroads III! Enjoy! And thank you, Logan!

 

Gospels

Logan Pritchard

 

The mirror on my bookshelf is angled so that, if I don’t stand just in front of it,

I’ll never see more than the ceiling. I don’t know

Why I tilted it like that, only that I like the way it shines when

The light casts over it.

I used to have a mirror on the wall across from my bed, and it would wake me when

The sun rose and gleamed through the window.

The mirror’s not there anymore, and the mornings are dark these days.

I drive to school with my brother,

Who sleeps against the window,

The radio turned up just loud enough that I don’t fall asleep.

What I wouldn’t give to fall asleep.

The bees are dying.

I’m pretty sure we’ve all heard it by now, and I know

That it’s been years since I was actually stung.

I’ve heard that it’s a sign. That soon we’ll be dying

And the earth can’t take much more of our mistakes.

But then, we know apocalypses. The End is the stuff

Of movies and books and superstition that we all half

Believe, and just yesterday I had yet another

Long discussion with my brother

About the zombie apocalypse, and half

Of me knows it’s all conjecture, and yet

The other wonders what if?

I know, I know.

It’s ridiculous. But I come from a generation yet

To know true peace, and considering how the days

All seem to start with dark mornings, we all are learning.

Look, I am terrified of the world as it is.

There is darkness, and corruption, and

Prejudice, and These were the elements

I have grown in. What is

May not be what will be, (and

Thank whatever may be real for that)

And it is this hope that builds futures.