The veil of night cloaked the Earth in a sea of darkness,

A darkness which I could neither escape nor throw off,

And all the while, I could not see, only hear,

Shoes scuffling on pavement when a sustained moan emerged,

Louder it grew, all the while I, trying to control it,

Whipping a heated passion within, stemming from fear,

Swept up now, as if surrounded by them,

The masses, encompassing me, and I, expecting a blow, but none forthcoming,

Instead swallowed up, gazing upward now, racing to the pinnacle,

Arms outstretched to embrace that which I failed to see,

With much effort, I, reaching the acme, looked about me.

At that moment, the Earth shook with unforeseen rage,

And the collapse of They beneath me readily apparent,

Reaching above, fumbling for, I grasped the veil of night before the last of Them fell into unending darkness,

There I hung, dangling, holding on to that blanket of obscurity,

When the edges began to give way, light, pouring through,

And I, quite suddenly aware, falling downward, as the veil of night sunk below with me,

Only now, rather than an obscuring darkness, I, falling into a blinding whiteness,

The veil, a ripped parachute, doing nothing to slow my collapse,

Before being completely consumed by everything white, I had time to glance up...

Yet, I, looking down, set my eyes upon Them underneath,

For before looking up, one must always look down,

And give care to what lies below,

Because that which hides beneath is the base of one's existence.

Matthew Latshaw

Age 16, Grade 11

Parkland High School

Parkland School District