NORTHEAST OHIO
​YOUTH OUTLET

Benclenies

Poetry by ​Lily Compton

don’t go
                       you haven’t finished the magic trick yet
   pull the bunny out of the hat
                                      make me laugh and stare in awe again
 
 
                                                                                      I want to see you in all your glory once more
                           
                                                            so please for my sake don’t do it
                                                                                    don’t close the curtain just yet
                                                                  please?
 
Magic
 
               I heard it lasts forever
 you told me that it's the only thing left in the world
                                                                      that is pure
                                
                                                                                                                         does that make me unclean?
                                                                                                 
                                                                         is that why I don't possess your ability?
                                                                                                                        to make others smile
 
the cards
 
          the cards
             those never ending cards
                                          fifty two to be exact
                               
                                                                                                each one representing one of my problems
 
                                                                                       but you certainly weren’t one

Lily Compton

Lily is a poet/short story writer who has been published in four books, two being by Lake Erie Ink. She often finds herself stuck in a painful state of liberosis and as a result reflects her anguish onto her characters giving her readers a bit of insight into her mental chamber and what goes on there. In her writing she hopes to create a cryptic space where the reader can disappear from the outside world and become someone else. 

About Cleveland School of the Arts

The Cleveland School of the Arts (CSA), an arts high school in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, is the region’s only comprehensive performing, visual, and creative arts public high school. Gordon Square Review editors selected the poems in this issue’s Youth Outlet section from submissions from CSA’s Creative Writing program, where students study poetry, playwriting, short fiction, and literary theory while developing their skills as writers.