Dear Children~ By Gabrielle Balot

I’ve loved you with my horizon’s
kiss, its streaks of amber and turquoise and
lavender, reminding you of tomorrow’s promise

I’ve cooled you with my cinnamon
breath and my downpouring of kaleidoscopic
leaves, renewing you with peace and calm

I’ve rocked you with my waves
of tears that washed your feet at my sandy
shores, caressing you during your journey

but you’ve ripped the oil
from my depths, suffocating me
with your carbon greed, dropping
me deeper, leaving me
vulnerable, erasing my past

now you cover your ears
you refuse to hear me
cry. now I cannot
carry you, for you
are no longer
mine

unless


Author Bio:
Gabrielle Balot is a 17-year-old writer and visual artist from New Orleans, Louisiana. She is an 11th-grade Creative Writing student at New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. She enjoys writing poetry and short stories to make sense of her place in the world. Her writing gives an essential voice to topics that are hard for her to explain in any other way. She likes to explore issues of emotions and relationships - especially anxiety, rejection, and identity - which are issues that most teenagers deal with.