Grinnell High School

A villanelle poem with rhyme meant to be read aloud.

Come the waves of time, the sand spills forth, crashing, crashing upon the shore

The universe blinks once, and our fractured history concludes, a gust;

Broken vows like shattered glass, a decrepit window to the world before

We did not grow as we aged, each day a finite, futile hourglass of lore

Insignificant within the winds of an era, the land now stricken with rust;

Come the waves of time, the sand spills forth, crashing, crashing upon the shore

Scattered statues fall and succumb, returning to the ground once more

We regret and reap what we sowed: a tattered monument of mistrust;

Broken vows like shattered glass, a decrepit window to the world before

We represented nothing, only a half-baked wish for the end of the war

Meaningless ferity, cycle after cycle, the scorched scarlet shores adjust;

Come the waves of time, the sand spills forth, crashing, crashing upon the shore

Armament ash dances with silt, a contrast to the savory sea-storm sprays of yore

Our oceans, our world have turned gray with a haze of unjust; 

Broken vows like shattered glass, a decrepit window to the world before

Time refuses to turn around, and that we selfishly abhor

So at the end of it all, trapped by a towering torrent, a wall, we fall—back to stardust 

Come the waves of time, the sand spills forth, crashing, crashing upon the shore

Broken vows like shattered glass, a decrepit window to the world before

Myles Manley – “Judgement (XX)” (Poetry) – Silver Key

I think about it often, 

every time we'd go down by the coast.

The transition from rocks, dirt, and grass

into tiny grains of sand,

millions and millions of particles

slowly becoming terrain.

I stood at the threshold 

between the two spaces,

yet, treading into new territory 

terrified me.

These thresholds are very powerful, 

sacred even, 

the final resting place 

for those lucky enough to wither.

You see, mother chooses 

only the greatest to cultivate.

So, there I lay 

among the rosemary. 

The ocean cries for nutrients, 

crashing against the cliff.

Its waves will eventually pull me in, 

as pressure breaks my body down, 

then, I'll return to the beach 

once more.

Myles Manley – “The Star (XVII)” (Poetry) – Silver Key

swallow your words with vitamins

equilibrium out of balance again

you look past the only thing i see

as we argue at the bakery

staring daggers at the ground

threw up what was not hashed out

we’ll focus more on you being prouder

than me more than ever

loving you louder

Myles Manley – “The Tower (XVI)” (Poetry) – Silver Key

i’m the richest person in the USA 

with no health insurance or IRA

i will learn to speak the way that 

you learned to hear, if i 

can hold on to love that grips me by the

tongue and ear 

hands warmed by the madness 

caught up in the strife

caught up in the thought of feeling 

not caught up in life

blame the disarray of my room on the weather

the sun’s too hot,

burned my papers and my sweater

burned the weight of my hands after 

i pushed you away

pushed you til’ you burned me 

i was burning either way

Monkey Strikes Back Short Film