So You Carved Your Name Into a Desk

Forty original works by students in the graduating class of 2018 from the NYC Lab School in Manhattan. The lines from this poem are taken from selections you'll find inside.

My name is enough of a title.
But you wanted more.
One last repaving of the road that brought me here,
A desire to capture life.
We never spoke of why we were lost,
Hiding from conflict behind
The thought of absence burned into those who cared,
A pitiful arrangement of entrails,
Everyone optimistically pessimistic about the season to come.
But I'm not just that.
I go home with the colors of oceans
spreading across my skin.
I bleed my work,
The stories that don't revolve around getting shot or drug use.
People stare, some smile.
The shadows on your face change with the flicker of the candlelight.
I don't look out the window anymore
(and I'm sorry M______, I really am).
My trail is not yet a legacy
Because my fight isn't over yet.
I wish people would not assume that I'm academically
Incapable or stupid,
That I wouldn't have made the journey worth it.
Head down, breathing heavily, I braced myself for what was
going to happen next.

Proceeds from the sale of this book benefit 826NYC, a nonprofit organization encouraging the exploration of endless possibilities through the power of writing.