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      July 1, 2017Take Me to My Grandmother’s Shrine …Shoshanah Celia Machlay

      Take me to my grandmother’s shrine
      Where I caught lightning bugs
      And they loved me
      Tell me how she named me well
      Tell me that she loved me
      Take me to that little shrine
      Chase me like I’m Frankenstein
      Take me down the river walk
      Bid me hollow out the tide
      Tie me up with lace and ribbon
      Send me off, in a tiny box
      she took me down the river walk
      her fingers heavy, made of lead
      she left her shoeprints on the water
      while floods rose hell around my head
      Tell me that she raised me well
      Tell me that she held me
      Take me to that little shrine
      Tell me how she loved me
      Take me to my grandmother’s shrine
      Bid me ride the hollow tide
      Let’s pray loud—at the top of our lungs
      Let’s raise hell among the dead
      Tell me how she named me well
      Tell me that she loved me
      Ask me if I’m sleep deprived
      Chase me like I’m Frankenstein
      Take me to a little shop
      On the side of the river walk
      Tie me up with lace and ribbon
      Send me off, in a tiny box
      she took me to a pretty shop
      she left her shoeprints on the floor
      she could afford a little rock
      she gave it to me to remember her by
      Tell me that she sang so well
      Tell me what she told me
      don’t you dare forget me now
      Tell me that she loved me
      Take me to my grandmother’s shrine
      Chase me, like I’m Frankenstein
      Floods raise hell around my head—
      Let’s raise hell among the dead

      from 2017 RYPA

      Shoshanah Celia Machlay (age 14)

      Why do you like to write poetry?

      “I love to write poetry because when I’ve written, I feel as if I’ve channeled something beautiful through me. It’s cleansing. Sometimes when I read my own work it seems foreign—I can’t believe I wrote it. I feel as if something bigger is speaking to me through my own words. It’s comforting.”