your footsteps echoed when you walked through hallways. gold soaked the walls and diamonds dripped from the sky. you never knew of desire, for its screams were muffled with silk and slips of green paper; piling up into mountains and molehills that you would sooner turn to than an outstretched hand.
you drowned yourself in dizzying lights and burning skin and glasses of liquid fire. yet still, you stumbled home reeking of emptiness and disgust. your crawling thoughts drew droplets of blood that shone like rubies on your fingertips. but when you tried to speak, your tongue turned to crushed velvet and silver poured from your molded lips. the string of pearls in your mouth clamped down on intangible thoughts before they could escape into a place clearer than your mind. nobody guessed that under the layers of powder and composure there was sincerity. that your remarks hid echoes of longing for something you’d never be able to keep. but regret is not easily found in greed, so maybe there’s an exception rooted somewhere in the marble floors. perhaps you will come across it when the lies you’ve told come crashing down and you’re left to stand in the mess of hearts splintered by your own trembling hand.
Karian Jha is the Winner in Poetry in the 14-17-year-old category for the 2017 Michael Doherty Creative Writing Contest for her poem “Slips of Silk and Green Paper.”