Founded in the fall of 1991, Laurel Moon is Brandeis' oldest, national literary publication. Each issue we publish features original work from undergraduate students.
You are imbued with the anger of youth
And the recklessness of freedom.
You mock me as the world mocks God,
As beautiful as Eden and as curious as Babel;
You are Creation in my image,
Gone rogue and I can’t bear to look at you;
The sin is in the reflection and I am not one for nostalgia.
I wish to hold you as you were,
Once wrapped in my arms, hand clutched to my pinky finger.
I wonder if it went wrong then,
If I ripped your pages before I wrote them.
You are glorious in your rebellion and I am tired,
A shepherd, keeper of long lost hopes and dreams.
They are yours now and you waste them,
A sharp slap to my face.
You are brutish in your path forward,
As hopeful as you are destructive;
I am custodial in your wake.
You do not look behind you.
Maya Kingstone Frei is an 18-year-old student at Oberlin College. She plans to study English and Creative Writing and has studied poetry throughout high school, including a course at Bard College and various workshops in New York City. Her favorite poets include Sylvia Plath, George Herbert, and Federico García Lorca.