the dead drag their feathers

through my hands.

pale rain on shattered stems.

i cut the daisy’s throat,

petals scattering. i wonder

as i lick the condensation off

a rusted truck if this is all i’ll

ever be, a creature bound in

rags and half-baked rules. i

sing mourning as i kneel, knees

digging into soft earth, everything

and nothing before the forest of

trees withering on the horizon of

flames.

Charlotte Yeung is a bestselling author, 2021 American Battlefield Trust National Youth Leaders, and 2022 Indy Youth Poet Laureate. Her children's book, Isabelle and the Magic Bird, was an Amazon Best Seller and #1 New Release. As an IHRAF Youth Fellow, former REMEDY Virtual Artist Resident, and former Rising Voices Fellow, she creates art and writing related to international issues. She has also published Verge, a sci-fi novel, and Coloring Climate Justice, a coloring book. Her award-winning art and writing is published on multiple platforms from the New York Times to Carnegie Hall. She is an incoming sophomore at Purdue University majoring in Political Science.