Richard Zhu

First Place

“darning the sky above my city” (poem)
by Richard Zhu
12th grader at the Peddie School, Hightstown
English teacher: Matthew Roach
First place award: $500

darning the sky above my city

the horizon is fractured, sprinkled
like fish food among houses and copses
of oaks—walk closer
and it stiffens into a chain-link fence
reflecting sunlight like a suburban
papercut.

during dusk, the edge glistens and i fear
that i’ll burn on the armrest
of the sun—i wait till nightfall to touch it
with shaking fingers.

this year, i jump over cracks in the sidewalk. i clamor
in empty streets, skipping from tree to doorstep to tree to doorstep,
            piecing together shards of the horizon peeking out
            between each city block,

            piecing together a fracture so long it’ll cleave
            down the middle of the road, effacing
            the yellow line.

a fracture to cleave my spine—a fracture
my neighborhood won’t indent
with its apartment building skylines. a fracture
that flows like a river—

next year, i will cross over the edge. next year, these houses will cross over,
leaving behind the shuttered windows, the masks,
the yellow pain(t) smeared across the roads.
next year, they will swing wrecking balls
into all these cracked facades,
walls crumbling into a flat, stainless horizon.