Elephant Skinny
The fence flatteners, the tender nomads
walk
across
treadmill
earth
walk
bishops
down
aisles
walk
the tender nomads, the fence flatteners
Lucy Johnson
7/13/2017
Lucy Johnson is a senior at Holland Hall School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She has received three Gold Keys from the Scholastic Writing Awards, and has attended The Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain for three summers. Most recently, she attended the University of Virginia Young Writers Workshop for poetry. She enjoys painting, music, traveling, and spending time with her dogs.
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The Poetry of Indira Khera
the elephant rests on the castle courtyard
climbing
jungle
baby
serving
climbing
wearing
cotton
saddle
climbing
the castle courtyard rests on the elephant
***
the Afghan village waited on the edge of the world
bloody
war
wandering
predestined
bloody
cause
carried
home
bloody
the world waited on the edge of the Afghan village
Indira Khera
7/13/201
Indira Khera is a high school senior at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut. She is involved with both theater and performing arts at Miss Porter’s, and has won 1st place in the Edith Wharton Writing Competition, as well as receiving an Honorable Mention in the Northeast Region Scholastic Awards. Additionally, she is currently attending the Young Writer’s Workshop through the University of Virginia.
***
The Poetry of Annie Li
purple moons imprinted under your eyes are wilting
your
pearls
of
ivory
your
expired
silver
flesh
your
eyes are wilting, your purple moons imprinted under
Annie Li
7/13/2017
Annie Li is a rising senior at Montgomery High School in Skillman, New Jersey and a poetry student at the UVA Young Writers Workshop. She enjoys eating greek yogurt, writing poetry, and petting dogs.
***
The Side
he sits on the side
Tusks
alabaster
aching
art
Tusks
breaking
bleached
brown
Tusks
the side he sits on
Joyce Zhang
7/13/2017
Joyce Zhang is a high school student who resides in Northern California. She was on the Claremont Review’s shortlist and is a poetry student at UVA Young Writer’s Workshop. On a regular day, she can be found lounging around her house with a cup of peach tea.
***
Note: This Skinny series is the literary fruit of Derrick Weston Brown’s poetry workshop, crafted at the Young Writers Workshop in the summer of 2017. The Young Writers Workshop is a six week residential Summer Creative Writing intensive at Sweet Briar College in Southwest Virginia.
Derrick Weston Brown, Young Writers Workshop
The Skinny Poetry Nation 