Untitled - By: Hae-In Moon

A boy met a girl, but it’s not going where you think it may.

Instead they ride up the road and make a u-turn

“where are we going

where are we-”

The boy makes the turn and they run so

far

into the night and far away fleeing

like some pair of one-legged crows

like some midnight dream that clipped

into

reality and plumed into the water and escaped down the drain.

The stars shine in

space–

the boy says hello to his friend and his friend

does not recognize the face

that contorts and bends into expressions and moves away from his touch;

“what happened”

The boy hears this question

but can he answer

when he only has one non-dominant hand and one cast and-

what a funny idea

“nothing happened”

The boy fears attention and so he doesn’t answer

not in a million years or the eons after.

A boy met another boy

but they were only cheap copies

made of

rice and pasta and paint and English classes

how he was scared of English classes so

like how he feared his father

the eight-eights they

just

weren’t enough

“listen”

and he never did.

It’s always night in space

made up of gaps between words and things muttered under breath

not caught by the HOH

words tangled and caught in fishnets and soccer nets and

what where did that come from

“be nice to her buddy.

Be nice to her, boy,

she’ll leave you too.”

Don’t save him–

he’s still on the roundabout

making every turn with one arm and one missing half

an imposter in his own body that

reminds him of every other night he couldn’t save the other boy.

Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem.

This poem was inspired by a classmate of mine. We were never friends, but his life inspired me to write this poem. It's loosely based on his story, and uses elements from the writing style seen in "You Are Jeff" by Richard Siken. At the time we met, he had a cast on his arm from a soccer accident. I aimed to make the poem invoke thinking, while also conveying what life after a great change might look like.

Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.

I once had a professional writer teach me all about poetry. I would be pulled out of class for about an hour each day to participate in a lesson, where he taught me about writing. I say "about writing" instead of "how to write", because he believed absolute do's and don't's didn't exist in poetry. One of the exercises he gave me was to listen to an abstract poem (a gibberish poem, essentially) and write something based around those words. This poem was an experiment and deviation from my usual style--something organic and dynamic to the eyes, not identifying or conforming to usual poem formats or metric lines. This poem came at a time when I wasn't confident in my writing ability and felt unsure about several things in my personal life. Originally written on April 29th, 2025.

Why did you choose to write this poem?

I enjoy writing when I feel bored and unchallenged, and ninth grade science class was one of the greatest offenders when it came to boring and unchallenging. I also enjoy writing about people I know in life; I like to take what I know about them and spin it around so I can see it three-dimensionally. This poem was the result of a combination of both factors.

Do you have any tips or anything to share with the youth writers who may be reading this?

Don't you dare think you have to make something perfect. Poetry is just a collection of words that invokes feelings. If you think you can't write something worthwhile, I'm sorry to say that you're lying to yourself. If you can pick up a pencil and scratch some words into paper, congratulations. You're a poet.