"Sour Raspberries" by Violet Scout

Photo by Liliya Kontanistova on Unsplash

I am worked to the bone

in the middle of the night.

I am going cross eyed

and I am tired.

And so done.

Or, I was back when I was still working.

Now that I am done though,

I am peckish.

I know that I sabotage myself when I open the fridge,

but I do it anyway.

As I search for my homework reward,

I find raspberries.

They look good.

Like the kind that are big and packed full

of sweet flavor,

ready to be gobbled.

Raspberries my mom would tell me I must try.

But they’re not, they’re sour.

The kind that are packed tight and bitter.

I eat them anyway

because they’re there.

I should go to bed, but I don’t.

I am too tired to find a new snack,

so I lean on the counter

and munch on my homework reward

wondering how many more sour raspberries I will eat

in my life.

Violet Scout is 16 years old; she lives in Bainbridge Island, Washington. Violet is in 11th grade at Hyla High School, where her favorite subjects are history and English. Violet is the oldest of four siblings and she has two moms. In her spare time she is an acrylic abstract painter and she writes poetry.