Him

Author: Eliza Newman

Year: Junior at USC

2nd place Live Arts Contest

Him

You fall in love

Faster than a calendar changes pages

It happens so over and over again

That it stops being love

But it’s not quite lust either

You don’t fawn over bodies and breasts

You fawn over souls

Over essences

Until they become

Mere lifeless shadows

Living in delicate glass jars

Above your bed

Your muses,

Muse of poetry

Muse of tragedy

Muse of self-deprecation

They are the weapons

With which you create

Your self-inflicted wounds

Your blood-tipped pens

Taking a piece of you

Along with each girl

Who finds her way

Into the lineless pages

Of your most public diary

Because that is all they are

Girls

Young, helpless girls

As broken and confused

As you

____________________________

Eliza Newman is a 20-year-old writer studying at USC. When not pursuing her creative writing degree, she serves as the Senior News Edior of the school’s online newspaper, Neon Tommy. Eliza loves exploring the nooks and crannies of her native Los Angeles for a constant inspiration and amazement. Having had the privilage of seeing foreign countires and distant cities, the universality of hman emotions and the constant search for love and acceptance have found thier way into Eliza’s writings, as published in Adsum and other publications.