A circle, a jump, and a dot.
I guess that’s the most appropriate response
To a betrayal:
oh.
I whisper through slightly parted lips,
When I hear of something tragic.
The period marked by my too-frequent blinks,
My arms clutched to my sides,
A futile attempt at caging my rapid heartbeat.
The sweat running down my thighs,
As I try so hard to hide it.
oh.
The ever so subtle gloss in my eyes
As steaming wetness dabs at my lashes.
oh.
The 3 potent clicks of a keyboard,
Too distracted to capitalize it.
oh.
The impatient dots awaiting an answer
As hours and minutes pass by
oh.
I type long molasses paragraphs
Trying to rationalize it;
Denial, resentment, I wring myself dry but
Nothing quite gets the message across
Than the simple war cry that is
oh.
Renee Shi is from McLean, Virginia (USA). She is currently a freshman at Langley High School. As a two-time Scholastic Arts and Writing National Medalist, she enjoys writing, drawing, animating, and crocheting. Several animated movies created by her have won "Best Animated Film" Awards in prestigious international film festival awards including the London Festival of Cinema (UK), Golden Nugget International Film Festival (UK), All-American High School Film Festival (US), Busan International Kids and Youth Film Festival (Korea), Top Indie Film Awards (Japan), Festival del Cinema dei Diritti Umani di Napoli (Italy), etc. She is also an advocate for human rights, justice, gun control, and environmental protections and has been raising awareness of those issues through her work on writing and animations that reach millions of readers and audiences around the globe.