Dread
This is a story of a woman, shackled with chains. She tries so hard to break free and be with the one she truly loves, which leads to her demise.
I will
never forget
how fast I ran
For freedom to
escape my death
Death Cold Desire These words replayed in my head as my life flashed before my eyes Quicker than a clap of thunder On a stormy, ominous night. Death Cold Desire I will never forget how fast I ran For freedom to escape my death The man I once knew And loved shackled me with chains so tight I could barely move All because of his love for me A restraining desire that couldn’t be reckoned with Death Cold Desire Passion And fervor Longing for a man to rescue me With loving arms To free me from my shackles Death Cold Desire Streaks of yellow pass by me Life violently extinguished In a blink of an eye Love All because Of love Left me Dead and alone On a cold, Heartless ground Why did I trust this man to save me? Took the life I lost before Away from me Once more Left my body Mangled Thick, Cold blood As I faded away as a ghostly Apparition In a whisper of smoke All I could think of Was Death Cold Desire Three words That left me With No words At all.
Process
I wrote this piece as an assignment for my English class. The prompt was to write Myrtle’s point of view during her death in The Great Gatsby. I had no idea how to approach this at first, so I just started writing three simple words that I felt encompassed the feelings that I thought Myrtle had during her death. Death. Cold. Desire. I have always loved using powerful words to convey a deeper meaning, and I found it extremely important to repeat these words over and over again to leave a resounding effect on my readers. My greatest desire was for them to hear Myrtle’s side of the story and feel what she was feeling down to their core and understand the intensity of the situation. After reading the piece out loud to my class, many of my classmates gave me feedback that the piece sounded like slam poetry. I guess even when I don’t intend to write poetry, my slam poet side always shines through unintentionally. Curious to see how the words would flow if formed into a poem, I converted the massive paragraph into stanzas of powerful words. I hope my readers will relate to this piece and understand that many people share in their own struggles, hopes, desires, and sadness. Most importantly, I hope one of their takeaways is that they are not alone.
Morgan Lin
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Morgan Lin
Morgan Lin is a storyteller, social-impact-driven technology innovator, and interdisciplinary tinkerer with a purpose to amplify youth voices and promote digital literacy equity. An award-winning poet, her work explores human connection and intangible emotions, with pieces featured in Scholastic Art & Writing, Girls Write Now, Tiger Leaping Review, Noor Magazine, and Disney. In technology, Morgan channels her innovation into her app providing college resources and NightGuard, a device designed to enhance women’s safety during nighttime walks. She has contributed to projects through Google Code Next, NYU Tandon’s bioengineering lab, and NASA SEES climate research. Driven by her passion for bridging the digital divide, Morgan leads initiatives like Little League Coding, a nonprofit that introduces underserved youth to technology, GirlCon, an international conference empowering women in STEM, and the Public Knowledge AI Literacy Toolkit for K-12 schools. Morgan serves as one of 10 Youth Representatives at UNICEF USA, where she champions children’s rights in the digital realm and promotes mental health. Her efforts extend to policy, including contributing to statewide legislation to ban facial recognition in schools and combat algorithmic bias with Encode Justice. Morgan is a mentee participant in GWN’s Lead Incubator journey. Little League Coding (Morgan's org)
