“My mother’s boyfriend laughed said now I was a / fake / Indian look-it her now yer / Indin / girl is a / fake / In-din My first Halloween off / the reservation / / white / Jeremiah told all his / white / friends that I was wearing his old costume”

“Imagining what those fields must now look like all covered in frost, and I think of my lost friend, who is done with imagining now.” —excerpt from “First Frost over Harvested Fields” by Ted Kooser

“The jealous Othello, ready for murder, was transformed into a school-boy.” —excerpt from Ivan Turgenev’s “First Love”

“Then accept the role of a wanderer. At least you can stand alone and become one of those who live and die on their own.” —excerpt from Ha Jin’s “Acceptance”

“Queenie couldn’t look away. The Portuguesa was pregnant. How many weeks until the baby dropped? Something form-fitting beneath the dress made it difficult to know, but she estimated something soon, maybe three weeks.” —excerpt from “The Queen of Providence” by Jane Lancellotti

“Mothers gathered their / white / kids from the dark My / dark / mother gathered / empty / cans while I waited to gather my / white / kid I waited to gather / white / Jeremiah He was / the skeleton / walking past my house.” —excerpt from “Hand-Me-Down Halloween” by Natalie Diaz

High school writers, today is the day! Here is the prompt for the Twelfth Annual Narrative High School Writing Contest:

It can be change for one character or more; it can be a new awareness that is still raw or unguarded—all that is rich turf for poetry. Be artful, be original. Be bold!