No New News: 2026 K-12 Poetry Contest Honorable Mention

Author: Vianna L. Fornville

Love me or hate me

There’s no in between

The look in your eyes

Twinkles at the thought of my demise

But have you ever thought about what that’d mean

No more human punching bags

No one to cover for your slack

No one whose worth you can assign to a price tag

You want me gone, for now

Until you discover how

The world works when someone doesn’t have your back

When we were separate, I thrived

Never equal, but alive

Now we’re together, and all we do is jive

Like water and oil

My blood makes you boil

Yet it’s me that will always shine in their eyes

In secret, they watch

My skin too dark of a swatch

But they yearn for what’s in my pants crotch

Yes it’s my body they want

So my presence, they taunt

I just hope they don’t take it up a notch

Your people leave me confused

While I leave them amused

In their eyes, I’m someone who will always lose

But in secret, I win

For I have love within

You’re just hate, but I guess that is old news