when the world ends by Claire Hong (16, California)

[content warning: mentions of death]

i could end the world 

if i had to & end the world for the people i
cherish the most       people that stabbed me
with their broken shards almost as much as
i choke them with my words ​

---

i could end the world 

snap brittle bones in half like styrofoam
from cardboard boxes & pop my lungs
like the air sockets from plastic bags 

i could end the world 

in half a millisecond       just enough time to
squeeze formulated gases out of my lungs &
rewind old cassette tapes, watch life bleed out
onto the page & drown in memories 

i could end the world 
​
if i wanted to       society says there are only
four ways to die:          a) oxygen starvation
                                         b) high temperature 
                                         c) chemical toxin 
                                         d) physical damage 
                                         e) all of the above 

but i know that i will die in history as the
girl who made the fifth, stain the family
legacy with shame that cannot be purged 

i could end the world 

a beautiful thing, 
             the only thing society gives me control over