You Never Knew by Sneha Sadhukhan (16, India)

You never knew the stars had a flavor
Until you kissed him
For the first time that summer night.

​Turns out they taste like fire and
Ancient burnished jewels,
Desperation and exquisite self-discovery
Like the lone drop of blood from a tiny paper cut
And bittersweet reconciliation with the evil within.

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You never knew he’d still look at you
Like you were the sun, when you 
Showed him the multitudes of gloom you held.

His eyes were like wildfire
Burning bright brilliant blue, 
Holding a million little galaxies
And the rare promise of forever-
Blissfully unaware of the monsters beneath your bed.

You never knew he’d promise to stay
Forever till the end of time,
When he found the demons that haunt you every night.

The promises felt like the songs you’d
Written on the piano in the dead of the night,
Stars dancing on your skin,
And the sweet lullabies that drove your nightmares away-
So far away.

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