Stone Soup

Where young artists paint the world with words

The international magazine of stories, poems, and art by young writers and artists. Published continuously since 1973.

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LONELINESS

Imagine the loneliness of a crab . . .
It takes its anger out
by pinching swimmers’ feet.
It hides under rocks,
scared and shocked,
waiting to be caught.
Do people remember
that they hurt a lonely being
after it’s been captured, dried,
and mounted on the wall
like the head of a deer?

Tatiana Rebecca Shrayer
Tatiana Rebecca Shrayer, 13
Brookline, Massachusetts