By Olivia Hagios
She remembered being helpless,
Unable to move a toy soldier
On the playing board
Of the nightmares which claimed her
They twisted her vision of reality,
Morphing the world she drew—
It seemed as soon as a battle was won,
The horses charged again
One night the girl decided
To etch a crown into her skin,
A crown of her very own,
Which could never be stolen from her
She scratched that thin band deep, into her skin
A black circlet adorning her brow
She proclaimed herself the queen of her world
And all her demons bowed to her
This delicate illusion she created for herself
Kept her nightmares at bay whilst she reigned
Olivia Carolyn Hagios is an aspiring poet and novelist whose written words say all the things she could never speak aloud. She is a student at the University of Vermont majoring in English with a concentration in writing and a minor in studio art. After studying abroad for a year in Italy–which inspired numerous poems and pieces of writing–her next dream is to move to England upon graduation to continue her education and be further inspired for her writing and artwork.
The Tributary 