Crocodile Tears

is pain worth perceived beauty?
worth hiding laughter from myself,
love from a family who’d all bleed differently,
life and beauty and joy from the world,
because that’s where art should come from
because tears should flow under the cover of night
and stain the pages of perfect poetry
because a heart’s nothing until it’s a shell
because that’s how you say it should be?

Rory Baskin

Rory Baskin is a high school student in California with a passion for creative writing. Her work is published or forthcoming in Trouvaille Review, Cathartic Literary Magazine, and Petrichor Magazine. She is also an editor for Flare Journal.