Contributor: Casey Ackerman

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Anticipation fills me with angst.

Doubt swarms around my mind

like mosquitos ready to pierce my calm.


The possibility of acceptance,

a temporary repellant,

kills off any signs of negativity.

Fading, projections of failure play

over and over in my head.


My future is a clean pair of spectacles

free of smudges or scratches,

but my fear fogs its lenses.


If I fail will I ever be able to get up off the ground?

Continuous questioning of the unknown

consumes every part of me.


All positivity is trapped in waves of ambiguity.

Confidence swims to the top,

only to be forced back under,

and hidden from the rest of the world.


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Casey is a senior at Pompton Lakes High School. She plans to further her education at The College of New Jersey as a Music Education major.