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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Nothing

Underneath

Nothing, a void, a thing you can’t just put in an empty vase.
Nothing, not a thing, you can’t lock it in a case.
You can’t say it is, and once you embrace,
it becomes something, and is just empty space.
Nothing, not tangible, just a void without a face.

Nothing, a place that isn’t here.
Nothing, changing our lives, yet not ever there.
A blank screen, outer space, even in the air.
It seems to appear everywhere. It causes great despair.
Nothing is the place you get to at nowhere.
Maybe, just maybe, it can be we’re unaware,
unaware of the greatness that ensnares
the darkness of the fact that nothing’s there.

It helps us when we need to think, or if we’re surrounded in a county fair.
Appearing at its best, it can help us pass a test, or live through a war.
Nothing, at its purest, is extremely rare.
When we’re working, we are very aware
of every single sound that is emitted through the air.

Jake Sun
Jake Sun, 9
Winchester, MA
Anna-Weinberg
Anna Weinberg, 11
Washington, DC