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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Noire

A crow or raven
against the black night.
A cry from a lone child.
A smooth dark rock
thrown at you.
A dot, sweet, warm,
and black on your tongue.
A musty smell,
revolting at first,
sweet afterwards,
though too quick to catch.
Scented like a black horse.
At first sight,
A child tattered,
crying, and though silent
makes the loudest sound.
It is a whinny heard in the distance.
It’s something or someone you love
Who
Dies.
That’s Negro.

Noire Jonah O’Hara David
Jonah O’Hara David, 10
Norman, Oklahoma