In fear that the world may defeat me,
I started wishing I were somewhere else.
Anywhere else, freely and unconditionally.
Lost in direction, desolate and disconnected,
in those moments of darkness
my feet brought me before heaven.

 Walls of paintings and manmade records
lay before me like the night sky,
colors vibrant and intricacy unreal.
For a moment my spirits lifted.
I shot forward with a jolt.

Rejoicing and weeping,
I opened up a new door,
and postponed all answers.

The fear in me subsided.
I had stumbled into a miracle.
To the left I spoke to reds and yellows
and to the right, blues and blacks.
A reflection in the form of art.
With each stroke my voice grew,
and I painted my dreams to life.

But as these dreams surrounded me,
a new world was swallowing me whole.
Limp and blind I lost myself
into the dangerous fantasies
that I so desperately searched for.

Slowly and painfully,
I stood behind the door
and waited for answers.

By ESTHER KANG
Staff Writer