Title: Within Your Grasp

Creator: Ashley Musick

Category: Death

Creator Commentary:

This piece explores the death of intimacy due to fear of vulnerability and a loss of freedom or agency. The narrator of the poem wants to be emotionally intimate, but feels trapped inside the expectations presented by the individual in the poem, who is unknowingly holding on too tightly to his or her own ideas of intimacy and vulnerability. This causes the narrator to no longer feel safe or free to be who (s)he truly is, and as a result, any feelings or capability of intimacy die. This poem explores this contrast in perspective in order to demonstrate the fragility of emotional intimacy between individuals.

Submission:

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Creator Bio:

Ashley is a junior Creative Writing major and Dance minor who loves to read, write, and dance. She works at Linden Tree Children’s Books in Los Altos, California, and has been doing ballet since she was three years old. She also has a particular affinity for fantasy novels, and is extremely proud to be a member of the Hufflepuff house from Harry Potter. She can often be found dancing around campus or curled up in odd places reading (or re-reading) her favorite books.