{"id":5131,"date":"2025-08-04T19:54:03","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T19:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/?page_id=5131"},"modified":"2026-03-04T22:08:25","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T22:08:25","slug":"lions","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/lions\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Eleanor Currey<\/em><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cPunch buggy!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

We cruised down the cracked Kenyan roads\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Scoured for a yellow car\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The punch I so dreaded from my sister\u2019s fist<\/span><\/p>\n

The gravest weight on my chest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The wind whispered through the trees\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Shared secrets with the land.<\/span><\/p>\n

The sun kissed my radiant skin.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Little did I know what was happening\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6 km away.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Images of chaos danced across the tv\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fear seized my parent’s face\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Confusion caught mine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Above the deep purple trumpeted jacaranda trees\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Smoke slithered through the air:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c4 gunmen stormed the mall.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c67 dead, 150 injured.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Memorials in school, honoring those we\u2019d lost\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The selfishness of classmates aching for recognition:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI decided not to go to the mall at the last minute.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am lucky to be alive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I was selfishly among them.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Weeks passed\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t stay here\u2026 too dangerous\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mama and Papa whispered behind closed doors.<\/span><\/p>\n

The walls, once my shelter, now echoed my fears\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The outside world felt like a distant acquaintance.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The nights I so dreaded, left alone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0As the lions encircled my room\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The shadows danced like predators.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eyes peered just above the covers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

My body ached for my parents.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6 months on the hardwood floor\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6 months hiding from the lions\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A journey indispensable\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To bloom and to grow<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Eleanor Currey<\/strong> is a\u00a0 currently majoring in English and minoring in Russian language. She writes, “Writing this poem was such a meaningful experience, and I\u2019m so excited to be able to share it with you.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eleanor Currey   \u201cPunch buggy!\u201d We cruised down the cracked Kenyan roads\u00a0 Scoured for a yellow car\u00a0 The punch I so dreaded from my sister\u2019s fist The gravest weight on … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2513,"featured_media":0,"parent":5102,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-5131","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLions - Writers House Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/lions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lions - Writers House Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Eleanor Currey   \u201cPunch buggy!\u201d We cruised down the cracked Kenyan roads\u00a0 Scoured for a yellow car\u00a0 The punch I so dreaded from my sister\u2019s fist The gravest weight on … Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/lions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Writers House Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-04T22:08:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/lions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/vol-6-winter-2025-2027\/lions\/\",\"name\":\"Lions - 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