I. The night is alive and so am I.

II. Maybe instead of the wildfire I long to be I should be a rolling storm.

III. Or maybe just the shadows. Maybe the night is harsher than the day.

IV. Maybe I should be the creature that stalks alleyways and lonely roads, it snaps trees and throws boys to the dirt and makes girls with ill-fitting skin shiver. (I’ll tell you a secret: I don’t know many girls who haven’t felt like they were something stuffed into a body that’s only going to cause them grief.)

V. Maybe I am more suited to being a burning star, something pretty and theoretically dangerous. (I’ll tell you another secret: there is only one star that we know of that’s ever hurt anyone.)

VI. I am only an earthbound girl wanting to have claws sharp enough to kill the lurking men in the night. Maybe I can only ever hope to be standing in the storm and hoping that I am never the moon. (This is the last secret I’ll tell you: the moon is old and strong, but she has a flag planted on her.)

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Maia Irwin is a bisexual 16 year old girl in Hilo, Hawaii who currently wants to study sociology.