By Briella Gauthier
6th grade | Renaissance Secondary School | Colorado
First place contest winner, Global Health category
With lines from “How Extreme Heat Impacts Your Brain and Mental Health” by Aryn Baker, a Pulitzer Center reporting project
Endless cries
ease into the water—
it burns
it flares
an open wound
dearly fraught
The heat—
it hurts
it aches
I wait
the flames—
I’ll weep
my brain seeped
in golden heat
I can’t sleep
I won’t—
The nights stretch suffocate
My thoughts boil over
pulse loud
lost in the hiss of radiating silence
I’m too hot to dream
too tired to wake
"The number of extreme heat days is increasing every year"
and each new spike of flame
rewires me, burns my name—
anger
blurred lines of grief
a mood unraveled
by rising degrees
There’s fire in my chest
and fog in my mind
I say things I regret
I feel things I shouldn’t
I lose my pulse in a world gone numb
"Even a one degree increase…contributes to a higher probability of experiencing depression and anxiety"
Even words—
sharp enough to pierce
they cut in 280 characters
of blistering spite
The heat frays kindness
and frenzies the calm
We are
hot under the collar
our blood boils
until we must
let off steam
This is no metaphor
"It becomes a vicious cycle"
A single degree
can tip the scale
from coping
to breaking
When our last drop drips—
we spiral
Sleep lost becomes control lost
The body rebels
the mind follows
Rage grows teeth
Despair grows roots
And still—
the heat keeps coming
Waves that don’t crash
but swallow
Where do you go
when the air itself
is a threat
"We definitely do have a mental health crisis within the climate crisis"
I sit in the stillness
hear it crackle
The sun’s not done
and neither is the damage
We are not weak
We are overheated
This is not madness
It’s the climate
And I—
I still can’t sleep
Can’t cool the noise
Can’t quiet the flare beneath my skin
What is a world
where hope runs thin—
where silence is louder than the flames
Where I stay—
not fierce
just tethered to the burn
Briella Gauthier is a rising seventh grader at Renaissance Secondary School in Castle Rock, Colorado. After spending nine years in the Pacific Northwest, she’s happy to be back in her home state. A passionate reader and writer, Briella discovered poetry as a powerful way to express emotions that are difficult to say out loud and to cope with life’s challenges. She also enjoys playing sports and spending time with her three older siblings—especially swimming and hiking together. Briella is deeply grateful for the encouragement and support of her family, friends, and teachers.
Read more winning entries from the 2025 Fighting Words Poetry Contest.