A Yellow Brush by Amy T., Bedminster, NJ Dim smiles of twilight slant through the studio window at sharp angles, Dusk fading to copper green. In a room that’s too small Papers pile high as cathedrals Scratched with graphite lines. Continue...
Blackbirds by Kimberly S., Menasha, WI Reuben is an angel in the debris and gutters with wings of rainwater, bottle tops and vodka. Mumbling, ecstatic, the stigmatic mystic disciple. Blackbirds mock him; they have numbered all his bones. He is despised by men, Who roll dice for his grubby clothes. Continue...
Blood Boiling, Wind Calming by Brent W., Gibsonia, PA Within seconds the blood reaches my head. I yell and scream through blind fury. My head heats up, feel the frustration building. I want to break something, scream for all I’m worth. But I know I can’t. I must have control, simmer my steam. Continue...
Celestial Scar by Mary W., Roseville, CA The sky bleeds tonight A crimson scar ruthlessly torn into the horizon Ribbons of beautiful life Unraveling from the wound That bleeds the blood of autumn meadows Colored by the blood of ripening cherries Tinged with the blood of bluebells A hazy rupture between land ... Continue...
Dragonflies in the Morning by Nafees S., Duluth, GA The graceful arcs glide Round and round Upon the light of morning They soar. In a pool of neon silk Slender crescents bathe To a blur Rising higher and higher To the beat of the heart And the eyes sing and sting As the iridescent wings whir In pairs Like ... Continue...
First Set of Power Wheels by Lauren L., Rockford, MI To every three-year-old Angelic boy Wheels Are everything But power wheels That islike hitting That tiny white baseball Right out of the park What’scircle? Well That’s the only direction That you can travel His pudgy littlefingers Grip the ... Continue...
Hair by Annie W., Houston, TX Let me give you my fine Asian hair Watch intently It will shine for you in the dark It will dance in the oblique laughter of the fire, Just like my dance for you Prince of men, look ye at the richness of it! Have you seen such beauty yet? See how it will crash like the ... Continue...
Jealousy by Madeleine H., Katonah, NY She hadn’t showered that day and the wind had done her hair, whipping the frizzy strands back and forth, as if arguing whether or not today was the day for braids, or a ponytail. Continue...
Mary’s Song by Adam R., Easley, SC All I want is for Mary to dance, Mary to dance with me. All I want is for Mary to dance To a soft piano tune. Entranced by a fickle boy, No one knows how long the train is, Entranced with counting each single cart, She can never make it past One, two, three ... Continue...
Refrigerator by Mark C., Clarkston, MI I opened the door, and I’m hit With an odor of mold I discovered garbage My dog discovered gold. I remember making spaghetti Covered with sauce and cheese But after three months, I’m brought to my knees. Continue...
Remorse by Moorea R., Yuba City, CA it is the monster inside of me that destroys you. the dust between the cracks that dirties yourfeet. tell me how to fix it, to fix me, fix you, confessions don’t always take place onhard, wooden benches. and forgiveness isn’t always signed in blood. Continue...
Runaway by Melanie A., Tazewell, VA We collected our footsteps on the way down and in the midst of our hour of defeat, we found a home in each other’s presence, a rebellion in our quiet riot. Continue...
Silence by Shannon F., Saugus, MA A series of abysmal images Observed through parted fingers Horrified eyes and gapingmouths On the faces surrounding me in the dark ... Continue...
Sweet Childhood Recollection by Jacki D., Ridgway, PA As the fluffy snow kindly tickled our noses, Courtney, Shelby, and I began assembling the perfect igloo in our front yard. The fierce weather couldn’t stop us. We were determined to make our icy castle. Continue...
Teddie by Lara C., Gilbert, AZ When I was small, I carried around my teddy Actually, I have a collection of a dozen or more now, and one thick book on the man himself. Continue...
The Midst of March by Jenna F., Doylestown, PA Snow cloaks this white house in a belated winter shower of drizzle and flurries.
The vicious wind propels the flakes - A snow globe. White hits the ground, it thaws - icy puddles on the pavement. Continue...
The Part I Wanted by Aimee S., Mequon, WI He painted a rose velvety pink and sharp at the edges on a sheet of card stock only slightly bigger than his bony hands Stiff and sort of inflexible, like he was Below the rose he wrote a poem in black pen - not real nighttime black but doubtful black a ... Continue...
Town Farm Hill by Anna S., Newbury, VT The fields were wide and grassy and warm enough (with sunlight filtering through the long brown grass stems) for me to be a little pioneer girl lost on an open prairie the breeze whipping my cotton dress around my ankles. Continue...
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