Featured Writing

A bell resting on the front desk

The Office of Eternal Collections

by Dakota Jackson The Office of Eternal Collections—better referred to as purgatory, both literally and figuratively, especially to Luci—is becoming quite hectic these days. As the head of the Decisions Department, Luci, (known in his past first as Lucian and later as Lucifer), is in charge of the recently deceased….

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Poetry Posts

A rose with drops of dew on its petals

Caught Up in Metaphors

by Nancy Machlis Rechtman He told me that my eyesWere stars twinkling in the nightAnd when he kissed me he murmuredThat my lips were the sweet petals of roses. My heart became the flutterOf birds’ wings soaring through the treesAnd his wordsWere the silky balm on my wounded soul. “Your…

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Sunshine breaking through storm clouds

Forgotten Fields Within

by Lisa M. Gott Heavy clouds creep acrossforgotten lands — a storm is coming,blowing the tumble weedsof my own destructionacross the never-ending fieldsof a place once called home. Parched, the soil cries out,O, clouds, rain down on me,wash away this decay so that blades of glory may rise up and reachtoward possibility. Blackness circles — a…

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Flowers growing in the field of a former battlefield

Battlefields

by Lisa M. Gott Dried tendrils of overgrown grasssing out into the wind — We have a story to tell. Tucked beneath their blanket,spotted earth painted with blood and tears;droplets of dew encase secretsof battered and bruised indentionsfrom heavy steps scarring soil,but like a seashell, their cries remain;head to earth,…

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A frog staring ahead though blades of grass

one frog one scorpion

By Keith Burton i was stretching my legs on the littoralgiving names to the shapes of the cloudsthat swam across the lake’s reflectionwhen trouble came crawling on eight legs. help me across he asked with a period. i knew better; i had an owl’s acuity.no can do, i know you…

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A dock leading into a calm lake in the day time

The Other Side

By Maggie Kennedy                           For Alex You and I pick one by onethe wet stones glittering the shore,greedily pocketing the shine,until our shorts bulgelike hamster cheeks,and we walk bow-leggedto the car, turning every fewfeet to look back at the lake as if her shifting moods couldnot be summoned at will, as…

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A couple walking through the city streets at night, under an umbrella in the rain

Kisses

By Maggie Kennedy That song again,and I am in that kissagain that felt so rightbut for the right person. The sudden downpour,dash from the bardown the lamp-lit street,breathless and laughingat our sodden clothes,smell of mud hungrybeneath melting snow,and what the hellshock of his lipsquieting my shivers. A kiss that mighthave…

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Crashing waves

Gaea

By Cindy Mercedes She was made of sharp edges and soft curves,eyes a deep brown with specks of gold.She smelled of dew after a rain,of pine cones that littered forest floors. Everything about her was beautiful-from her compassion that blossomed with vibrant colors,breathing new life unto slumbering seeds.To her sincerity…

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An orange in front of a white background

Exponential Decay

By Maggie Kennedy “The orange tastes like a refrigerator,” my son says,spitting out his bite and pretending to gag,and though I have never tasted a refrigeratorI know what he means. The orange tastes like the plastic it was wrapped in.And though I have never eaten plastic,the conjured smell fills my…

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Cherries splashing into a martini

A Soldier’s Prosecco

By Angelica Whitehorne My mini skirt, a metallic shield. My martini in hand,a weapon with its tiny spear. I glory cry to a last generation’shomage of song, remember the fallen, the now mothers withwreckage hips bound to their front porches. I don’t belong to anyone, least of all myself.I open…

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Sun shining over a mountain range.

My Mother’s Words

By Phibby Venable All my mother’s words live around here,and I am always placing them in whatever orderI can remember.They hold the door open each morning, and suggestI have a better gratitude and attitude,for being aliveI stretch my eyes all over the sky, I lean upand look over the mountainsMy…

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