by Carol Casey The path is trodden, dusty, level.You know it will take youwhere many have gone. Step off—tangles of brambles,sometimes with blackberries,more often with little clawsthat catch on clothes and skin;and tortuous tree roots—inconvenient, sacred data unearthed—subterranean snakelets somehowsifted into snarls for feet to catch.There are stems that twine…
by Becky Earle I wanted to carry him everywhere, but His words wore a hole in my pocket,And before I knew it, the scrap of A notecard, rumpled and worn from Fondling, fell to the street at the Corner of Clark and Pine. The shadow that saw it fall Tapped…
by Amy Covel It’s always just been meMyselfAnd INever youOr someone else I’ve lived life on my ownOn the edgeAll by myself‘Cause no oneCould ever keep upOr copeWith who I am I’ve started runningAnd I won’t stopUntil I dieBut no one can understandThis is my futureMy five-step plan But youdaredTo challenge…
by The Poet Darkling Wrenched from the fryerstraight into the flamesof hatred and avarice goall duty and senseand a thousand convictionswe’ve deemed unneeded,such as dignity, pride,and any righteous defense when our moral leaders areneither leaders nor moraland we give them a passto escape the blamewhich belongs to no oneexcept We…
by Amy Covel Fear can drive a man mad. Fear of failure and loss,Not of a loved oneOr a possession,But the selfish pursuitOf one’s own perfection. This test of fearIs passed by the manContent to earnAnd claim as his ownA monster’s soul. For monsters feel no fear,So why be human,Crippled…
by Kate McCorkle We are in the prescription drop-off line at CVS, which, after 6 p.m. on a weekday, is several people deep. My eight-year-old, Lizzie, has a severe ear infection. She is stoic and in extreme pain. The mean pharmacist is behind the counter. I once left the line…