Author: fpoussin

A Pile to Burn
Anna Lundy

your hardworking fingers
yellowed by time
i watch them do their
little dance around the
nutcracker.

everyone’s living
their quiet little lives.
small town. my town.
but it feels so quiet – so cold
now that you’re gone.

the warm light
emanating from your
window where you sat
makes me feel that
you’re home.

you left a pile to burn outside
near your garden. just a few twigs, forming a myriad. a family. the creation of your feeble hands. as the sun sets,
the light from your window glows on.

11.27.17
Leah-Joy Smith

You’re not always going to bloom.
Sometimes, new life
Will grow slowly.
Yes, slowly.
But isn’t that what we want?

All good growth
Is slow. So slow
It can’t be seen.
Good growth runs down
Deep before it slowly
Lifts in praise.

The stretching, moving,
Making of roots,
It hurts. And often
No one sees it.
But that longleaf pine still
Needs her roots
To survive
The fire.

And so do you.
So do I.

The Time Traveler
Destiny Killian

I lay back and time
stands still
Light particles swirl around me
eyes shut and
mind wide open
The past stretches out
Like putty in my hands
I grab hold and
suddenly, I am transported
Another moment
another world
a long forgotten
version of myself

We face each other
I don’t recognize her
Is she really me
This minute we’re living in
I’ve lived a thousand times before
I want to stop her
No, don’t say that
Tell him how you feel
Please don’t do this to us
But it’s no use
she can’t hear me
I am only a ghost here
trespassing on a past
that can’t be changed

When I reawake
the present greets me again
like a familiar friend
I have traversed lifetimes
to no avail
What else is left
Another journey
through time
and space
I’ll skip to the future
In hopes of finally finding
A new me, a new life where
The happy ending might
Last longer
than one eternity

Who waits for me
In the faraway place
that I have yet to reach
Which version of me
will greet me there
I wonder
What would this theoretical me
say to her past self
How many days, nights
endless hours
did she spend
travelling
to get to me

Resurgam
Destiny Killian

I thought I’d be
your pretty bride-to-be
not the madwoman
locked
in the prison of my thoughts
where you
abandoned me
Shush, a dirty little secret
is swept up in the attic
a memento of a past
that longed to be forgotten
Better not tell
your darling little bird
She might not look so kindly
at her master
once she sees his cruelty
An animal in a cage
kept for your own amusement
Sad woman, bad woman
What am I to the world
to you
What am I to do
with all this rage left inside
Don’t remind me of how I once
loved you, you liar
Passion sparks my soul
my heart is ablaze
I’ll set this whole world
on fire

A Firebird’s Lovesong
Jesse Lee

Dressed in smoke and embers,
I learned to glow to keep
You warm.
But warmth kindled light
And you held me like ice
Against the wildfire
I was learning to feed.
You tried to smother
The flames,
Knowing that what
Rose from the ashes
Would no longer be
Yours.

Elderly Couple
Jay Chambers

He had his pacemaker replaced Friday
She wouldn’t leave his side

I was at the hospital in February
As his chest heaved
Tears pooled in her eyes
At the threat of parting

I saw her caress his cheek
And how she replaced his hat with a flourish
For the journey to the I.C.U.

On their honeymoon in ‘62
They outran the wedding party
And arrived at their hotel
Half-past midnight

Last night at half-past midnight
She replaced his oxygen tank
And settled back down to sleep
As 1962 fades back into dark
And eternity shines ahead.

Botanical Beauty
Margie Monde

Shattered Glass
Kayla Miller

Morning Dew
Alexis Wright

Small Wonders
Destiny Killian