Read the subtext: I’d leave you for a horizon Bright enough, And the only reason I’m still here Is that you’d let me.   I think of the miracle That you understand me like a second language Surprising fluency in my native tongue My savage, broken bellows finally answered by a Second voice.   It…

  I have an idea: let’s every one of us Walk into a field- Thistleberry and old tires growing over each other, Rusted afterthoughts and migratory birds- And raise our hands to the sky To implore the great one to tell us why we are. I am sure that if all of humanity could cry…

  Women have been involved in our nation’s military since the Revolutionary War, serving not only as nurses and cooks but also supplying water to thirsty soldiers on the battlefield. Throughout history, men have always fought our battles while women stood by, never allowed to face combat, but what if I told you that in…

The Sentinel stands atop his post He guards the valley low His sword aside in a scabbard of frost His helm and cloak are covered in snow   He guards the valley low His beard a forest of great green pines His helm and cloak are covered in snow The Sentinel’s eyes stare ahead in…

  “11:34AM….already?” I set my phone down. I had slept through my first two classes, not that they were important or anything, just Biology and World Music. Biology was taught by a tangent-loving hobbit, and world music was being taught by John from Garfield so I knew I wasn’t missing much. I lay in bed…

  The sticky grey buttons of the Belmar Nursing Home break room resistively accept my entrance code, and I place my finger on the time clock. ‘Employee not recognized’. Slightly moving finger positions, I try again. ‘Employee not recognized.’ I place my finger down for what feels like the thousandth time. ‘Employee not recognized’. I…

  Upon the wake of evening sun A song is sung what  bliss is spread About the weary have we fun Are not we the ungrateful dead All howl above to twinkle’s day Shadows here are for you to hide Why do you come with fear to play Away you ran should not have cried…

  …went a little crazy after George died. She burned their letters and moved to the attic. That can happen sometimes.   At the parent teacher conference, she started to black out. Fingers shaking, Morse Code on the desk, Feeling small. That can happen.   Humans must be pre-disposed to instability. All it takes is…

  Go over the garden wall, my child Take your oil lantern and a warm blanket and nothing more. Cross the river and into the forest. Leaves of gold and crimson fall around you, your steps a-lit by only the milk light of moon Autumn falls around you, the wind catch at your coat Go…

    Written like secret cheats to tests on my desk Folded as if making paper hearts.   We’re always up to no good. No good landmarks. No good barbeque places in town. Living in the underbelly of being busy. Combing through analogues of home spices. Discovering the symptoms of bad vices.   We’re writing…

  Heart thundering. Sweat dripping. Feet pounding the hot sand of the Badlands. Her hair was plastered to her dripping forehead as she sprinted from the burning settlement she had once called home. “He’s going to kill me. He’s going to kill me.” Her feet slipped through the burning sand. “Oh gods he’s going to…

       Clouds, Like a veil, With a sheer, shining edge, Covers the sky floor. Soaked in sunlight, The satin unfurls to the far reaches of my eyes breadth. Glittering sparkling, warmed by the light, the satin gracefully sits. What should be a translucent gauze, reveals itself as a crocheted lace – too thick to be…

  From my quiet perch upon the wall I am witnessing a gas station romance. Young love that pulls up in a beat up van, coasting on fumes. She is round with the fruits of his labor, carrying a child made of desperate wishes. He is thin as a rail, allowing her to eat him…

  I was fourteen when we moved to Paris. Our first day in the city, Dad put five euros in my hand and walked me to the St. Michel Metro Station. He taught me how to use the automatic ticket machine and told me it was all I’d ever need to know. He pointed out…

    I’m a pickup-truck passenger bouncing along the highway at eighty-five miles an hour, fingertips ricocheting off the laptop keys. The gold and green watercolor landscape of Wyoming spreads out in front of me. To the west, dark stained clouds threaten the shadowed mountains with rain, but the rest of the sky fades from…

The cold, it creeps down to the core. They twitch and tingle, my fingers, Imploring for one minute more, And the memory, it lingers.   Like ice and warmth, it smears the sky. Spice skims the frozen breath—it stirs, From the cup they share with a sigh, And the memory, it lingers.   The drink…

  The mermaids.  Why are they so gorgeous, yet so unapproachable? I see them every single day walking in through the front door, happy and carefree. I’ve probably talked to each of them at least once, nothing important, just small talk. One time one of them actually told me where they lived once, unfortunately for…

Sing in the dungeons and dirty yellow streets; hallelujahs for the dead beat Scatter the orange juice like the catatonic turtle of The Grapes of Wrath Sink the coffee pot, empty today, but tomorrow there should be more Slip into old ways, old dresses, old photographs— cold hands Strap the bulletproof vests to chests as…

  The beginning of the end was months ago, and I only now am beginning to fall. And when I told you, “I have to forget” You knew the diagnosis of life draining from a tomorrow that may never come You fought, came, and conquered But I am not you. my bruises are bruised  …

We’ve assumed the characteristics of God as if we wrote him as a stock character in our YA novel lives. I give you money. I get food. I go to work. I get paid. I pursue meaning. I find fulfillment. I pursue love. I find Him. When we treat reality like a math equation, we…