By Elizabeth Richards   Jake leaned back against the plane seat, groaning as he ran his hands through his hair. Forgot my earbuds for the…eighth time now? How much worse can this day get? You really shouldn’t ask questions like that, because fate adores irony™, and yes, it can get worse. Want to know how…

She was running. Faster. Faster. Faster. She dodged trees, ran through bushes, and leaped over logs. She could hear footsteps behind her. Faint, as if they were a spirit’s shoes barely brushing the ground. She pushed ahead, running into the forest. The dog tag around her neck bounced with every step, the chain whipping her…

Her hopes of getting a few moments of relative peace and quiet to contemplate whether waking up tomorrow would even be worth it were dashed when the man plopped down next to her. Resentment flared in her gut, churning her already soured stomach, as she felt the telltale vibrations of some inconsiderate civilian selecting—of all…

By Elizabeth Richards   The scars marred her pale skin when they found her. The house had burnt down, trapping her inside. She’d made no struggle as it took her down, the smoke asphyxiating her and a beam dropping onto her chest, pinning her to the ground. She choked on her own blood as she…

By Elizabeth Richards   When daybreak comes, I am afraid. I am afraid because no matter how hard I try, I cannot fathom seeing the damage done in the sunlight. During the night I steer clear of windows, for that is the only way that I avoid any light that I do not wish for….

“The knocks started eight months ago. “I had only moved in two weeks prior and was completing my undergraduate at the time, pulling one of the dreaded all-nighters that defined my senior year, which is why I was still awake at that godforsaken hour. Honestly, I don’t even remember what I was studying for. Some…

Spring A soft whisper, a ray of light. The birds have flown back here to me. The flowers are coming out of hiding. And so am I. An instant of warmth, a flutter of joy. The snow that had fallen, melts. I am finally able to get up, to spread my wings. I am finally…

Sickly Sweet A rotten honey A stone thrown in a pond Ripples shattering the mirror A jeer at a miserable life A reminder that death draws near That time means nothing You are a mere speck of dust In an endless universe The irony of bigotry A broken perspective Fate adores Irony And I am…

I tried to write a song. A melancholy song, full of days of numbness like codeine, depriving me of all sensation, and nights spent staring at the wall because no matter how I tossed and turned or kicked, sleep wouldn’t bring its comatose embrace. A simple song, a D-minor, maybe an E-major, an A chord,…

Light Like a thousand suns, never flickering, relentless beam of a beacon. It spreads everywhere, a tangle of vines suffocating out the dark. Nothing is safe from its interrogations. Everyone looks toward it, eyes bleeding, they cry out its name joyously. They praise it, adore it, worship it, that awful blinding light, But you close…

Serpent’s tongue, coated with silver, Says only what you want to hear. It wraps its coiling torso around your throat, Trapping your voice, now and forever. If you try to dig your nails into its iron scales, Free your windpipe to scream out, It just squeezes tighter. One lie is like a lighter It ignites…

Lamentation garb, your falsehood Tears, the memory of an absent childhood Mourn me not, oh father of my sister Leave pine to the greenwood For no eulogy shall be penned In your crude scrawl And no forlorn preacher Reciting in his Southern drawl They fashioned me chains of iron As if that could hold their…

I am a Latina with brown skin, Brown hair, and brown eyes. I am Gualtemalteca, not Mexican. I have the power of who I am, not you, You can’t change me only I can, you say that the way that I look makes me Mexican, but just because I am brown doesn’t mean I have…

Endless Sundays The day of work You know I’m hurt, the scars weep a story, and my pearly eyes hide my soul But, no matter I’m workin’ It doesn’t matter than I’m hurting – These rhymes try and hide The truth everyone doesn’t speak ‘cuz they think its their fault for feelin’ this way so…

Nobody knows Where the Grim Reaper goes But the Grim Reaper feels quite alone. You see, nobody likes him Everyone fears him For doing the job he has to do The blue skies and the hot guys Are things he enjoys too But, in the end he does what he has to do Deep below,…