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lexapro
By Amy Myers my mind was once so loud. knocking on my skull; tyranny, invisible to all, to me, never able to quiet down. my mind was once so loud. lit by merely one, dark cloud. reaching out to the eye of the storm, they responded with the thought that my cerebral fight is out of the norm and assigned me my mask to be bought. i waited in line with all the rest to become numbed into a trance and absolve the knot in my chest with one orange bottle that i glanced. each day i swallow a synthetic seed that slides down my throat dissolving…
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natural roots
By Amy Myers thoughtless days pound in my head, but the absence of thinking prevents my lying in bed. i grow…yet in a backwards motion, like an arrogant tsunami pulling in all sides of the aggressive ocean. my brunette hair creeps in from my roots, reminding me of my overwhelming mind that my bleached hair tried to mute. my bangs fall heavy by the sides of my ears, soon will they reach my chin; something they haven’t done in years. effortless growth with heavy intention, perfectly crafted bleached and toned deception.
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no more apples
By Amy Myers a couplet a day keeps the depression at bay… in the time that i have here i’ve spent it in fear fleeting days simply wash away within the blue lights of a camera, so bright education may continue but my mind stays behind you i am not learning; rather, i am yearning for a time that i can say that i would love to stay
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the two x’s
By Amy Myers sunny days tend to be worse than others, for the inner monologue is so..so loud. i am never enough…not in your eyes, but mine burn in each reflective surface. i hate to see it, but i have to look. my weeping circles gaze back at me, begging to be loved by their owner. i’m so hostile….but only to myself. as if i’m experiencing stockholm syndrome within my own body. i don’t wish to leave, but i am so unkind to my reflection. comparison shadows me, like an altered version of myself. i walk, and it’s there. i run, and it’s there. i think, and it’s there. like…
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The Diner
By Melina Bowser The ceramic mug sits heavy in dainty hands— steam warming her face. Perfect circles stained the boomerang laminate countertop again. She sits quietly, taking long breaths between sips, thinking of a friend. Pulling out a book, she scrawls cursive words onto a page of ardor. Tears blur the pen ink knowing she will never read these words meant for her.
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Little Bads
By Jacob Hetrick Every good piggy knew the story by rote— how the wicked wolf had grabbed the first piggy by the throat and with a snap and a rip, and oh, a gush of blood! extinguished the little pig’s soul before it licked its lips and ate him whole. The second pig was not such easy fare for in his state, it was legal for pigs to keep arms to bear— to polish and preen and keep them seen and at every piggy’s hips, there was a cold metal sheen. So, when the big bad wolf came a-knocking, the second little piggy got his gun a-cocking, and with a…
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Empty
By Andrew Jones Food pantry struggles to restock. I can’t word that any worse. Let’s talk about politics; police violence, racial inequality, taxes, marriage rights, we can debate for days, but food pantries? How can something so pure come to rummaging the local paper to fill itself, like an empty stomach trudging below the railroad bridge, tattered sign dragging against a harsh November wind, each door they pass closed in this small town, each rifle loaded, each belly gorging on the daily news, new tax reform, new police training, same old empty food pantry.
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V=d/t
By Kim Cardello Velocity can be directed it can be detrimental. defined as distance over time. How far can we travel away from this all? How much time will it take to get where we want? Friction Abrasion trying to slow this hurtling through space and time telling us to not move on but you must move on there is too much going on inside this brain this mind as we all hurtle through time it freezes as your soul shatters Numbness eclipsing the deepening chasm if you lock your heart away will it still die when you crash?
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The Painter
By Kendra Tischer The lingering feeling of a kiss by a man The warm sensation of an embrace by a woman The innate power of one’s touch by frank eroticism The soothing stroke of muse’s cheek by painter’s hand The nude portrait of golden leaf by Gustav Klimt
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Henry, This Is What You Wanted
By Matthew Brothers Henry Bemis, this is what you wanted, “time enough at last.” Before, you were mocked. At your work, they scoffed. Bank teller, bookworm. Sad to say they don’t go together well. Reading on the job, your boss’ head throbs. Engrossed in the book, you convey the plot to the customer. She’s not pleased when she’s shortchanged, Henry, please. Your wife asks you to read her A poem. Then you see She’s blacked out the words. On your break, you go to the bank’s back vault. This place is perfect for reading in peace. Your stress is released. While reading, you cross into a land of “shadow and…
