Author: Sarah Fitzgerald

languishing silently
he sat upon the
window sill
sunlight beaming
through curtainless
glass panes
in a playroom
forgotten
by children
grown long ago
and gone
and
he stared sadly
across the room
beyond dust particles
slowly floating
in the rays
of light
his large eyes
set in
a wooden head
fixed on a rusty spring
extending from
his box of
blue and yellow
and
if he could’ve
made tears
they most certainly
would have fallen
upon his rotting
clown suit
which had faded
from the sun
for
he could see her
over there
the pretty tiny feet
resting on a dusty mirror
and
he remembered
how she once
had danced
in graceful circles
over and over
how he’d wished
that he’d had feet
how his head
had swayed
back and forth
upon his spring
how
music had played
joyously amid
laughter
but no more
now
there was no one
here to wind
time it seemed
had stopped
love as long gone
as the music
it once brought
there
I spied him
for a long
minute
from the doorway
feeling quiet certain
that
I knew
exactly how
he felt

—

Matt Longerbeam is a literary enthusiast and artist hobbyist. He lives in Hagerstown, Maryland with his cat Saffron.

an homage to Poe and Bill W

I.
Hear the Siren moon of dreams –
Flirtatious dreams!
She summons invocation: just a nip,
A gentle sipping of escape.
How she sings the songs of respite
In the milky sky of night!
She croons her lullabies that mock
The pounding of the chronos clock,
How she cradles – entices and implores:
Release day’s filthy remnants
In the cooling stream, the healing balm
Of expansive kairos dream.
Soft suggestions, safe surrenders in the cotton
of the crib, the slipping, gently sliding,
simply gliding into sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep,
sleep, sleep, sleep –
To the exponential promise of the
Somewhere else of sleep.

II.
Imbibe the golden buzzing dreams–
Intoxicating dreams!
What a fragrant almost flagrant fire of desire!
In the primal beat of drums,
In the nascent glint of midges in the lusty summer air.
What a joy to wake with serendipitous surprises
In the lifeblood of the dream.
How it teases!
How it pleases!
How it eases all the edges
of the humdrum of the day.
With the golden trancing, fugue-like dancing
Of the drums, drums, drums.
Of the drums, drums, drums, drums,
Drums, drums, drums –
Of the thrumming and the drumming
Of the dreaming of the drums.

III.
Fight the fierce betrayal of the dreams.
Enslaving dreams!
Illusion’s edges slouching,
Crawling and deceiving,
The Penelopian unweaving
Of the real that never was.
From the twisted shackles of the sheets,
A voyeur peering through the wreckage,
At the life that’s living elsewhere,
Out there and beyond!

How the fevered craving swells,
Still the zealous dream compels!
How it ego-strokes and yells–
Descend, descend, descend,
Descend, descend–
Rank with the rapacious denizens of hell!

IV.
Die a soulful death in the sinning of the dream!
Murderous dream!
Splayed – prostrated on the craggy pallet–
The Promethean ripping of the liver
By the teeth of demons gleaming
For the promised daily feeding.

Escape the coiling noose
Of the soiled and sweaty sheet!
Awaken and break loose!
Elsewhere life is thriving,
The clanging clock is shrieking,
Jangling out the hours
Of the living that was lost.

Wake, wake, wake, wake–
Wake, wake, wake, wake
Hear the desperate call to wake
from the numbing dream of death.

—

Amanda Miller has been a faculty advisor for the Hedge Apple for 16 years. She loves showcasing emerging writers and artists. Her writing genres have a wide range, from horror to children’s books, from fiction to poetry, including everything in between. “I most appreciate authentic pieces that have a living heartbeat, pieces that sound urgent, like one specific voice whispering in my ear in a way that no other voice could.” You can find out more about her at www.amandahartmiller.com

We were so ashamed, so ashamed,
and everybody knew about it, everybody,
because the police came and took him
from his work and the newspaper

had his picture splayed out on Page One,
his blond hair fading into his white skin
so he seemed all face, deformed in height. All
face, his face, our father’s, our father’s.

Some money thing we didn’t want to understand
though we did, well enough, when we read his letter
saying he’d wanted the best for us. So now
it’s Our Fault? my sister hissed, Our Fault, now,

do you believe that? She crumpled his letter
and put it in a bowl. This’ll make it safe,
she said, It’s stainless steel, and she Lit a Match
to burn up Every Lying Word of his,

the Lying Words flamed up as the crumples caught
and I began to cry, crying harder
when I saw our mother in the doorway,
she looked like she was trying not to look

sad, she said, I have good news, she said, Tomorrow
we’ll leave for St. Louis, where your uncle
lives, she said, you’ll never have to go back
to that school again, I won’t let anyone

tease or hurt you again because of him.
Because of him we left Brookline in darkness
next morning for our uncle and St. Louis,
for St. Louis, where we were given

a new last name and our mother became
a teacher again, and so many years
have passed we’ve almost but not ever really
forgotten the shame, our shame, our shame.

—

Wendy Lyon’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Across the Margin, The Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry, Amelia, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Greensboro Review, Grub Street, I-70 Review, The Literary Review, Manhattan Review, Moving Out, Neologism Poetry Journal, Poetry Northwest, The Round, Small Pond, SurVision Magazine, and The Windsor Review. Lyon attended the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and the Wesleyan Writers Conference and holds an MA in creative writing from the University of Windsor. She enjoys volunteering her time teaching adults and children to read. Her pen name is W. B. Lyon.

Perhaps fear was designed to protect you,
And if that’s the case, why haven't you allowed it to?
I already know what you're going to say- what's meant to be, will be
But if that’s the case, I will forever disagree.
Deep inside I know that you should’ve had more time,
However, the case is set, you have done your crime.

Why did you have to pick up the shovel?
It’s a simple question, no need to muddle.
“Oh darling, my darling,” our mother shrilled
All the while, you stood on that pedestal looking fulfilled.
I hardly recognize your vacant, empty tone.
Does that satisfy you, knowing you hit bone?

I remember it as though it were clear as day,
The sound of the screams, the sight of your dismay.
I understood you had your “moments” every now and then,
But facts stand taller than feelings- I was only ten.
I admit that I startled you, I understand, I see that now.
Please forgive me for what I have caused, some way, somehow.

But do me one quick favor, while I have your time.
Admit to me that you’re sorry for the trauma, guilt, and grime.
I’ve made mistakes myself, like scaring you late that night,
But even the judge agrees- nothing explains you putting up a fight.
This is why I believe fear failed to protect you,
Protect you from the physical, mental, and emotional pain you put me through.

—

Isabella is an undergraduate student who lives in Hagerstown, Maryland. Currently, she has no professional experience with writing. She is an emerging writer currently attending Hagerstown Community College.

As I was picking up my pen to write, there was a knock upon my door,
I slowly opened the wooden frame and saw a frog upon the floor.
Dusk was now upon the sky, as my little green guest decided to come in.
‘My name is Ribbit” my visitor said as he hopped upon the wooden table.
Next to him sat ready a fountain pen - ready, willing and able.

I slowly sat down on my pine-made chair, wondering why Ribbit came to visit.
An eloquent amphibious creature as he spoke with educated tone,
“Go over to your window” he said, “and tell me what you see”.
I walked over to the curtains and drew back the sash with childlike glee.

The frog replied “The pen upon the table has the ability to heal and words to tell.
The parchment you are using can bring to life a story from a wishing well.
Dreams are but a whisper in your ear, a journey from the start.
Remember, the power of the word brings an adventure from the heart.

The frog smiled as he ate a crumpet and sipped upon his tea,
We talked about the Faith of dreamers, miracles and laughter in clouds above,
As my pen moved upon the parchment accompanied by a winding breeze,
Dawn came up dancing with the morning sunshine for me to see.

I made a little bed for Ribbit out of a painted little box,
Forever to live with me as the bells of the village set another day’s clock.
Poems and written word are made of tales to be told from the heart,
Pen and parchment on a wooden table, dreams as we close our eyes,
May we always reach for the possibilities within the morning sky.

—

Dale Anne Fitzgerald dreamed of writing a book since childhood. The Author feels Blessed to have realized her dreams. Her books are: 'Love Built on the Rock' (all ages),  'The Bunny Berry Tales' (baby - 12),  'Vanessa's Garden - Inspired by God's Grace' (young adult - adult). Dale feels that dreams are stepping stones to possibilities. That Faith and dreams are part of the heart and soul created within all of us.

carpenter / priest / cowboy / mountain climber

my dream life at seven years old

then one night / rose an expanse of bright / shimmering water / out of which a thin / young / dead man walked

clinging to a cliff / i reached down / to touch his death-stiffened hair / on the beach / lay a washed-up skull

by then i was seventeen

next came dreams of twisting tunnels / elevators that rocked / plane crashes witnessed from within and from the ground

and lush / lyric dreams too / of a river / blue and warm / that tilted up on edge to face me / like a framed van gogh / and of running into farm fields where / in the ditches / wild fudge grew / and of my sweetheart and me / sitting under a swaying willow tree / crying with the tender conviction that if very / very / careful / we could live together for four hundred years

i try to imagine my dreams at four hundred

and cannot / but i can imagine / at four hundred / looking back / on the lush / lyric dreams / i’d tried to live in / with tender / if cliff-hanging / conviction

—

Mark Belair’s poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Alabama Literary Review, Harvard Review, and Michigan Quarterly Review. He is the author of seven collections of poems and two works of fiction: Stonehaven (Turning Point, 2020) and its sequel, Edgewood (Turning Point, 2022).  He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize multiple times, as well as for a Best of the Net Award. Please visit www.markbelair.com

While I slept,
Death’s Choir
came to me and
told me that I will
soon leave this World
for
another one.
A bit frightened,
A tad humbled,
A wee trembling –
I
requested
a
song for
my
departure.
Death’s choir gleefully accepted,
and sang
Amazing Grace.

—

Peter MacQuarrie is an enigma. He lives in the Darkling Forest of Northern California.

There was a lot of cooking in this dream.
People knew each other, people whom
I did not know, peeling things, filling pots
with succulence, setting bowls and platters
upon an outdoor table, long and low.

Another night I visited this dream
to spy on them. They used no recipes.
Everyone knew everything and spooned piles
of nourishment, of morsels onto plates.
Large cooking pots emitted misty steam.

Again I tiptoe back into this dream.
People cluster, seated at the table.
One comes closer, sending me a tidbit.
Floating in the air, I cannot reach it.
I know another night we’ll try again.

—

Sandy White received her MFA in Creative Writing from Dominican University of California. Using Adelaide Crapsey’s short form called the American Cinquain, she writes:

Sandy
White loves to write.
Emersing herself in
story telling’s her favorite way
to play.

22 syllables, 2-4-6-8-2 syllables on 5 lines.

How many of us can recall our very first nightmare?
Now that would be a spectacular memory
to share with intimates and casual acquaintances alike.
Perhaps at a subdued dinner party, creeping along,
you mention that first nightmare
before you knew the word nightmare
or knew how to calculate fearfulness.
Sure as sin, as you attempt to salvage that first night terror
someone unruly, drink in hand,
interrupts with his nightmare
or what passes for a nightmare
then some smart-ass film buff
brings up A Nightmare on Elm Street
and a dozen other nightmarish films
the party picks up, the words louder
and suddenly you recall that first nightmare
not quite in its entirety but in horrifying fragments
and reveal it to the kindly stranger standing nearby
with the almost faded scars on her lovely wrists.

—

Canadian poet, fiction writer, and playwright J. J. Steinfeld lives on Prince Edward Island, where he is patiently waiting for Godot’s arrival and a phone call from Kafka. While waiting, he has published 24 books, including An Unauthorized Biography of Being (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2016), Absurdity, Woe Is Me, Glory Be (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2017), A Visit to the Kafka Café (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2018), Gregor Samsa Was Never in The Beatles (Stories, Ekstasis Editions, 2019), Morning Bafflement and Timeless Puzzlement (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2020), Somewhat Absurd, Somehow Existential (Poetry, Guernica Editions, 2021), Acting on the Island (Stories, Pottersfield Press, 2022), and As You Continue to Wait (Poetry, Ekstasis Editions, 2022).

I close my eyes and the darkness awaits,
The abyss behind my eyelids stares back at me.
My eyelids quiver like eager leaves trying to jump from tree limbs,
But they stay closed.

My hands become clammy, my heart begins to race,
The abyss starts to sway,
Swaying like a lonely soul to a sad song.
Perhaps I should question why,
Use my mind to ask it’s purpose,

Instead, I am enamored by the swaying,
Enamored at how the concept of nothing is moving before me.  
I want to know its secrets,
How it functions,
Why it has chosen me,
So I dive nose-first into the pit.

Suddenly, I am swimming in a black sea of memories, 
Memories I have long forgotten,
Or ones I have long pushed out. 

The feeling of regret gradually constricts me with each stroke into the water,
Until I cannot swim any longer.

The water settles, and the silence becomes deafening.
I try to thrash, to break free.
But the only thing moving are the scenes replaying below me.

Below me, I see every mistake and every triumph I have made, 
Below me, I see my first day of kindergarten, 
Below me, I see my last moments in high school.
Below me, I see the truth.  

The truth swallows me, and the urge to swim regurgitates up,
An urge to push through the dark waters, and into the light.
This urge allows my feet to begin to kick,
And my arms start flailing after that,
Within seconds, I am swimming 
Swimming like a turtle's first time in the ocean. 

The fleeting forgotten memories flow past me as I swim vigorously,
The memories my conscious may have forgotten, 
But the memories my soul will never forget. 

And as I reach the shore of the future,
I am grateful for every experience, 
For every person who believed in me,
And even the ones who didn't,
Because my being is forever changed for the better, 
And suddenly, for the first time, my eyes are truly open. 

—

Willow Donaldson is a 20-year-old first-generation college student born in Martinsburg West Virginia, where she spent the first 10 years of her life. In 2014 she moved in with her Aunt and Uncle in Hagerstown Maryland where she now resides and pursues her passion for writing. She will graduate with an associates degree in English at Hagerstown Community College in the spring of 2024 and plans to continue her education at an accredited University for a degree in Journalism.