Storm Brewing by Sara Martens
Sara Martens
Storm Brewing
He could not look away from her eyes. They were kaleidoscope eyes, too complicated a hue to be named, encompassing every shade of blue with just a touch of gray; a storm now darkened those tumultuous depths and rain fell. Guilt ripped through him and rain wet his face, the tempest in those eyes, striking him deeper than any words. No longer could he deny the unspoken word reflected in her eyes: Goodbye.
Alone in the Night by Bonita Levy
Bonita Levy
Alone in the Night
Walking through the night,
couldn’t see a thing in sight,
my mind started to play games,
And I realized things would never be the same.
Lost in complete despair,
for I thought you would never appear,
I realized then I was not alone,
for I saw you sitting on your throne,
and now I know I will never be alone.
Fire by Maria Edmonds
Maria Edmonds
Fire
Destructive burning me down
I hold my own hand through the fire
in search of the firebreak that delivers from evil
Instead
I fell in the firebox in cower
Trapped under the fingernails stretched out
from the devil’s hands
Screaming with no sound
Clawing with no nails
Clinching with no teeth
Clinging with no tightly strong emotions
The firewall presents the dead end
Dressed with the illusion of deliverance
Evil sits and taunts
mocks and insults
with the fingerbowl contents > deliverance
I keep falling in cower
Tangles in flames
Sterilized
No tight strong emotionless
Dressed and on display
Suffocated in tangled flames
Clawing through the cower
To believe
Evil dilutes tangled flames to deliverance
Inadequate supply dictating
Pointless hands of mine I hold
Occupied by myself
And I missed the talon
I fell again through tangled flames
I missed the ride to deliverance
Deliver me, Deliver me from evil
Bandaids Fix Everything by Sarah McCullough
Sarah McCullough
Bandaids Fix Everything
Mommy seems sad today. She didn’t make my favorite waffles this morning. She just helped me get a bowl of Froot Loops and she forgot to pack my lunch box for school. She didn’t even blow me a kiss when I got on the bus. I was wishing all day that she would be happy again when I came back, but she was still sad. I gave her a hug and a kiss when she got me off the bus, but she was still sad. She didn’t ask how my day at school went, like she always does. I even helped her make dinner today, but she is still sad now. I am hoping that when Daddy gets back he can help Mommy feel happy again, because I don’t know how, but I know Daddy knows how.
Me and Mommy are just watching TV now. It’s six o’clock, so that means SpongeBob is about to come on. I like SpongeBob the best. I want to cuddle with Mommy, but she is not doing a very good job today. She is staring at her feet.
I hear the door open, so I run to Daddy and tell him hi. He is more happy than Mommy. He picks me up and gives me a big hug and asks me what I did today in school. I tell him, and then I whisper that Mommy is not in a good mood. I ask him if he can cheer her up because I can’t, and I just want to cuddle with her when we watch SpongeBob. He says he will try his hardest. I love Daddy.
I go back to sit on the couch again with Mommy. I love her too, that’s why I want Daddy to help her. I hop up onto the couch with her and I see that she is crying now. I wish she would not cry; she is starting to make me sad now. I ask Mommy what is wrong, but she says that she is okay. I know she is lying to me. She told me before that lying is bad, so I say, “Lying is bad, Mommy.” That makes her cry even harder. I tell her I’m sorry for making her cry and give her a big kiss on the cheek.
Daddy comes into the living room to help. He tells Mommy to stop crying in front of me. Mommy says that she wouldn’t be crying if Daddy didn’t cheat on her. They sound like they are going to fight. That shouldn’t happen. I wanted Daddy to make it better for Mommy. Why would he cheat, cheating is bad. They tell me that if I’m going to cheat when we play Candyland that we are not going to play Candyland anymore.
I don’t like it when Mommy and Daddy yell at each other. Sometimes I can hear them all the way from another room. I really don’t like it when they yell at each other in the same room as me, because it’s scary. Daddy uses the bad words. They are making me want to cry now. They are so loud. Daddy is just making it worse. Mommy can’t stop crying now. If Daddy can’t help Mommy feel happy again, no one can help. I am crying now, because no one can help Mommy feel better.
Mommy tells Daddy to stop fighting because he is making me cry now. Daddy tells Mommy that I wouldn’t be crying if she didn’t start. Mommy tells Daddy about his cheating again. Why did he have to cheat? He told me winning is not that important. He said that nobody likes to play with a cheater. How come he didn’t follow his rule?
Daddy is very angry that I am crying too. He grabs me and tells me to shut up. It hurts my feelings when he says shut up. I tell him that I’m sorry that I’m crying, I just can’t help it. He says that I better stop soon or he is going to be mad. But I thought he was already mad! He walks out into the kitchen, so I crawl into Mommy’s lap and ask her why is he being mean today. She says that he has done a terrible thing, and he is scared that he can’t live here anymore. Why would Daddy leave? They never kicked me out when I cheated at Candyland. Maybe Daddy cheated on a test, that’s the worst kind of cheating.
Daddy comes back into the living room and he is holding something. I think it is a gun. I learned about them from the policemen at school. I didn’t know Daddy was a policeman. I thought he worked in an office with a computer. Mommy tells Daddy to put the gun down. I am right, it’s a gun. Daddy points the gun at me and Mommy now. That’s not nice, the police are supposed to point guns at the bad guys. Me and Mommy are good guys. Mommy is begging for Daddy to put the gun down. I want him to do that too. Daddy says that he loves Caroline. Who is that? Mommy is still begging and then Daddy makes a loud bang with the policeman gun. Mommy is bleeding now. I have to go get her a bandaid.
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow by Audi Columbo
Audi Columbo
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow
Yesterday…
The past is the past for a reason.
Some cannot let it go
even though that’s where it’s supposed to stay.
I cannot change what happened.
No matter how much I try,
no matter how much I think about it,
no matter how much I cry.
It’s unchangeable, and I must move on to tomorrow.
Today…
Don’t contemplate, or remember the past.
Don’t allow it to make all your troubles a burden.
Today is a new dawn, a new day.
Open your eyes to see the new gift in front of you,
allowing it to make a new moment to learn from,
forgiving yourself for what you have done.
Live in the now, for tomorrow.
Tomorrow…
I look forward to tomorrow for it’s a new day.
Moving on, and picking up the broken pieces,
knowing it’ll all be okay.
When you feel a pain
know that someone else is feeling a bigger one.
Don’t let the history interfere
for tomorrow is a new day.
A Reel Life Story by George Owens
George Owens
A Reel Life Story
Living life at frame rates of 24 frames per second
You’re everything to the audience
But fading fast to those who really know you
Your debut seemed forced yet you were extraordinary
The celluloid capturing you as you really are
You seem so different caught from this aspect ratio
The camera angle casts a cold blue shadow across
your pretty unblemished face
Your next emotion depends on their latest film review of
Fall From Grace
“She’s brilliant!” they wrote, “So exquisite!” was added
Now you’re happy and you smile again, no longer saddened
“She’s lost her edge,” wrote he, “She’s too over the top,” said she
Now you’re sad and depressed and refuse to
rehearse the next scene
You’ve become the role, you live the part
You memorize the lines but forget to smile at your co-star
I wish for time to reverse, the cameras to rewind
It’s time to cap the lens, torch the props
and send the extras home
Drive the location crew back to the studio
Wash your makeup off; give the black dress back to Wardrobe
Leave the script on the table; tell Casting you’re through
Your stand-in’s waiting, it’s her big debut
She’s shining; it’s her shot at the lead
Hand it to the director, she looks a lot like you do
Kubrick couldn’t have done it cleaner
Hitch would’ve been a jealous man
He’d want more than his cameo; he’d be your number one fan
The credits roll; the end song’s almost through
Your name flashes big and bright then
quickly fades to blue
Things will be written; you’ll read them
again and again, through and through
Sad… You’ll base the rest of your life on that very last review
Shadow by Sarah McCullough
Sarah McCullough
Shadow
Maybe it’s waiting for me,
on the second star to the right.
I’ll fly there to find it,
faith, trust, pixie dust,
through the night sky, I’ll fly.
To Neverland.
Time is in the stomach of the crocodile,
tick, tick, tick, tick;
slowly creeping up from behind.
I can’t let it catch me, eat me alive.
I have to keep trying, flying.
To Neverland.
We played a game of Hook and Smee,
you gave commands and I aimed to please.
You commandeered my heart like a pirate,
but I fought like an Indian to steal it back.
No longer your captive.
In Neverland.
I found the Lost Boys,
playing in the trees.
They were so much fun,
so happy and free.
They took me on a tour.
Of Neverland.
It was in Mermaid Lagoon where I first saw him.
he was the center of attention,
the mermaids loved him.
They hated me when they saw the gleam in my eye.
They splashed, taunted.
He was just a shadow.
I followed it to Skull Rock,
where the waters were rough
and the tide rose fast.
I lost it in the effort to swim free,
lost it to save myself.
Lost his shadow.
I wandered and wondered,
where could he have gone,
this mysterious shadow boy?
I needed to find him,
needed to meet him.
Not just his shadow.
I came across Hangman’s Tree.
The Lost Boys let me inside.
Down the roots we went until,
we landed in the room
where, at last, I saw the boy,
attached to the shadow.
The Scale by Rebecca Perkins
Rebecca Perkins
The Scale
The silence of your presence and the stillness of calm whisper to your dreams, asking of your presence in another vapid day. Clenched fists rub sleep’s remnants from your eyes while you stagger from the safety of warmth and heavy coverings. You recoil at the cold bathroom tile that touches your skin and make your way to the being of what will determine—worthless or worthy. Eyes averted from the mirror, your shaking hands grip the smoothness of the sink’s outer realm. Exhale, and step slowly into the judging of your essence. The numbers flicker back and forth, inching up and down, up, down, then finally down. You tremble, then finally open your eyes and stare at the garish red numbers displaying your fate – will you eat today or not? Despite its decline from yesterday, it is not enough. Your heart sinks, tears slip from tearing eyes, and you know deep down that it will never be.
9-11-Jersey by Audra Haddock-Martenot
