sKiN by, Melissa R. Mendelson Are you hungry? Are you thirsty? Are you cold? Are you warm? Are you awake? Are you aware? These questions ran on a loop. It seemed like with every hour, they greeted me as an old friend would, but no face accompanied these words. I remained alone, locked in solitude. My black arm rested across […]
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LIFE AFTER DEATH (One Day in Pompeii) We walk the stones of Pompeii Where grooves from chariots live And try to fathom that day When Mt. Vesuvius heaved. The mountain belched now and then Whenever Vulcan saw fit To blow his bellows again And clean his forges of grit. Some smoke and ashes the norm. The […]
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NEVER TO WANDER Hell smoke has gone to rest And gradually I condense Like caged cloud in a fist of steel Bubbling in a helpless circumference The rope to winch is strained to shreds But in my sleeping wings Am sure to find Healing capsules for my nasopharyngitis Bang I cry Please heed the call Kindly enclose me in Else […]
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Of Meringues and Mindsets My mother used to make lemon pies when somebody died. “Because my pies were beautiful, all fluffy and white,” she said as if it all made perfect sense. And I wondered at her logic. Was it as flawed as I initially believed? Maybe the soft white topping to the bitter yellow center […]
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Carousel of Marriage Harry and Grace had a carousel of marriage while it lasted. There were arguments galore and children by the score or so the neighbors thought as they counted kids running across their lawns causing divots to fly and dogs to bark, a canine tabernacle choir. Fireworks on the Fourth were peaceful in comparison. The kids would light their crackers in the yard while Harry and […]
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Surf Vibes I was having surf vibes on my surf board. Trying to catch a wave. The pristine, ultra white beaches against the sea was enough to take my breath away.
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WATER DROP In icy cold of empty space, It hitched a ride on comet’s face, Accelerating toward a star Of recent birth, from distance far. As sun of color yellow grew In field of vision, met with two Enormous spheres of frigid gas That slightly altered comet’s path. Whereas before would swing around The virgin star, […]
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Plain Girl Pretty Rose was a plain girl from a small town. She sang in the choir, never missed Bible study, left for the big city after high school. She worked nights in a shanty diner next to a bar where working men gathered. Depending on how much the men had to drink Rose looked appealing but she ignored […]
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Everybody Don’t Have Somebody The man in the ER, sutured and bandaged, told the nurse there wasn’t anyone she could call to give him a lift home. He said he’d take a bus once he had a chance to check his wallet and see if he had any money. He didn’t have much to begin with, he said, and the […]
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Ostracan Heroes “the sky is still flushed in the face, the rains will not come soon” said the sweet-toothed seer who swam in sorrow and reeked of sins beyond the blood of the lamb so we sprinkled our sweats prodigally on our cotton-mouthed field whose crops waved naively to a flight of famished birds hovering, chirping and flapping their wings, […]
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