By: Leslie Bloom My children must always bring something with them when we leave the house. Seriously why can’t leaving home ever be easy? No, instead it is like a freak show with my five-year-olds. It never goes smoothly. Someone always…

By: Kimberly Potter Kendrick Alone in the darkness of my mind Empty, numb, I’ve run out of tears It’s happened so many times Walk away from my child, they say Issues or not, his actions generate consequences for you I…

By: Adam Levon Brown Dumbbells of anger assault my unfed stomach while I strive for another repetition in pages of tears. I rip them clear from books of love and paint myself a picture of guilt, hidden safely behind the bed…

By: Adam Levon Brown I wear scarves like sleeves because I could not, would not feel my emotional headlock of grief. My teeth are broken and missing because I refused to acknowledge that I, too, feel pain. My back is damaged…

By: Kimberly Potter Kendrick I live in my mind, a world nobody sees Some days are filled with sunshine, flowers, and green fields of corn Other days the cloud overhead dark and thick The ocean roars so loudly I cannot…

By: Murari Sharma He was shivering and alone, trekking on a trail in the Annapurna Range of the Himalayas. An unseasonable snowstorm caught him near Kangla Pass and dumped more than two feet snow in a couple of hours. He…

By: Joseph S. Pete Dear father who ostensibly never loved me, you valued your vast accumulation of neckties over me, your slighted son. You swaddled yourself in silks and solid colors, Jerry Garcia ties, World Wildlife Foundation benefit ties, bold ties,…

By: Kelly Miller Defending it Altering it Curing it Our Father uses his artwork to save the diurnal He uses his artwork to save the nocturnal Sprinkling his sparkling liquid generously over all the land A second pure gamble A…

By: Robert Bermudez I stand and watch the sunset, Russet, then orange fading to pink, The cloud’s gilded edges reflecting, Like God saying good night. Slowly it dawns as it always does, With the inevitable ache of mythic echoes, The end…

By: Aruna Subramanian Nandhini was gazing at the glistening dewdrops on the grasses while waiting for her friend Sheela at the entrance of their college building. Nandhini and Sheela have completed their last semester exams and will be proud engineering graduates…