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Attar of Petals
by Sharon Israel Artist: Jasper Francis Cropsey What was in his pockets?Among unknown receipts,the thing he left for me:the rose he tore for me,the fragrance, the attarof petals. Pears and peaches tumble downand spill across the table.The moon is dark. I will love him until feralcats cross the seas from Romeand overtake Wall Street,and walk…
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Melodies
by Fania Bergstein Artist: Lois Mailou Jones You planted melodies in me, my mother and my father,Melodies, forgotten hymns.Seeds, seeds my heart carried –Now they rise and grow.Now they sprout offshoots in my blood,Their roots intertwine in my arteries,Your melodies my father, your songs my mother,Awaken and reverberate in my pulse.Here I listen to my…
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Lovesick Musings
by Joshua Byrne Artist: Lucia Tsujiguchi GoodbyeAmidst whispered pines,Love’s flame fades to twilight’s kiss,Farewell’s gentle sigh. Moonlite KissesSurrendering stars,dance upon the ocean’s edge,time’s waves in our hands. Natures TruthFeathers wear the wind,Whispers in a silent wood,Trees speak what they should. Joshua Byrne My name is Joshua Byrne, I am an 18 year old student.
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Holding Me, Holding You
Rebecca Cheek (she/her/hers) is a transracial International Korean American adoptee living in South Carolina. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemistry from the University of Alabama in Huntsville with a background in manufacturing of drug delivery systems and quality assurance management in chemical manufacturing
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Three Poems
David Murphy won the Seaton Fellowship for Creative Writing in 2006. He served as the editor-in-chief of Touchstone, a literary magazine published by Kansas State University. He has published most recently in The Fourth River, Papyrus, and Saint Somewhere. He lives and writes outside in a pueblo outside of Tepic, Mexico.
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Two Poems
by Alshaad Kara The Dawn’s Bellow Eavesdropping into that mansion in smut,Your piano is screeching the dark emotions.My emptied heart is stuck in an urn,Is my liberty in captivity?Eavesdropping close to my heart,Cracks are appearing on the ceiling!Water is flooding through the decanter!The violin is quivering by this spatter.Submit those sunrises to those sunshine,My heartbreak…
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Andy Betz has tutored and taught in excess of 40 years. He lives in 1974, and has been married for 30 years. His works are found everywhere a search engine operates (including Dream Noir).
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Cold Room
by Jide Badmus It’s a rainy morning.The earth breathescold on its citizens.I reach for a blanket offlesh that is unavailable. The room is filledwith pieces of you—strands of hair,vestige of scent,mirage of smile &a ghost of your voice.There is a depressionon your side of the bed—but these walls struggleto reconstruct memories.The mirror claims not torecall…
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Whiskey Jail
by Joseph Rogers Through these wooden bars I see a scene enacted without me: joy painted across your face; an understudy in my rightful place. This vinyl booth becomes my jail, a prison of whiskey with shots for bail, while red searchlights illuminate the empty glasses that spell my fate. We spoke until the sun…
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Persephone
by Rae Rozman Last night, I dreamt of uson a warm fall eveningsitting beside a campfireTom Petty crooningWildflowersfrom unseen speakerspassing a bottle of bourbonback and forth. You wore your winter coat(the lavender one)despite the heat. I burned.Took off pieces of my clothingand threw themone by oneinto the firethe flames turning aubergine and amber. Naked, I…