By Destiny Hankerson Aretha walked down the shady pathway, right next to the park. As her Black hair blew in the wind, she smiled, feeling the sun rays against her face. It was a brand new morning, and Aretha felt blessed to experience it. Today, she was heading to the audition for her part in … Continue reading Escaping the Shell
Gathering Embers
By Langutani n'wa Vahlengwe I collect pieces left behind, in eerie walls where shadows alignA dim glow guides me through the darkI collect debris of shattered dreams, what’s been lostIlluminate the faint fallacies that haunt us stillIn far-off lands, where frozen hearts and minds clutch tightThe weight of war and legacy of painI gather and … Continue reading Gathering Embers
Afternoon Thoughts in Katoomba
By Rizwan Sahib Bodies flatline on the heat wave,and that’s the good. The bad: after the argument, I flung my broad-brimmed hat into the back seat,and left it there. Now I feel like I’ve been whacked on the head by a cricket bat. Someone says to sit in the shade. If only we could trade … Continue reading Afternoon Thoughts in Katoomba
Heritage
By Huma Farid My lineage is a black hole, adrift from the reality of my present. I stand alone, an alien amongst those who have casually, thoroughly laid claim to a land that could not be claimed. I wonder: what must it feel like for your ancestors’ memories to shape your history? What must it … Continue reading Heritage
Blue Light
By Margaret Sattler The bedroom was dim. Hazy light filtered through a crack in the plastic blinds, forming a line on his face. What time is it? His ears were ringing. Groggily, he felt for his phone on the bedside table—a strange weight on his chest. The phone wasn’t there. That woke him. He looked … Continue reading Blue Light
Dora Marr
By Antonia Hildebrand Women are suffering machines, Picasso said.And then he did everything he could to make it true.Poor Dora loved him.She was an artist herself,but he immortalized her as The Weeping Woman,without ever admitting, he was the onewho made her weep.Dark haired, beautiful, gifted and intense,she fell for him.Her photography was innovative and radical.So … Continue reading Dora Marr
Reflections on a day with my mother
By Grace Fisher Dance I pick through my day with youAdding up every moment spent apartIn the bathroom, on my phone, or at the barEach second feels like something I have lost Then, I draw out every moment when I was impatient, or upset, or didn’t encourage you to buy an ugly beach bagThis, too, … Continue reading Reflections on a day with my mother
Period.
By Ginger Keller Gannaway Viv watched the large wall clock’s red second hand make its way toward twelve while she said one more Hail Mary before the lunch bell clanged. She slid her unused loose leaf papers into a folder and placed the morning’s textbooks in the metal cavern beneath her wooden desk. She straightened … Continue reading Period.
Reading at the Parlor
By Ken Gosse They decided the Reaper was truly a keeper,his poetry earning their membership’s yearning,a group which would meet once their days were completeyet before their last showing, while tears were still flowing.The prep nearly finished, with hopes undiminishedthat they’d read again to a group with a yenfor their poetry’s call which would clearly … Continue reading Reading at the Parlor
Nomenclature
By Richard Weaver Blue mountains rising, century after centuryawakening to fall again. To rise anew, yearning for a hand like rain waking from sleep, after dreaming in green water blackening beneath cypresses. A drowned moon afloat in its troubles. And hills of brazen angels. Blue mountains reigning. His first published poem appeared in Poetry Magazine … Continue reading Nomenclature
Academy of the Heart And Mind 