The island of shattered dreams The ebbs and flows Cold winter winds blow Across the oceanic world No land to see, nor harbors to call The loud silence of doomed souls Black gulls take to air Round and round they fly in evil circumambulations No sound through truculent clouds Of promised rain and … Continue reading Poems Rizwan Saleem
Sadness
By: Kelli J Gavin “When people ask me how I’m doing, I want to say, this sadness is the only clean shirt I have left and my washing machine has been broken for months.” Rudy Francisco I have been reading a lot of small chapbooks and collections of … Continue reading Sadness
Crier
By: Kelli J Gavin The term, she wears her heart on her sleeve is wasted on me. I wear my heart everywhere on my physical person. I am a crier. I always have been. My mother used to retell the story of when I was three and she found me sitting silently … Continue reading Crier
Summer Contest Honorable Mentions
"Days of the Dragonfly" by Feby Joseph, "Summertime" by Rie Sheridan Rose, and "Boardwalk, Estival Solstice" by Gary Glauber. Boardwalk, Estival Solstice Gary Glauber Fragrant silence of lily of the valley’s luster caught in lambent light of dying sunset signals certitude of seasonal change. Summer arrives, all sullen vigor descending, eager to vent shirtless … Continue reading Summer Contest Honorable Mentions
Summer Contest Poetry 3rd Place
Summer’s End; Autumn Prelude Alisdair L R I Hodgson What should be a scent on the breeze is nothing but a bluebottle on the wing; a moment of abstract connection in an otherwise secluded surrounding with that breeze surrounding me, my skin, hairs on end, drawing out the bumps and chasing the dying heat to … Continue reading Summer Contest Poetry 3rd Place
Summer Contest Poetry 2nd Place
South Carolina Apollo By Kelli Allen We know for certain that cobblestones accept heat whether we gallop toward the hut or not. Loving a woman means dying every day, too, and one season begs another to wait just long enough for us to feast ahead of any funeral. When the Chinese man asks where … Continue reading Summer Contest Poetry 2nd Place
Summer Contest Fiction 2nd Place
The Summer Moon By Debjani Mukherjee It is a warm summer evening. Mrinal is busy with her kitchen chores. Her hair is tied up in a untidy bun allowing few forelocks dangling on her round slim face with high cheekbones. Her tall thin body is wrapped with an emerald cotton night gown perfectly complementing her … Continue reading Summer Contest Fiction 2nd Place
Summer Contest Fiction 1st Place
Tree Lovers By Clynthia Burton Graham She loved me once and then once again. It was what I took from her that made me yearn for her, after my departures. What I took always confounded me, but the feeling of her kept me tethered. Inside the roar of waves, under the blistering sun, sitting at the … Continue reading Summer Contest Fiction 1st Place
ALLTHERAGE
BY: Kelli J Gavin FULLOFIT ME IAMFULLOFIT RAGETHATIS IDIDNOTKNOW UNTILHESAID YOUAREFULLOFIT FROMHEADTOTOE FULLOFFEAR FULLOFREGRET FULLOFJEALOUSY FULLOFRAGE FULLOFIT ME NOTPOPULAR NOTSOMETHINGCOOL NOTTHEINCROWD JUSTTHEPOSSESSOR IKEEPITALL ALLTHERAGE IAMFULLOFIT IAMGIVINGITBACK IDONOTWANTIT RAGEISNOTFORME NOTNEEDED DOESNOTHINGFORME MAKESMESICK ADDSLINESTOMYEYES ALLTHATRAGE GIFTEDTOME FORTHEASKING ALLTHATRAGE COULDHAVERUINEDME RIDDINGMYSELFTODAY NOLONGERFULLOFIT Bio- Kelli Gavin lives in Carver, Minnesota with Josh, … Continue reading ALLTHERAGE
The Booth in the Corner in the Back
By: Kelli J Gavin When you sit in the back of restaurant you see more than you would think. I asked the young host for a booth or table in the back. We walked past the bar and past 8 more tables to the perfect booth facing out towards the rest of the tables. With … Continue reading The Booth in the Corner in the Back
Academy of the Heart And Mind 