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Sunset Shimmer
Poem by Lyndsie L. Conklin Skylights, dressed in orange,reach for her twilight lover.His eyes reflect the small joyof her cheek, the smallest epicof feeling; a tragedy. They dance–the pink gray cloudsbecome the only flowing evidenceof their rehearsed waltz. Her dress flows across the skyand burns ever brighteras their dance climaxes. His duskcoattails mix with her…
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Was It Worth It?
Poem by Varrick Kwang Was it worth it: Five years of hard trainingFive hours per sessionWith all the sweat dropped per lessonGetting stronger is the reason. Two years of my life,Fighting under the hot sun in a burning uniform.All for the pay of peanuts The bank is brokenThe Wallet has holes in itAnd for what?Just…
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MAYBE THIS WILL BE BETTER THAN THE LAST
Poem by Paris LeClaire I said, in vain, of course, butAlready I had mispelled the titleAnd the word “misspelled” and allI can think to write is the quietWord “ephemeral.” There is no greater loss than thatOf the language through which weBreathe, except, perhaps, for the dirt stainCreeping up on the clean white of mySandals. Perhaps.…
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MY FIRST POEM
Poem by Paris LeClaire I am lying sideways on a momentI will feel, feel, feel until the dark slug slidingBetween my trachea and my esophagusIsn’t a slug but a waterCreature—or maybe some otherScaled, amphibious thing. Maybe.I’m not sure where I’ve seen it (I know I have):Not everything feels like something else.
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Fluffy Affections
Poem by Varrick Kwang Fluffy Boy Cute fluffy boyPlaying with yarn of a toyAs your clean white hair rustle with the windAs you bear brown little markings look like a marshmallow. Cute Fluffy boyHow carefree must you beTo sleep in the middle of the corridor where the humans walk.To loaf with such easeTo sploot with…
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Pockets
By John Oberholzer Women’s History Month Prose Winner What’s in your pockets right now? Have a feel, pat them down. Somewhere in the world, not far from you; a man is walking down the street. He’s on his way to meet a girl he found on tinder last week. There’s a wallet in his pocket.…
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To Madam Naidu
By Shamik Banerjee Women’s History Month Poetry Winner From archives of Indian poetry,Your Palanquin, sweet accent to me bore,of strong-led womanhood, Your verse taught me,of such august life I knew not before.Valorous daughter of my motherland,Your enthronement, had all diverseness eased,Your governance- the first feminine stand,had women from their impoundment released.Whether the Dandi March or…
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To Kill A Prince
The wind blew hot air into town, making it stifling in Layla’s hiding place, makingit hard to breath (the scarf covering her mouth didn’t help). It protected her face against surprise sand storms, but did nothing to help her breathing. Layla had taken her hiding place as soon as the last sliver of sun dipped…
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Confronting the Imposter
/The exaggerated esteem in which my life’s work is held makes me very ill at ease. I feel compelled to think of myself as an involuntary swindler.Albert Einstein When we find ourselves staring at the face of success – success we’ve worked towards with diligence and perseverance, and perhaps, faith in divine predetermination – we…
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SoulHates
In Central Park stands the oldest tree in the world, but you wouldn’t know just by looking at it. There is nothing remarkable about it. In fact, aside from the set of carven initials on the side, it would look exactly like the others. That, and the stupid tree refuses to die. Rachel had tried…