At the sun’s first blush,
laying on tatami mats,
hands on hands may touch.

A small affection
thick with imagination
raises my rapture.

Words may always lie
as we suffer to discern truth.

In death we share the same heart.


Author Bio:
Catori Sarmiento is an author who has contributed fiction to Nothing. No One. Nowhere. by Virgogrey Press, The Citron Review, Brick Rhetoric, Foliate Oak Magazine, and Crossed Out Magazine. She has also contributed non-fiction to Her Kind and This Boundless World and several academic essays published by Student Pulse. Ms. Sarmiento also has had poetry in numerous publications including serving as a featured author in The Fukushima Poetry Anthology. Professionally, She is an English and Writing Professor in Tokyo, Japan. Her author website is found at http://catorisarmiento.com 

Some of us are made from
half a dozen tangerines
three cups of liquid caffeine and
two reams of foolscap paper -
do not take us for
open mouths open thighs and closed eyes,
 
take us for open letters
that welcome you to peel off
our tangerine skin
in veiny spirals like the ridges at your fingertips,
the acid of our passion
will caress not corrode you
but remember to beware of citrus juice
splashing into your eye
it can make you wince, perhaps even cry;
 
you are welcome to sip softly
our caffeine blood
in a swirling stream of galaxies in bitter decay,
float on it in a boat that sails with our sighs
but remember to neither swig nor gulp
the dreams in it, do not make it
your midnight friend, it will keep you awake
on warm, dreamy afternoons
when you least want it to;
 
you are welcome to smoothen out
our origami bones
in slivers of unfolding sophistication -
calcified monuments at the edge of a flat Earth,
so remember to slow down at their edges
they can inflict paper cuts
and you are not the sky so
the inkpots in our lungs are too full to store
any of your blood when we sit down to write
a history that never was
but forever will be;
 
journey to the centre of our hearts
and you will find it encrusted with
the seeds of the tangerine
the gemstones that are our best friends
and you are welcome to
bury them
and trample on us with haste 
like a fly rushing into a spiders web
bury them
and you will watch a new plant grow-
a flytrap;
 
because Venus too, was one of us. 


Author Bio:
Sukanya Roy is seventeen-year old woman who seems to be able to do almost anything fairly well, but no one specific thing well enough. Poetry serves as emotional and existential catharsis for her, although that is probably not how she would’ve described her first experience of writing, when the couplets and tercets first started flowing at age seven, in her mother tongue, Bengali. It just happened, as some natural instinct. Growing up, she has always found solace in books and art and poetry, was for her the most productive way to make sense of the world around her. She wishes to continue seeking happiness from small things in life, which mostly does not include people. Except children.

and would they
love me more
if I were queen

if I tried not
to be so kind

if I joined their
snake-handling gossip
circle

if I sharpened
my teeth on bones

but I am the person
who has to go home
with me

so none of that.


Author Bio:
Maggie Beck is originally from the west coast. She is a student pursuing her MFA, and hopes to one day be a full-time writer. Right now, she writes hack poems in between term papers. Her poems have been  published on Poet Community.

Who do you use 
when the women are gone 
but your bed is cold 
and you wish that is wasn’t?

What do you do 
to pass the time 
when you’ve given out 
all your cigarettes?

When is it okay to knock
on a locked door 
when you desire a friend
or at least some of their wine? 

Where do you go 
when you run out of money 
and the strippers 
have run out of love?

Why do you laugh 
when God frowns upon you 
and you flip him off 
as you walk away?

We go on a quest 
each night a bouncer greets us at a door 
and we don’t plan
on needing an answer

A lucky few don’t, but most of us do
under the haze of smoke 
and shower of beer 
everything seems alright for a few hours 

There is no such lonesome,
there is no hurt,
and there is no feelings
besides the ones we hate in the morning.

But when the lights turn on 
and you drag yourself into the alley
where do you go? 
what do you do? 


Author Bio:
Walker Thomas is a chain-smoking alcoholic that lives somewhere between your mother's bedroom and your father's wine cellar. 

The truth is
I only barely escaped
a place of fear
on my way here

fear of falling short
fear of never
being good enough
fear of living
in the shadows of
everything I will never
do right
fear of the weight
of the words of my elders
crushing my future
ashes of expectations
prophecies that have a way
of fulfilling themselves
as soon as they are spoken
like poison
airborne
waiting to be inhaled
into the unprotected heart
so hungry for affirmation
so hungry to believe
and believing so willingly
what I am told:
that I am selfish
that I am irresponsible
that everything I touch
will fall apart
and everything did
fall apart and became
that crushing fear I
have come to use
to define myself
under their critical eyes

and the truth is
a part of me will always
call that place home
and confuse that fear
for comfort
and crave it

but I escaped it, once
I escaped it
and bringing you into this world
is an act of courage
I thought I could never
afford to make
and loving you makes me brave
and loving you makes me
want to reach for
what was once impossible
for my small soul

and I pray that if
I could give you just one thing
it would be this,
an audacity of spirit

and if I ever
indulge in the injustice
of succumbing
to the old voices,
and if I ever let their
tainted echoes touch you
and make you feel less
than all you can be
you, my stab at heroism
you, my brave
please forgive me
please forgive me


Author Bio:
Iris Orpi is the author of an illustrated novel, The Espresso Effect (2010) and two books of compiled poems, Beautiful Fever (2012) and Cognac for the Soul (2012). She also co-founded the book reading series, Lit After Dark, in the Philippines. She is a mathematician and educator by profession, and has also been a community leader and activist. Currently she is a stay-at-home wife and mother to a one-year-old. She finds inspiration in city life, trips to the ocean, food tripping, and art in different media and genres, most especially ballet and impressionist paintings. Her poems and essays have appeared in over a dozen publications in the US, Canada, the UK, and around Asia.

I am drowning in plain sight
on the edge of the shore
in full view of a world
that looks away.
 
Not long ago,
the serene sea awakened,
beckoning me with its promise.
The quivering waves beat out
a siren’s song
of enduring love,
eternal devotion –
all that I longed for and desired.
 
It whispered happiness
to my heavy heart,
It murmured solace
to my solitary soul.
It offered up an abiding vow,
As it drew me on
and lured me under.
I went willingly, not knowing how to swim.
 
Secure and safe
in its watery embrace,
warmed by the light of day
shining down upon
this tranquil expanse,
I floated contentedly along.
Joy gave me courage
to plunge to its sacred depths.
 
There, at the bottom,
bathed in a balmy ocean of light,
I dwelled peacefully and happy,
unmindful
of the coming storm
that too quickly banished
the noontide sun
and drew a long shadow over my life.
 
The sky above darkened;
the water churned
and swelled
and seethed,
dragging me from
my burrow beneath
while I begged
and prayed to stay.

The relentless waves heaved,
and crashed and pitched,
dousing me with a mortal kiss.
The changing seas raged,
casting me out, 
extinguishing the steadfast blaze,
dropping me, broken,
on the cold and rocky shore
 
where I now lie
drowning in plain sight,
in full view of a world
that looks away.
 

Author Bio:
Susan Speranza was born in New York City and grew up on Long Island where she had an interesting and creative childhood. It was during this period that her future stories and writings took root. In order to keep sane through all the craziness of life, she spent her spare time writing in high school, college and later on when married. Anything and everything. The culmination of this effort was a prose poem, The City of Light, which was previously published and has recently been given new life as an ebook. Somewhere in the middle of her life so far, after a great personal upheaval, Speranza went back to school, became a High School Librarian. She fulfilled a childhood dream of living in the country when she finally escaped suburbia and moved to Vermont, where she now lives, works and writes. 

​It is sharp in my hand,
The piece of skull my ax had so carefully carved from her head,
The pinkie finger he lent my steak knife reflected the dim light of the fireplace. 
The smooth rib bones they had so had so graciously surrendered to my cleaver were joined together with silken red ribbon. 
Beautiful blond garland was the finishing touch-
So glorious to open the box from the attic! Oh how I love to decorate the tree!


Author Bio:
Lisa De Young lives in a small town in Northwest Indiana with her husband and three daughters where she manages a dental office. Her love of writing fiction and poetry began when she was a child continues to be an inspiring passion that moves her daily. She has short stories published in The Bleeding Lion and Theme of Absence and poetry forthcoming in Ricochet Review.

I have been living
someone else’s life too long.
Take a breath. Slow down.
 

Author Bio:
CLS Ferguson, PhD is a communication professor at Mt. San Antonio College and California State University, Northridge and a Mary Kay Sales Director. She paints, sings, acts, models, produces independent films, and has published many academic articles and two academic books. Her portrayal of The Black Rose in Silence, which she also co-wrote and produced, earned her a best actress award and a best film award at the LA Neo Noir Festival. Her music video, Secrets & Lies is currently earning accolades on the indie film circuit. CLS has published poetry in Shangri-La Shack, Still Points Quarterly, PQLeer, and other places. Her poetry collection, God Bless Paul is out on Rosedog Books. She has a dog, Sadie, with her husband, Rich Ferguson. http://clsferguson.wix.com/clsferguson 

I sit by
her side guiding her
through life

Through the process
of death

Only years later
realizing she was guiding
me from her pillow

Teaching me with
soft words on eternity.

Author Bio:
Russ Cope has been a janitor, but now he tends bar and writes poetry.

Always been a pistol.
Loaded.
So don’t you move.
Turns out it’s all about the dollars.
When I’m mad, you’ll know.
You will hear me,
and then you won’t.
Babe, are you feeling alright?
Trying to play catch up
you know how it ends.
Turn it into billions:
We. Go. Yeah.
 
Always been a pistol.
Cocked.
Like I knew what was coming next.
Turns out, it’s random chance.
I’m mad or I’m done
or I’m lying.
The boom starting it
with a fire in the background.
 
But I am a pistol
you better be careful.
I can be hard.
I can be cold.
But you do it to me.
A sick feeling to hurt the ones I want the most.
To make them pay; revenge for a lack of love.
 
 
Author Bio:
Holly Nichole Smith is an English student at the University of North Georgia and is treasurer of Sigma Tau Delta. She plans to continue her education in Literature and Gender Studies and one day be a professor of English. Her work has been featured in The Chestatee Review and S/tick. She has learned to let whatever comes into her head come out on paper. She loves drawing inspiration from the things people around her say and do. If someone says something that sticks it will probably lead to her creating a poem out of it. She writes down whatever makes her happy and makes her feel alive and hopes that it will have the same effect on others.