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9:37 AM

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

by Lexi Balunas, 2025

 

 

Today I woke up and thought
You haven’t made yourself your
Favorite breakfast
In a long time
Wow, what a refreshing thought
My brain trying to quiet
What is its current norm
Fold your clothes
You are lazy
Do your dishes
Clean your house
You are not good enough
You waste your days
See-
Pitter patter
Blonde hair bobbing
“Mommy put on your special earrings,
They make you look
So beautiful”
I take the earrings
And put them on
Armor I haven’t been strong enough
To pull out of my closet
I cook my eggs
Careful not to burn them
Sitting at my table
Covered in unfolded laundry-
No, clean clothes-
Covered in clean clothes
And I eat my favorite breakfast
A grilled cheese egg sandwich
In the earrings I got married in
While my heart beats
Outside of my body
Across from me
With a smile
Hope

The Invisible Girl

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

by Desiree Comito, 2025

Invisible Girl, Thats Me

           I’m sitting in the dark all alone, where am I ? Hello, is anyone out there  ? I’m screaming out loud, but yet you can’t hear me. I just touched your hand but you cant feel me. I try to scream louder or awake from a dream. But my throat is really sore and I just lost my voice.

            I try to touch you one more time. This time you felt it but you don’t see anyone. You just scratched your head because you’re not going crazy. You just felt someone but they’re not there. What is going on, why cant you see me?

            Did l ever say something to you that magically made me become invisible ? I just dont get it, oh wait I forgot, you can’t hear me. As I think out loud at what I could of done, the sadder I become. I’m about to get sick and my alarm goes off, wake up wake up it says. Whew, it was only a dream  or was it? Because l awoke in a closet, so that was the darkness I was in.

       So as I close up this dream or reality, I will never know if you really heard or felt me. So until you tell me you did. I will always be

THE INVISIBLE GIRL

Senior Discount

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

by Kelly Powell, 2025

Senior Discount

A double edged mighty sword

of reality heads your way

at the movie theater

the pharmacy, the diner

inhabiting the spaces between us

the great divides

and the super conductors of chi energy

and Theraflu on sale in aisle 7

what is it that connects us

that unseen force that bonds

and divides

like gorilla glue

or melted marshmallows

dropped fireside on your sneaker

on a hot summer night

in what could’ve been the paradise

of our childhoods

fifty years ago to a day

and no, not the same as a silver spoon

or miles of grass

or miles in someone else’s shoes

letting the light in

through the screen door

with the dog and the cat

at different times during the day

but the previews are over

the movie starts and ends, a sleeper

in what seems like forever

but just a blink really

no popcorn, a first in years

the older crowd heads home

to an early dinner

“My favorite color is Yellow!”

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

Anonymous, 2025

“My favorite color is Yellow!”

“Yellow is the color of the sun,

It shines so bright and feels like fun.

It’s in my crayon, so bold and bright,

So much happiness in my sight!”

 

What an odd color to be the favorite of a child,

But I couldn’t help but have smiled.

For in her hands, that yellow hue,

Turned all her dreams anew.

 

A simple shade, yet so pure and true,

She had a world of joy in yellow’s view.

In her excitement, I could see

How bright the world can be,

 

By what this child has yearned,

Only then I have truly learned

Yellow is joy without a sound,

a secret reason to smile that we’ve all somehow found.

 

 

Dead of Night

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

by TheHen, 2025

The darkening night,

Sending chills down my spine,

Where is the light?

Along this endless line?

 

Monsters and hollows,

Awaiting around the corner,

Every step could be,

A mistake of never being free.

Creeping,

Weeping,

I cry and walk alone,

In the abyssal air,

In the dead of night.

 

Oh, I’m so afraid,

My mind full of fear,

I hope I survive,

Through the dead of night.

Ominous screaming,

That rips through the setting sky,

 

Who is there?

In the forest of night?

 

The wind howling,

The waves crashing,

The trees falling,

This nightmare,

Forever and ever,

In the dead of night.

 

The atmosphere,

As cold as space,

Though somehow,

I’m still alive in this race.

 

Blinded by the storms,

I see nothing,

Yet everything is in front of me,

But there is no light to guide me.

The stars,

That were there,

Have faded away from the skies above,

Have been there, but nowhere,

Now there is none to follow.

 

The dead of night,

Shadows everywhere,

Death right there,

It may be surging now,

But it will come to an end,

With a message to send.

 

There is silence,

After years of pain,

Of darkness and rain.

The cyclone’s still raging,

But I’ve gone through,

Pushed the waters,

Behind me.

I’m still not free,

With the dead of night,

Right at my heels,

I keep going,

Keep running,

Before I get swallowed,

By the haunting hollows.

 

The dead of night,

Screaming or silent,

Taunting or calming,

It’s how you see,

The night’s key,

To being free,

From the dead of night.

Inner Child

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

by Makayla Harder, 2025

In shadows deep where whispers lie,
A child within begins to cry.
Her tears are soft, but full of pain,
Like gentle drops in autumn rain.

Her tiny hands, they reach and seek,
For love that feels so far, so weak.
A hollow ache inside her chest,
A silent wound that never rests.

She calls for help, but none will hear,
The cries that linger, raw with fear.
A broken heart, a shattered dream,
She floats alone, a silent scream.

Oh, little one, with eyes so wide,
Whose innocence the world denied,
Please know your tears are not in vain—
You’ll find your voice beyond the pain.

The storm will pass, the sun will rise,
And healing hands will dry your eyes.
The world may hurt, but you are strong,
A child within who’ll carry on.

The Quiet Love

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

by Anonymous, 2025

Love tiptoes in,

not with thunder, but a hush

a glance held too long,

a breath caught in a rush

 

It speaks in coffee spoons

and tangled bedsheets,

in Sunday silence,

in heartbeats

 

It stumbles sometimes,

awkward, unsure

but lingers like sunlight

on a hardwood floor.

 

It isn’t always fireworks

it’s often just staying.

choosing eachother

without even saying.

The Soul of The Sea

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

by Anonymous, 2025

The ocean sighs beneath the moon,

its breath a lullaby, soft and soon.

a whisper rolling on the sand,

reaching out with salted hand.

 

It keeps old secrets in its chest,

and rocks the wrecked and lost to rest.

It laughs in storms, it weeps in rain,

a soul of joy, a heart of pain.

 

Not wild, not tame, just ever true,

a mirror deep of me and you.

Peeling Grapes

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

Anonymous, 2025

Peeling Grapes

In my familiar kitchen, sunlight creeps,

My beautiful mother stands as the microwave beeps.

Paying no mind, her fingers are gentle as whispered grace,

They begin the strenuous task of peeling grapes.

 

No rush in her rhythm, she has no need to race,

Just love for me in this period of time and space.

The fruit beneath, translucent, bare,

Like the silly truths she used to share.

 

She cradles each grape with so much care,

Whilst uncovering each one with a simple tear.

As her practiced hands and patient eyes move,

There’s an urge that I have something to prove.

 

She peels away the bitter skin,

Leaving only the tender inside to give to her kin.

A labor small, unnoticed, sweet,

Leaving me to vow to always keep her on her feet.

 

Each peeled grape is a lullaby,

A mother’s love you can’t outgrow or buy.

Therefore, I will always love and care,

And by that I swear.

Wolf Moon 2025

Published by Online Submission on April 25, 2025

by Anne Kelly-Edmunds, 2025

Wolf Moon 2025

 

An ivory orb floats

on dusky navy blue.

 

Tangled earthbound branches

stretch skyward

screen some of its shine.

January’s moon continues

to rise uninhibited.

Creates a shimmering

silver path across dark water,

lights the land.