Filled Hearts by Andromeda Kosova
Some hearts are filled with rain
Beautiful in their darkness
And some with a light
Unmatched by even the Sun
And some are hail storms
Waiting to be loved
My heart is filled with you
Filled Hearts
All of Me
All of Me by Sarah Dillard
Never did I think
I’d give all of myself
to someone
just to get me
back
ten-fold and whole.
Vedran Tomsic
In True Love for a Brief Moment
Flash Fiction by Vedran Tomsic
I picked you up on a summer bluebird afternoon. We decided to leave it all behind for a day and indulge in whatever.
You see other guys; I live other lives, neither of us minds. Both our hearts, guts and souls were once ripped apart and torn, that’s what makes us strong. We already know our dirty secrets from way before, missing open intimacy, not the score.
On Raphael
Poetry by Vedran Tomsic
Default set to childlike wonder
transcending age and time
globes of silent thunder
lowly and sublime.
Consuming in parallax
the madness that is world
shifted perspective syntax
from baked to raw to served.
Two things we truly own
man’s angel wings of soul
trapped in glass domes
where the wonder child can grow,
forever.
Meet Vedran
Finding Fault
By Tiffany Chaney
A leaf hastening
to nourish detritus—
I settled
into your arms
and thought:
we grew better roots together,
or, at least, preserved the seeds
in time for a bitter winter.
Yet maybe I only love
that peaceful place in you,
the silent, steady eye
that sometimes reveals
freight train gale and hail
although you reject the notion
they exist in you.
Yet you spit dirt in the eye,
send me into a typhoon
spinning out,
silk-stunned,
from my carefully-crafted cocoon.
I am the tempestuous one,
while the blood boils
into your tense hands
and quicksand lips.
A flood unleashes—
down
pour
earth
quake
mud
slide
cataclysmic
panic attack
It's my fault
line, and we run the same ones,
every time. Tectonic, we shift,
displace overburden, crack tenuous roots,
the impeding fracture of fault creep;
deeply felled heart bled, for daring
wear it on a sleeve.
That's nature.
Meet Tiffany
Poetry by Mairi Maclean
Just by Being There
Poetry by Mairi Maclean
I wake you in tears just like heavy rain.
There is nothing you can do for me,
But you do it anyway, so graciously.
Despite the ache growing incessant.
And I know you would take this all upon yourself,
But you just being there is beautiful for my health.
And that is a gift I’ll never be able to repay.
I look at you with pure devotion,
And our love spirals into further motions.
With your being, jokes and cute little flirts.
I have never been so thankful to have met someone like you,
You are my dream and future in all that you do.
Meet Mairi
Pastel Dress
Pastel Dress by Aysha Nasrin
“Thank you.” He greeted the waitress and left the place.
His cell phone rang. “Shhhh.” Someone from the back of the book rack shushed him.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “Hey! Call you later.” He hung up the phone abruptly. “Do you have another copy of this?”
“Excuse me!”
She waved back at him. “Me? No, you’re mistaken. I don’t work here.” That the most stunning girl in the world thought of him as ‘A guy who works in a weird bookstore’ embarrassed him.
She blushed and said. “Well I know.”
“You know?” Aiden beamed.
She nodded and flushed again.
“Man!” Aiden murmured. She is blushing for you, he thought to himself.
When four eyes met, love was born.
At last, the gunman pointed the gun at Aiden as he was the last one standing and he panicked before he even moved.
AIDEN WAS SHOT
iPhone’s ringtone screeched.
8 AM
He put on his tees and tracks to get his breakfast.
It shook Aiden. “Usual? Sorry, I’m new here. Can you repeat your order, please?” she asked.
Meet Aysha
Poetry by Jason Bayliss
Walk the Paths Well Trodden by the Brave
Poetry by Jason Bayliss
Live boldly my son, embrace your fears and let them drive you on,
Be master of your hurts not slave,
Value the story in your scars, pity those that have none.
Let them fall on barren ground knowing their waters bring life,
Their salt does not cleanse the lips of the meek
In the same way as those that shoulder their strife.
Rather than close it in fear of all that would break it,
In love be fierce but never blind,
Love true and honest so that none can mistake it.
Recount all the steps that have led you hence,
Insist that the reaper tarry a while,
Enjoy a few moments at his expense.
Fix him with a gaze both firm and steady,
Acknowledge that he has, “Other tasks,”
And calmly say, “I’m ready.”
Meet Jason
Hold On. Let Go.
Poetry by Liz Baronofsky
It’s hard to explain the part of your journey
You have to face alone
I’ve been dangling on a thread
For a good portion of my life
Hooked by fear
Teetering between holding on
And letting go
Of most things
Of almost everything
I’ve been as close as a step away from giving up
5 steps away from moving forward
10 steps away from running
A mountain away from faith
And at times
Inches away from the edge
(Hold on tight the pendulum is shifting).
About the Poet
The Taste of Rainbow
By Hadeel Rashed
You sit by the window sill,
quietly imagining what the rainbow tastes like.
Desperately in need for an answer.
Knowing it may differ from person to person.
I've tasted the rainbow and I'll tell you what it tastes like.
The red tastes sweet like strawberries but looks like blood.
The orange looks like an orange but tastes like a punch of pungent.
The yellow tastes sour like the sun.
Green has as astringent taste, looks like a lot of fun!
The blue is salty just like the calm sea
Purple tastes like flowers and smells just like me!
And the pink, has a flavour of soft marshmallows,
like pastel balloons floating in the sky.
Free.
About the Poet
Cozy Stars
Poetry by Andrew Person
The couch needs air,
I know a magic trick.
Past the overpass,
at the edge of the winding barracuda’s neck.
A delta of delight, the ingredients for the perfect night,
stars to warm our eyes, the universe is comfier.
