At times… When the jar gets too full Too much to bear And I’m close to tears I have to get in the water To empty it Lest I break From the weight Of my emotions *** The roar of the waves calls to me I step further into the surf It gives me a ...

The last few moments of darkness Before the dawn rips through the night A calmness as the world starts to wake And my heart fills with light ‘Another chance’ my soul screams out I tell myself I can do it this time To seize the day even for a moment To give the day reason ...

Snowflakes big as coins soggy, sullen, sorrowful Tulips will soon bloom.

Content Warning: contains references to assault, drug use, death of a parent, and child abuse. When we spotted her, she sat in the corner. A tiny child holding a doll, she picked its poofed hair with the ferocity of potential future trichotillomania. Her skin’s patches of white and darker tan contrasted with the doll’s color ...

Mother opened her book To teach from the scripture About men with hardened hearts Who speak volumes but never listen It ended in tragedy She wanted us to see That her way was His way There was no use arguing   When I was old enough I tossed mother’s religion to the side When I ...

I rush home from school. This may be the night. This is our chance to be a normal family. All the insanity waits beyond the wooden dining room table. Nothing else carries the weight of the dinner ritual. If done correctly, it eases my family into the illusion of a peaceful evening; if not, it ...

My heartbeat quickens.  The need to do anything.  A sickening feeling within my heart.   I feel I must move.  My fingers, my legs, something. Before I lose myself and fall apart.    It squeezes and tightens its grip As if I were a rag drenched in water Yet, no matter how many droplets free ...

I’ve always had an issue with comparing myself to other people. I think it comes from the fact that I always wanted to either be at the same level as my siblings or better than them. I wanted to be talented like them. One would think that two decades later I would realize that people ...

Mental migration War of attrition Rendered reluctant Away from my home Albeit accomplished Meaning escapes me Temptation taunting Leaving this place Cowardice climate Must not remain Lost luminescence Captured by dark Bluntly besieged  Trapped to remind Dueling decorum  Brought me to here Success insufficient Runaway train Generate glimpses Falsehood of promise Propagating posture Not long ...