“The Glass Doll“ by Sophia O’Brien I am a doll made of glass and on a shelf.  When people pass me by I feel just fine.  But when people are cruel to me I feel as if I could break  Into a million pieces. I am a glass doll who has flowers in her hair. …

“Dear Anxiety” by Sophia O’Brien Why are youalways with me?I see youevery time I start a test.I wishI could be at ease.But you keepcoming to me even if I don’t want you there.You come in the form ofmy frenemy.You come in nightmares where Iwish I could avoidand not feel annoyed.I wish we werea team. Dear…

“Faceless Soldiers“ by Emma McLarin The road’s not long,  A month of a minute Made out to be at ease Tragic fate, not a breeze. Still, they walk on, O, sweet children of animus. They fight; don’t hurt us! Brother’s maroon stains a sleeve. Gaunt, they stand frail Ever-grey as the storm, Pallid, yet fierce.…

“Love is a Battlefield” by Jenna Siuta i’m scared of love not that i’ll never fall in love again but that i’ll never want to try again heartbreak after heartbreak we were almost something real i can’t decide what hurts the most late night facetimes texts that kept me up the conversations that made everything…

“i will die” by Melisa Santana the crunching of bones beneath the soles of these shoes  reaping soul from brittle tissue near fully decomposed, leave  with nothing but the sorrow i invoke with every step that i take in harrowing fields or open roads or broken homes and locations long abandoned, dutifully disposed as if…

“fantasy of the day yet to come” by Melisa Santana i volunteer to lay on that table  cold and bare at their fingertips. i’ve  stripped to uncomfortable vulnerability  just for them. scalpel in hand, they’ll  cut me open and fawn. hold my  ribs with fragile care, kiss my heart  like none had ever done before,…

“all i am is flesh and bone” by Melisa Santana i crawled across the dirt road, hands and  knees aching, bleeding me dry. everything dead or alive slipped away a long time ago; nothing truly matters anymore. body covered in splinters and stray porcupine needles that got stuck in fraying skin. the epitome of  a…

“BABY FORGET HIM” by Rowan Vale BABY  When we were 17 he told me I kissed like an angel  When we were 17 he kissed me the way husbands kiss wives  As if he had memorized my lips and the places where I tucked away all the fear I was hiding When we were 18…

“Smelly” By Mary Margaret Nugent My new lip-gloss is the old women at church Giving me a mint from their pockets My roommate’s hairspray is my mother at family weddings Ordering a glass of wine The cough drops in my backpack are my dad coming home from work Slipping off his tie and hugging me…

“The Lemon Tree” By Mary Margaret Nugent I’d like to be a lemon tree And grow not high or tall For I think I’d be content With any growth at all My arms would reach up to the sun My thorns thick and tough I wouldn’t be magnificent But I would be enough I’d like…