Category: 14th Edition
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Warnings for the Careful Traveller
Upon entering these woods,give homage to the trees; for one does not knowwhen they may startle at your presence.As you step into the fields of asphodels,leave a trail of honeycomb behind; for one never knowswhen the field’s hunger may strike.When your feet meet the edge of the river,look not at the reflection that looks back…
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Lavender Sky
“It takes me by surprise, sometimes.” “Whatcha talking about?” “The sunrise here. It’s so different.” Aaron gestured out, hand waving toward the red grass around them and the twin moons that could barely be seen across the horizon as the sky lit up in a vibrant splash of lavender. Dern nodded, and leaned comfortably against…
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4000 Plus Me
4,000 plus me In a town named for what it will never be. 4,000 faces, 8,000 eyes All watching to see if I could ever touch the skies. This is the place where dreams get squandered, Especially for those who’ve never wandered. I want to find new places to see, A place where I can…
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Insanity
If insanity runs like waterthen I hope my glass overflows.The two-story brick buildingnever felt like home. I draw back the curtainsfor the sun to dry up the puddle that stirs my mind. I open the windowsand the wind whispers secrets. I don’t open the door. I don’t go outside.For fear that the sun will fade,or…
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Conflicts
Gun up, barrel down.I end up in some sort of stupid town.Know not where the people go,But without reprieve, they sayI only know the status quo. It illustrates a fate, one unknownTo them or familiar to prey alone.They die yet die yet die yet die,For as I rest or unsheath it here,They live and die…
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Villanelle²
Who I kill I’ll never tell. I am an assassin. I am Villanelle. I love the color pink, I wish I could yell. All others are irrelevant. Who I kill I’ll never tell. I love the wrong girl. I was captured by her spell. She will be my demise. I am Villanelle. Her name is…
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Wander In
Wander in, little ghost, seeking shelter from thy woesLet your hand twist the knob of a door locked no longerAs your feet wade in water, shallow in name alone Wander in, little ghost, seeking shelter from thy woesLet your hands drift the rails of long forgotten oakAs your feet meet the threads, frayed in their…
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Lady Lampshade
Lady Lampshade appears as I open my eyes, though slow. Who is she? I do not know. Only a vague memory as hazy as a misty day remains. A child… lost, hers perhaps? but the brain begins to strain. She stares. Does she approach? No— Only stands and stares, Her eyes not visible beneath the…
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The Cube of Time
All I see now from my bed are pink tile and nurses filing in and out Doing their best to keep my spirits from dragging across the floor Upon the opening of that door, A bright light shines in as my son brings in a blank television screen, And sets it down slowly on the…
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A Rich Man’s Forest
The father of the forest awakensto a wastelandwhere the concrete colored clouds are weighed downby the tears trying to escape.Below, growing from the rich soilare sickly yellow-brown weedscoughing out for fresh air. With one swift strike of a scythe,the father of the forest falls.The gloomy blooms with the last of their witheringpetals have been wisped…
Arrow Rock Literary Journal 