Wings

By Jessenia Cintron

There was a time when people could fly
But for generations we've been born with no wings
Just like you I wished to touch the sky
To reach the unattainable wishes that sleep within my belly
On a day just like any other my wings began to grow
The envy of those around me began to show
New joy gave hope to impossible dreams
And so I began to rise on lonely wings
I wanted to take you high with me
For love they said we'll rip these wings
Now here I am all alone
My beautiful wings are now tattered
The desire for us to fly burning deep within my heart
I hope that with time they will mend
But in the meantime I will build new wings
A pair for you & me
On these imperfect wings we'll build our future
And birth a new generation who we will teach to fly

Not Myself

By Stasia Mihaly

I am crying on the inside
Can’t stop it on the outside
I want relief from this black hole

I feel like my insides are screaming
I know they are bleeding
My eyes are swollen
Welled up with tears

I can’t even finish a sentence
I don’t feel like going out anymore
I want to stop crying
I want everything in the world to just stop
I want to stop crying
I want to stop crying

I want to be myself
I need to feel myself
Nothing feels real
Everything is a washed out dream

Twisted, turned upside down, spastic
My world is spinning into disaster
My world is stuck in the black hole

Celestial Marathon

By Mark Wilson

The society of heavens surround in craze
Seatin’ to watch this annual race
Bright darkness flashes in my face
Readyin’ for the long chase

A rocket pierces the vacuum quickly
I run the pace admirably
Solar winds flood my eyes violently
Invisible wings build on me so rudely

Beads of water appear from nowhere
As these slopes defies truth’s dare
Time slows into a glare
I swear I’m runnin’ on no air

Olympics fear where I stare
The unforgiving turbulence never cares
This undulation tests my inner hare
Losing sanity with each blare

An ocean of me spreads out slowly
Soakin’ my body freely
Yet the miles pile on steadily
As that finish line grows clearly

I walk the line in Faith’s pace
As I triumph by a face
My burnt vessel laughs in place
As I finally walk out of insanity’s maze

You’re so cold now

By Stasia Mihaly

You are so cold now You’re hands no longer hold the warmth they used to You’re hair, it’s gone But the daily trips have done you no harm

They shove the needle in your wrinkly chest They leave so many bruises on your already worn body You have lost so much weight You’re pants, they stay up with your suspenders and your belt And still, I see you pulling them up

You pull it off as if nothing fazes you Because you’re strong, or you’re supposed to be But deep down I can see it I can see it eating away at you

Secret Society

By Wade Tarzia

So few of us seem to exist
that we wink out like fireflies,
radar reporting ghosts, suggestions
of objects here or not.

"Yes, I have read
Tristram Shandy..."
a voice insinuated, a dream inserted,
through a Devonshire fog.
In the essay piles they shine
like secret fairy signs drawn
on walls of mossy forest stones.

“Hey, I found Moby Dick and
read it in three days….
but don't tell anyone."
Reaching out hands
for the secret handshake,
I nod, speak a code word, then seek
sudden safety in the crowd,
my back seen escaping,
newspaper thrust ordinarily under arm,
as spy films teach.

Mad folk hear voices, so
I’m mad. In between
"When is it due... why so many...
I don’t have time... when’s the exam..."
I am tuning in to whispers of joy and fear --
"I am ready... I have read...
That author you mentioned who...
I could not stop...
I felt the character’s hunger,
and I had to eat..."

Beware.
They will find us if they know.
We will be
absorbed.

Make the secret sign and I will see.
Make brief eye contact,
wear grays and greens to fade out anywhere,
and know
in the in-betweens we’ll foster worlds,
in the vacuum of space we’ll breathe
the quantum froth,
and if anyone finds us there
they’ll be (you know).

Bound

By Jessenia Cintron

Bound…
Bound…
Bound…
Why am I Bound in this man made prison?
Why am I a slave to this imperfect system?
Hog tied with no escape in sight
Bound by my words
Bound by my actions
Bound by circumstances
My hands are trapped now
Because my mind is bound
Poisoned to be a part of the world around me
Though no one could possibly care less about me
Bound was what I never sought to be
Being bound was what I carried in my mentality
I will free my mind
So that no one can bind my hands again
And when I attain my freedom once more I will share my new unbound destiny