Author: inkwell

The Last Song by Avery McIlquham

The Last Song by Avery McIlquham

I listened to you sing like a golden canary  in the branches of an ancient oak. I watched you dance just like a graceful ballerina who made time stand still. I watched you wither away as the sickness chewed and gnawed stripping away at your […]

Why You Bite by Claire Dale

Why You Bite by Claire Dale

I hold my younger self like a thrashing feral animal –In a tight and safe embrace.She’s fighting back hard,Baring her teeth;I’m sure to her,My arms feel like a cage.I’m sure to her,I’m the thing she hides from at night.But her teeth and nails are blunt,And […]

The Saxon Age By Nathanael K. Stottlemyer

The Saxon Age By Nathanael K. Stottlemyer

I remember The gull’s cry as he wheels above salty shore, A cloak of mist wrapped round sand and sea, The crunch of sand beneath boots and the clink of mail, driving rain, Long marches under heavy packs and long nights on the cold ground, […]

Beneath Her Quiet Hands by Aileen D. Tacbalan

Beneath Her Quiet Hands by Aileen D. Tacbalan

She wakes to the sun, before it can rise. Bones too tired to stretch, eyes drooping. Hushed kettle hums, dim glowing fire, Teary eyed, dreams still bright just. –  For the world, lay at her back. A steady push and unrelenting track, From the mat […]

Creature Comforts by Madalynn Mumme

Creature Comforts by Madalynn Mumme

You remind me of the warm, cozy things in life, The big sweatshirts to sleep in, A cup of coffee with silky creamer, Car seat heaters on a frigid winter day, Sunlight softly kissing leaving mellowness, A warm hug to remind of enduring love. You […]

The Forester’s Oath By Aileen D. Tacbalan

The Forester’s Oath By Aileen D. Tacbalan

With steady hands and guarded eyes,She treads beneath the shifting skies.Through storm and sun, through drought and rain,She guards the forest’s breath and vein. For every seed, a promise planted,for every tree, a life she’s mounted.The guardian of the earth’s green flame,A forester, by heart and name.

Camera Roll by Madalynn Mumme

Camera Roll by Madalynn Mumme

15,642 things sit in my camera roll. 2,673 videos, 7,365 photos, None of which include you. They go back many years ago to 2016. Two years before meeting you, Three until you died. Years ago there was one picture, A selfie during summer, smiling Watching […]

Somewhere Up in the Sky by Renee Geving

Somewhere Up in the Sky by Renee Geving

Every time I look at the sky, rumbling lacrimation starts to coddle my tear ducts. It always used to be like that. Maybe the shade of my eyes is too light. The sun peeks through the window to my soul, or should I say the […]

Fifth Place Winner!

Fifth Place Winner!

skating across a snow-laden lake a poem that half-rhymes crystal mist wisps fly and glide behemoth below begins to sigh auroras of snow glitter and glint swirling in the sunlight at the fickle wind’s whims and across the white wasteland, the solidified sea a lake […]

Fourth Place Winner!

Fourth Place Winner!

My Dearest Vacuum Cleaner by Faith Wagner My dearest vacuum cleaner,My precious lovely treasure,Please don’t underestimate,The worth you are to me.You’ve seen my battle scars,When blood seeps through my clothes,It flows into the riverAnd know one ever knows.Only you can see them,The sins I have […]