Tag: poems

The Strength She Couldn’t Take by Shantell Bennett

The Strength She Couldn’t Take by Shantell Bennett

I love my parents, I do—it’s true,But they taught me everything I shouldn’t do.I played Barbies alone, tucked away in my room,While they stared at their phones, lost in the gloom. They expected me to raise my little brother,But why couldn’t that be the job […]

Scrupulosity By Madalynn Fiebiger

Scrupulosity By Madalynn Fiebiger

Lord– Countless familial and novel names filled my childhood prayers. Words followed the same pattern, cadence, and tempo as I recited: “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; If I should die before I wake, I pray […]

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 […]