The trees brighten red
such vibrant orange
like a wonderful luck
a magical secret
gardens with pumpkins
love is in the sun
yellow leaves amaze.

by, JoyAnne O'Donnell

He asks me to open up
and so I do.

My legs,
my mouth,
my skin.

I offer up bits and pieces
of my flesh but
never myself.

And if he chews me to shreds,
I only hope that he likes the taste
of a girl half-dead in his bed.

hand me down stories
an indian burial ground
figures in the woods
three piles of rocks
the same log
bundle of blood


               i am so, so sorry

I've been
placing
too much
pressure
on my
shoulders,
and I
can't
carry it
anymore.

all the tools are here in this shed of a chest
i need just grab one

There's no mistaking
about this sudden feeling
grace on me is descending
in everything I find new meaning.