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 Feb 2015 JC Lucas
Darby Rose
I can take care of myself,
I shouted,
but I'd rather take care of really anyone else,
I thought.

I'd make you tea and toast on late insomniac's nights,
coffee and cigarettes as you watch the sun rise.
I'd make a mighty fearsome strong drink, after long days at work.
Pick on-point records to mirror the mindset you've earned.
Pour glasses of water, remind you the importance of hydration.
I'd feed your brain, provide necessary stimulation.
Advocate deeper delving into your hobbies and passions.
Show compassion,
you're worth it,
you deserve this,
every bit.

Never did I anticipate feeling such a genuine satisfaction
for finally giving these things to myself,
for doing this for myself,
for truly taking care of myself.
I want to
take
care
of
myself,
now.
Before then I thought I had felt it all. I thought I had felt the hottest hate and the warmest love, the coldest loneliness and the smoothest sorrow. But in that moment I thought my blood would ignite. Every blood vessel in my body felt the instant pressure of rage, a burning heat of pain with the searing speed of betrayal I thought I could never handle.
Simultaneously my heart froze, my pump couldn't take getting pierced any deeper. So in the moment between a blink and the tear, ice entombed my heart. Making sure nothing would ever cut so deep again. Even the heated rage of my blood doesn't stand a chance to warm my soul in time for the spring melt.

-Rowan A. Eyzaguirre
 Jan 2015 JC Lucas
Joshua Haines
Every soul I come into contact with
leaves an impression onto me.
But I don't believe in souls,
so how can this be?
How can I taste the flowerless
nature of a coke nose
and find it to be an eternal bloom?
For I, to without and before sunset,
**** the shadows that mask the morose
and keep the victimized stalwarts close.
See thy honor in the trauma of the night
and transient beauty of the light
that shines in all that I touch,
not enough or, perhaps, too much.
To break my empathy would be shimmerless,
but I'm dimmer, thus, a shallow crest
of what I thought was best
on the Earth's grass
and in the brain's broken glass.


Intermission:
Soda Pop and Popcorn in the lounge.


****** in France,
you like coke and being other people.
You tried to **** yourself with your car
but it only went as far
as the saliva leaping from your mouth,
when your head hit the horn,
and blared until your ears popped,
with your spit splatting against the speedometer.
Because what is fast isn't fast enough.
The EMT told you this when you saw the lights flash
across your eyes. Focus. Focus. Focus.
Follow the light with your eyes.
This isn't god. Do you have parents?
What is your name?
Your wallet melted in the heat.
What is your name?

You think you hear rusty bone saws
but they're trying to cut your friend out of the vehicle.
There isn't enough time. Time is never enough.
 Jan 2015 JC Lucas
Joshua Haines
She kissed me
not because
she wanted to
but because
she could.

We fell in
love.
Not because
we could
but because
we wanted to.

We made
mistakes.
Not because
we wanted to
but because
we could.

We thought
we were
perfect.
Not because
we could
but because
we wanted to.

I vomited in
the bathroom
of a
Baltimore
7-11
because
sometimes
you cannot
hold it in
much
longer.

Her hands shook
as she held her
mirror
because
sometimes
your reflection
can only
tell you
so much.

My body shook.
Her body stiff.
And when
the bodies
move
the hearts
stop.

She lied some.
I drank words.
The veins
in hands
are maps
to imagined
consciousness.

Really,
it's just
a
*******
*****.

Music to
my ears.
Nervousness
between
blinks.
Noise to
my brain.

She said,
"I love you"
not because
she wanted to
but because
she could.

I said,
"I love you, too,"
not because
I could
but because
I wanted to.
 Jan 2015 JC Lucas
Kate Lion
atlas<3
 Jan 2015 JC Lucas
Kate Lion
if i were in Paris
i would march for you
hold up a banner made from scraps of your favorite shirts

if i were in Greece
i would carve your face into a column of the parthenon with "God" written legibly across your lips
(for He is love, and i love kissing you)

if i were in China
i would cover myself in paper mache
disguise myself as a Terrecotta soldier,
move up to commanding officer and lead the whole army to guard your resting place
(because
you
are my emperor)

if i were in Israel
i would build a bomb shelter
and safe from the heat of those who hate us,
our bodies would discover fire

if i were in Argentina
i would lay claim on you
the way the country claims LAS ISLAS MALVINAS and vows to never forget

if i were in the United States
i would miss you the way that Obama misses his intelligence briefings
we would sit on our smartphones and text haikus back and forth as we sat back to back with each other

darling?
i love you to the comet Europe landed on
and back.
1084

At Half past Three, a single Bird
Unto a silent Sky
Propounded but a single term
Of cautious melody.

At Half past Four, Experiment
Had subjugated test
And lo, Her silver Principle
Supplanted all the rest.

At Half past Seven, Element
Nor Implement, be seen—
And Place was where the Presence was
Circumference between.
 Dec 2014 JC Lucas
Hayleigh
Untitled
 Dec 2014 JC Lucas
Hayleigh
You cradle my name beautifully
Between your berry red lips.
 Dec 2014 JC Lucas
Kobayashi Issa
All the time I pray to Buddha
I keep on
killing mosquitoes.
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