E: Favorites

Jun 2013 E

Anatomy.

Jun 2013 E

Kayla Hollatz

Anatomy.

Scientists divide my body
into systems,
cardiovascular,
circulatory,
respiratory,
but when you are in my presence,
it all becomes nervous.

Jun 2013 E

Brave Little Bones.

Jun 2013 E

Kayla Hollatz

Brave Little Bones.

a bundle of
brave little bones,
all i am.

but i’m starting
to deteriorate at
a quickened pace.

my skin’s peeling,
abandoning my body
like everyone else.

the vessel of
my soul’s learning
to leave me.

left to rot
alone, the same
fate as you.

I wanted to keep myself to the pattern of 3 line stanzas with only 3 words to each line. Here is what resulted.

Jun 2013 E

The Tall Twig.

Jun 2013 E

Kayla Hollatz

The Tall Twig.

i. 
You say  I look like a twig 
as if I should be ashamed
 to be compared to a strong tree.  

ii. 
You hold my gelatin arm,
 letting it hang,  laughing
that I am all skin and bones,
 but aren't you, too?  

iii. 
You think I should come
with a caution label
explaining how to properly hold something 
as breakable and fragile as glass.   

iv.
 You slink your arm around my waist,
dancing your fingertips over my protruding hip bones, 
confessing it feels like it doesn't belong. 
Why isn't it beautiful
a part of my vessel isn't  hidden?  

v. 
You are aghast when my ribcage 
slightly shows, stretching my masked skin.
 Why are you horrified
to see the very structure 
protecting the ***** I love you with?  

vi. 
Twice the portions,  twice
the helping.  Will I always have to prove
I am anything, but  empty?  

vii.
 Last time I checked,
 you were a skeleton, too.

Jun 2013 E

fume

Jun 2013 E

maria herrera

fume

it only took him one puff
and you suddenly lost him
you could see in his eyes it was bluff
but the tears brought you back

he deeply inhales the smoke
all these memories running through his head
and the radical thoughts began to flounder
but all he clearly remembered was you in his bed

his bloodshot eyes
all this strange laughter
his slow reflexes causing paranoia
and all you wanted to know was
what would come after

he was no longer faded
but your mind was obscure
he whispered in your ear,
"procure, procure, procure"

without a sound he pulled you away
the temptation was getting hot
he laid you down beside the ash tray
you then whispered in his ear,
"me or the ***"

his chapped lips trembled
but he grabbed your hand
you tried to remember what it resembled
he closed his eyes and asked..
"why can't you understand?"

-m.h.p

Jun 2013 E

Hidden from Myself.

Jun 2013 E

brooke

Hidden from Myself.

He says
you have a pretty
voice and I find my-
self singing just to
see if I actually do.

(c) Brooke Otto

Jun 2013 E

Adolescence

Jun 2013 E

P.K. Page

Adolescence

In love they wore themselves in a green embrace.
A silken rain fell through the spring upon them.
In the park she fed the swans and he
whittled nervously with his strange hands.
And white was mixed with all their colours
as if they drew it from the flowering trees.

At night his two finger whistle brought her down
the waterfall stairs to his shy smile
which like an eddy, turned her round and round
lazily and slowly so her will
was nowhere—as in dreams things are and aren't.

Walking along avenues in the dark
street lamps sang like sopranos in their heads
with a voilence they never understood
and all their movements when they were together
had no conclusion.

Only leaning into the question had they motion;
after they parted were savage and swift as gulls.
asking and asking the hostile emptiness
they were as sharp as partly sculptured stone
and all who watched, forgetting, were amazed
to see them form and fade before their eyes.

Jun 2013 E

The mirror

Jun 2013 E

Lily Gabrielle

The mirror

Fear in form of finger nails
Scratching a hollow back
Hoping to feel
Fragile ribs crack
And flood with blood or love or hate
Or anything worth writing down
On the journal of my arms you create
I should have recorded
Tattooed
The distorted
Words thrown like knifes
pelting like rain
Sipping from bottles
You swore you'd refrain
But it's 6 pm and everyone's doing it
So you should too I guess
Or continue to repress
The fact of us, easy and true
I always seem
To look just like
You.

Jun 2013 E

December 31st

Jun 2013 E

meg

December 31st

you walked through the door
and my entire body filled with butterflies.
you had forever in your eyes,
and love in every touch you made.

as I whisper "I love you",
you anwser me with a smile
and an "I love you, too."

and as you kisses my lips,
and run your fingertips across my skin,
energy goes through every bone I have.
and slowly, you put my shattered heart back together.
just like you put a puzzle back together
as soon as you take it out the box;
piece by piece.

but, little did I know
that I would soon begin to torture myself
with the memory of December 31st.
and little did I know that
our kisses would be memories burning in my mind
and that your touch would linger
so long, after you've gone.

and while I try to find my old self again,
I realize that my love for you is still as
burning red as it was that December night.
but, along with this.
I come to the agonizing realization
that your love for me is as faint
as the scars I have on my body,
from when you broke me
that January night.