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Katie Mclean
Katie Mclean
Traveling Through the Heart
The trepidation of starting to feel.
Confusion cultivates the slow growth of hope
And the fact is I don't know what I feel
But I know it is for you
In It.
Golden light weaves through this car
The air is cool and soft
Music floats through my hair
I’ve never felt more at peace
Hands entwined
Fingers circling
Mouths curved
We knew what we were long before we spoke the words
Breaking.
When the quiet comes, I remember you used to be my quiet
We used to do nothing together
Now I have to do nothing alone
And I’d say it's harder now,
doing nothing and everything without you
Do you remember?
Nostalgia reaps the rewards of time.
Memories fade and become twisted knives
When nostalgia comes to play–
All are changed for what they think is better
But bleeding hearts never end up satisfied
I can smile when I look back.
What a privilege to love at all
To feel and be seen and held and understood
And then to hurt and sob and wish I had no heart at all
To feel alone and then to learn you are not
To love and to never want to love again
And yet, still fall in love with life all over again
It is a privilege to feel
And it was a privilege I met you at all
Thank you for the time we had
(It was never a waste if you learned)
I learned all about me and you, my love
And though I am no longer going to learn about you
You taught me my first few lessons
And I will go on learning
dear diary,
today life was unfair
yesterday was tiring
and tomorrow is bound to be a disappointment
what do you do, dear diary, when life finds a way to knock you down a hundred different times?
-------
there are a thousand graveyards for the souls we never grew into. dark and twisted and cold and dead.
i visit this graveyard often.
a memorial for the people we could have been.
a collection of maybes all in one place.
an assortment of possibilities we were too scared to follow.
--------
Walking and looking
I stare at the walls
My hands always get warm
New thoughts form in old forgotten places
I can't remember what you look like?
I wander aimlessly from frame to frame
People find meaning in everything
Tragic beautiful endless finite
I found meaning in you
And with you gone
These frames
This art
Seem a little more empty now
Lauren Deaton
Lauren Deaton
“Three is the Magic Number”
It scares me.
To ever think of being here without you.
Alone. Not 3. Just me. Just 1.
You’re my favorite people.
My dreams and my inspirations are held in your hands.
My home. My world. My everything.
But even when you’re gone.
You’ll still be here. Because I’ll be.
You’re the best of me.
The best is three.
“Family Tree”
I know you love me–
But do you love you?
Do you see your beauty and your kindness?
The light you scatter over my life.
You hug me and tell me I’m perfect,
Yet you can’t see how incredible you are.
My beauty stems from you.
I love you–do you?
“Mirrors”
I am your mirror and you are mine.
Your too tight jeans became my perfect fit.
But now they don’t fit me quite as well.
You tell me I’m beautiful
And say that you are not.
But just look at me and you.
The freckles. The bright eyes. The lopsided smile.
They’re mine. But they were yours first.
The more I grow the more I’m you.
The more I love you.
You are my favorite version of me.
“At the Movies”
A gap in your front teeth.
A chocolate covered raisin falling to the floor.
A tub of popcorn between us.
A slushie held in my too small hands.
We’re back at the movies again.
You made me into a dreamer,
A head crammed full of
Far off places,
Distant dreams,
Outer spaces.
A heart so small
Already bursting at the seams.
We sat in that theater so often
You laughing loudly and me smiling softly
It’s my favorite place-
There, with you
Back at the movies.
“It Was Magic”
Tilted sunlight and screams of delight.
A love so strong it could shake the world.
This is life. This is good. This is home.
It wasn’t perfect,
But it was magic
Fireflies on dusky nights.
Haircuts in the kitchen.
Bike rides down alleyways,
And scraped knees moving in the breeze.
Peaches falling from trees.
A chalk kingdom drawn in your masterful hand.
A dusty easel.
A screen door with adventure on its stoop.
A friend across the street.
A swing in the backyard.
A bug bite.
A jump rope.
A watermelon rind falling from my hands.
A night made full by laughter.
A childhood filled with beauty and love and grace.
And magic.
Statement of Poetics
These poems are based on my parents, my childhood, and the general experience of growing up and seeing your parent’s perceptions of themselves. I grew up as an only child with older parents in both rural and suburban Ohio, this midwestern identity and unique experience growing up is something I increasingly find myself returning to more and more with my writing.
The central piece in this little family of poems is “Three is the Magic Number'', and it's essentially about the knowledge that one day I’ll be on my own, my parents having passed on. Having older parents, this is something I’ve increasingly found myself having to confront. But
My favorite piece however is probably “At the Movies”. The poem is really just about all the time I spent going to the movie theater with my dad as a kid, it was our favorite thing to do and our standard father-daughter outings. Those memories are really special to me and are still something I really love doing with my dad.
Mom and dad, I know you’re probably reading this, I love you so incredibly much, thank you for everything.
Isha Trasi
Isha Trasi
The Perfect Escape
Her neck angled amongst the horizon her
hair silky and long running along her slender
face. he lays close
enchanted by her presence. As she stares at
the glitter in the sky,
he stares at her, engulfed by the way she
speaks about anything
and everything.
Her hands smelled like magic and her eyes
lit up with every
fun fact she’d share.
Mesmerized by all of it.
Even amongst far galaxies and close by
flower shops, he saw her.
He smelled her in every nearby flower shop,
filled with lilies and sunflowers.
He saw her every time the sky was painted
with purples and yellows and oranges.
He dreamt of her in faraway galaxies, even
the ones not discovered yet.
He heard her in his favorite songs that played
on rotation in his playlists.
The perfect escape from reality.
She was his home away from home.
Faded
A cheeky grin covered with chocolate
A magical entity for a forever existence
Your comfort ignites peace within me
My eyes yearn for a longer dance
Your arms intertwined through my soul
Why did you leave?
Now it’s rainy everywhere and my heart
mourns a faded dream.
Thunderstorms fall from my eyes
My fingers miss your fingers
The wandering continues night and day
wondering when you no longer heard me
Like really heard me. Our story ends here.
Nothing but a faded dream
My hair tucked behind both ears, I watch
your lips tell a second-hand story
Your eyes widen with every high
Your arms move along the rhythm
Lost forever within infinite love
Smoke rings circle around me to neglect
the voice in my head.
My thoughts race one after another
Without you, they overtake my brain.
This was created to last until the
moon explodes and grass turns red
I lay my head on my tiger stuffed animal
remembering our time filled with sparkles
There will never be someone quite
like you.
Yes, we may never exchange one more
sweet outing but it remains faded in a dream
A flawed memory, bits and pieces covered
with dust.
Discovering you was the best accident I ever
had
Inner Child
Time moves swiftly and I feel earnest in
despair
Aging ignites fear deep inside my soul, I cry
I miss stress free days and the longing for
Endless adventure and eager for the smallest
surprises.
Yearn for secret love pacts and flower tacos
outside with neighbors.
Knights one day, princesses and pirates the
Next sailing across the sea right in the garden.
Careless thoughts sprouted and sweet high
pitched
laughter swarms the air
From my youth, I’ve gained so much—
Forever in my brain, embedded in my heart.
Optimism in the stars. A haze drifts over my
eyeliner. I am ready. There’s no need to cry.
Life isn’t over. Why are you so afraid? Take that
initial
leap into adulthood. Young you will stay.
She’ll be proud that you kept the youth in you
and met your future goals. You took that leap.
Aging ignites a deep fear in my soul, yet this
time I don’t cry because I do it for young
me.
DESIRE
Engulf the embrace she holds
near to you. For we may never know
when this will end. She offers no other
advice, but what she said in the
beginning. The fear mimics her
side-eye. The side-eye given when
someone fears their own shadow or
for what scary thing may come to be.
She never feared the dark except
when he was gone. He made her feel
safe. Protected. Loved.
When he gave up on her, she felt
betrayed and unloved. The opposite of
everything every close member to her
made her feel. Tears roll down her
pale face, her stare becomes stern and
unbothered. Her presence becomes
cold and unwanted in any presence for
it would suck the life and brightness
out of anyone. She fears the unknown.
She craves stability. He gave her that.
Now that he is gone, she feels
gone. She feels hopeless and small
like a little button or an ant. She must
find herself again.
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