By: Marissa Ammon I lay each night weeping in my bed, my brain on replay of memories when everything was perfect, a beautiful teardrop streams from each eye; the pillow not stained, my heart can’t move, I’m forced to breathe Unmuted conversations, the frame shattered, the photos deleted. My head goes back to the teddy, enveloped in lust and tragedy. It’s done I scream. Forget about it! Our love kept away in a box so when I die, one opens the toxic, tattered, but unbreakable;

By: Judy Anne Capiral I lie to you everyday I lie in my voice, when I say it’s okay Because sometimes it’s not I lie in my eyes when you ask me how you look Because sometimes I don’t recognize you I lie in my arms when I hug you goodbye Because even if I’ll miss you, I need to be away from you But I don’t lie when I say I love you Because you’re still you And yes, Change is inevitable. A version of this originally appeared in “Healing” The Teller December 2019 Issue #9 Most

By: Jade Roman A door, a lock, a home for my thoughts The smell of tea tree, lavender, organic life Floors that have watched me weep like the scarce trees in the city Cold tiles press against my skin Calming and cooling me down after an overwhelming moment Where I’ve freed my mind, bared my soul Took deep breaths before walking into a party Hid during hide and seek My favorite hiding place from my fears, emotions and triggers My second home, within my home and my heart Yes, t

By: Nicole Wasylak A door, a lock, a home for my thoughts The smell of tea tree, lavender, organic life Floors that have watched me weep like the scarce trees in the city Cold tiles press against my skin Calming and cooling me down after an overwhelming moment Where I’ve freed my mind, bared my soul Took deep breaths before walking into a party Hid during hide and seek My favorite hiding place from my fears, emotions and triggers My second home, within my home and my heart Ye

By: Nicole Wasylak I loved to set the world on fire and watch it as it burned I loved to see the destruction I could create from sheer force A power that anyone has and I just had too much of it I was a northern wind with kerosene and a match and I set everything ablaze Because I was not heard I could scream and yell and cry and fight and all around me remained The leaves continued their lazy sway and the oceans continued to grumble in their sleep The hills still rolled under

By: David O’Keefe The cobblestone beneath your feet Sounds the same as it did yesterday. Even now, you ask in defeat Whether or not tomorrow will play Out the way you were promised. In all honesty, I’m not sure who You’re asking; you’re as Alone on the outside as you Are empty on the inside. It would do you good to throw Away your wristwatch, find And dispose of your clocks; know Not of what time has to say. Do it now, before tonight’s today. A version of this originally appe

By: David O’Keefe I wouldn’t lie to you or lead you astray; Please smell the breeze One autumn away. Hold snow in hand and let the flakes come alive; To feel all these sensations I could not dare describe. Like the first sight of leaves hugging closely to branches; Eyes locked on young bluebirds And their daintiful dances. Summer days last long as the dreams they guard, Like the sweet tastes of memories From the burial backyards. Hear it in your mind or stop and find the time

By: Pamela Loperena Like a peony, blooming from the hairline cracks of the earth, you must foster healing light in your own wounded heart. Take the time, to appreciate your flaws— the little imperfections which make you even more beautiful. Weed out, the self-sabotage, pain, and venom, poisoning your sacred reflection, but forgive yourself for ever feeling these unkind thoughts. Believe that you are enough for the world’s eyes to behold, and cherish your body as if it’s the b

By: Jiesu huddle up close knit and tight like the weave of the chesterfield in the den where we sit and talk for hours let’s just sit here and enjoy the warmth of our companionship A version of this originally appeared in “Healing” The Teller December 2019 Issue #9 Most Recent Posts #December2019 #Healing #Jiesu #Poetry

By: Katherine Goldblatt She broke like a china doll, shattered upon impact with the bedrock of her worst nightmares that she could not wake up from. Her shards scattered aimlessly; the wasted products of dandelion wishes and whims produced from childhood dreams and perceptions gazed upon in mirrors. They fell alongside her and cracked upon impact; dead on arrival. All that was left was black; the shifting shadows of uncertainty that took the place of carefully constructed vis

By: Emily LaSita You sit across from me, but you aren’t facing me So, I can’t make eye-contact with my audience I hold my mug in glass hands—there are cracks From behind your steaming feast, you wink My mouth, arced in de triomphe, flips upside A technical smile crumbles the moment your gaze redirects I force pancakes into my solid sandbag stomach I swallow and I whisper what I have rehearsed, to leave you And it is like screaming underwater, Hoping to see the ballet with you

By: Cassandra Lee the galaxy swirling within your green iris occasionally flickering sapphire flame reminiscent of a galaxy just you and me our spirits intertwined swelling with desire liberated from distance, temptation, him one glimpse of your amorous emerald eyes deep into the beautiful abyss i fall except no abyss is beautiful. plummeting at a rate destined to be caught by you until a mysterious allure tapped your shoulder you turned i crashed not before witnessing your l

By: Jeffery Seitz A door, a lock, a home for my thoughts The smell of tea tree, lavender, organic life Floors that have watched me weep like the scarce trees in the city Cold tiles press against my skin Calming and cooling me down after an overwhelming moment Where I’ve freed my mind, bared my soul Took deep breaths before walking into a party Hid during hide and seek My favorite hiding place from my fears, emotions and triggers My second home, within my home and my heart Yes

By: Emily LaSita 093 It is my favorite part About you, it is your voice on vacation A mighty splash when No one was expecting a cannonball In the deep end of a swimming pool It is like a brightness pouring out Of you, like the curtains have parted Your dress shirt has too, but I didn’t see So clearly before such radiance It turned all the lights on It travels like radio waves From you, the curious channel surfer tunes in And is surprised by how You have materialized, they can

By: Katherine Boyle There is and will be: a bath of moonlight shining into the solid ground. We are before the snow, there are only pine needles shivering beneath the trees, rattling in the wind and the icy rain of minutes and days, silent and crunchy like the feeling at the edges of your blue lips on the 19th night of November, far away from fluorescence. I drive a rattling car for hours through the night and the clouds to watch as my light shines into your arms and through

By: Laura Thompson On days like this every little thing Feels like a sign. The coffee is cold, The room is warm, The bed is empty. Sometimes I think I misinterpret things on purpose In order to keep myself feeling alone. When really the world is so much bigger than me And the coffee is cold because I left it there for too long Not because the universe said it should be. A version of this originally appeared in “Comfort” The Teller November 2019 Issue #8 Most Recent Posts #Com

By: David O’Keefe The hospital room wasn’t cold, But it wasn’t especially warm either, Everyone was there but I wasn’t really told Where to go, so I just stood by the heater And waited for something to happen. Eventually, someone came up to me And asked if I wanted to talk to her, so then We went to the other side of the curtain to see. I thought she looked happy, but everyone Was quiet and I felt a little nervous; I asked Her if she thought the room was cold or not, I for on

By: Samantha Hughes Tiny sanctuary Holds fifty people Contains strength Of fifty million Holding hands Iron grips Voices never crack Rising loudly Leader releasing words Throwing rapid fire darts Hitting bullseyes Body is here Soul in Heaven Room catching fire Atmosphere remains silent still pond A version of this originally appeared in “Comfort” The Teller November 2019 Issue #8 Most Recent Posts #Comfort #November2019 #Poetry #SamanthaHughes

By: Sophie Herrmann Glinting weaning leaning Bright. How I love the way you greet me Morning Light an utter delight The way you reach you spread your golden hair across the living room chair Glinting weaning leaning Gone. A version of this originally appeared in “Comfort” The Teller November 2019 Issue #8 Most Recent Posts #November2019 #Poetry #sophieherrmann

By: Katherine Goldblatt The water was pink from a scarlet bath bomb, long since faded away when my confidence left. I lay there, my hair fanning out in the wet, my face poking up above what could be called tiny waves, wanting to soak up the bravado of the original hue. Who was I? The girl pruning in the bath for “relaxation” – what was I trying to escape? What was I trying to avoid? I wanted the brave girl, the one whose head rose out of the water in the pictures with her per