Fall

By Carla Capone

Yesterday morning,
I stepped outside only to feel that fall has come back around,

I wish that you would come back around.

Your cigarette breath would no longer be translucent,
But thick in the air like the smog before a California sunrise.
Your ocean blue eyes would be deeper,
Like your voice in the morning,
When we forget to shut the windows before bed.
Somehow fall surprises me every year,
Shattering my reverie of eternal summer,
Like 99 cent glass against a mountain range.
The brisk morning breeze seeps into me,
Like the smell of morning coffee that I won’t finish,
Because you weren’t there to share it with me.

You were never really there to share it with me.

You made sure to show me the stars in a summer night sky,
But very rarely the sunrise on a biting winter morning.
I keep looking for you at every corner I turn,
Thinking that you’ll turn up like the orange and brown,
Unfolding on the surface of these falling leaves.
You were the silver lining ending my weeks,
But now that silver is rusted over by copper,
That could never shine the way you did.

I wish for a second you thought about me,
The way I think about you.

Which color do you like better,
Yellow or blue?
And once you decide,
I bet you could never explain why,
You’re most attracted to blue,
And unfortunately that’s the only way,
I could ever describe how I feel about you.

Hamster Wheel

By Sydney Child

Memory archive
This slow dive
Dream reprise
Life’s enterprise
Serves no surprise
I run and hide
I can’t abide
I’m left all alone
Cold as winter’s bone
See what you did
I fall and skid
Avoid the bigger picture
And fill up the pitcher
Unwanted thoughts
Things I had forgot
All of the people
As distant as a steeple
Living without life
Constant feel of strife
Slow and speeding
Trapped and kneeling
Waiting on magic
Hearing like static
Pathetic and strung out
Conscious looming doubt
It’s always too early
Shoulders hunched surly
Speed of light–hope
Fades quicker than dope
Heavy emptiness
A deceiving temptress
No going back
Try to pick up slack
A tiring vicious cycle
The archive now idle

Harvest

By Sabrina Lu Qiao

Skin your knees
on the rough bark of the tree
you climb, reaching for that
golden apricot

Hold it in your hand gently.
Feel your palm cradle its soft
tender skin

Discover the exquisite aroma of living
when you bite into its suppleness,
feel the nectar run down your chin
Breathe, Exhale, Relish it

Hold the taste in your tongue, gently, roll it around
say I’m okay around the mouthful
of exuberance, pick out the kernel
with pointed fingers

Grin, laugh,
Toss the pit along the seam of living
and watch it swirl

In the half light of the ripening dawn,
remember the lingering scent of that fruit
on your fingers
think of how the thriving apricot trees
relinquish their fruit yearly, but still stand
proudly after the harvest

You carry the seeds of your aspirations
in the soil of your lungs, let them grow into
the dazzling fruit, let their branches spread
into the cathedral of your chest.

And if, as you swallow the buds,
if they lodge in your throat occasionally,
the tiny hairs tickling the
tender skin of your trachea
smile and swallow anyway
Nourish yourself on the tree within you,
Thrive on its golden fruit.
Reap your luxurious harvest.

New Brain

By Dakota Baeringer

I took my brain out tonight
Took it out to the back porch
And wrung it dry

And just when I thought it was dry enough
I spun it tighter—til every little drop came out

I put it back in my head
Feeling 3 lbs. lighter
Forgot why I was out there
In the first place

The Incorrigible Ennui

By Braydon Ford

I smile and I wonder, what is it for?
When joy abounds, I find I’m forced to think:
What will it have meant when I am no more?

Happiness that seems to seep from my core
Also can vanish as quick as a blink.
I smile and I wonder, what is it for?

Her face lights up as I walk in the door,
We can say so much with only a wink.
What will it have meant when I am no more?

I know that this woman who I adore
Needs me like a withered plant needs a drink.
I smile and I wonder, what is it for?

Like watching the waves crash against the shore,
I view it all, detached, as my feet sink.
What will it have meant when I am no more?

A heart so full of love it became sore,
Stars shine brightest when approaching the brink.
I smile and I wonder, what is it for?
What will it have meant when I am no more?