Crystal blue eyes. The type that on another girl could look dramatic or vulnerable. Even soul piercing. But squinted by a smile too small for her boxy face and caked with a thick rim of black makeup, she appeared exactly how she really was: trying too hard. “Just this once.” Giggling, Blake’s blonde girlfriend rounded the desk countertop. Craned her neck to look up at him as she pulled the white drawstring of his swim sho...

The dream was over, crashing and burning with dawn. Nothing should’ve stopped them. The gate should’ve been open. Under the mask the housekeeper had given her, she’d only gone to the party to observe, to experience a night in this foreign country. It hadn’t been long until her modesty lifted with the pulse of the crowd, the pull of the energy, and the recklessness of life. Someone handed her the cape, she shed her dress a...

She flipped the mask around to the back of her head. It looked like she had her face on backward as she led him by the hand up a little cobbled lane built in a century of donkeys and carts. Burnt russet hair flowed around the edges of the mask, falling over her shoulder blades as he trailed her, gripping her hand as her lithe arm extended straight back. He was sorely tempted to stop short and force her to turn so he could...

Break this down Particle by particle Compare the matter To the grand scheme And blow it awayTo wherever dust twirls In a snowglobe of memoriesLike how my mouth brushed Your rough cheek, Or the satin of your lips, My fingers running through That crop of soft hair And over your smooth skinBlink.See the moments Where the sunCaught the stars Burning in your eyes, Licking gold over The flip of your lashes As your crooked smile...

Steve squeezed her hand. He nearly bowed with a nod, as if encouraging her to tell Josh the truth. To face the things about herself that weren’t normal, or even normally abnormal. Things she’d never admit to the people closest to her. Never tell Pierce. They’re leaving anyway. Daphne tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear, her gaze tracing Josh’s young, innocent face. The faintest shadow of stubble scrubbed his c...

Time was a villain. As unassuming as still water and heavy enough to drown in. A cool breeze stole the searing bite from the bonfire before Daphne, and she wished it could regenerate what had already been burned. Her childhood. Early adulthood. And the end of the only relationship she’d had where someone seemed to care for her. She was going through the motions but she’d never been happy. Hopeful, but not happy. Life was...

When the sun is a glimmer of pink Stabbed by black shadows of treetops I breathe the memory of your breath in the darkness, The ether that held you moments before, And all future’s plans That weigh on undercurrents Of what ifs We’ll have our day Hands linked Faces sore With smiles As we voice our vows And send laughter searching Through layers of wind For the first whispers of our love So long ago For there is a breeze th...

The crowd hushed and turned to Brad, their simultaneous movements like a wave rushing the sea. Their eyes were wide. Brows raised. Waiting for him to fall on his face. To give them the final nail in his coffin. He wasn’t going to. Brad kept a smile plastered over his face even though his heart felt like it dropped into his stomach. Ginger squeezed his hand. They stood on the back lawn of their sprawling mansion on the ban...

Lilting melodies Ghost through sunlightIn the tattered theme parkCircling the lovers Like a haunted merry go roundOf Valentine’s memoriesMotes of springWhirl around their humid fleshAs the park’s lullaby lathersInto the blur of the worldAnd shadows deepenHe kisses fantasiesOn her open lips,His steady touch Silencing the static“Trust me.”Hypnotized by his smile,She followsLooks back,Only for a moment,To see night stranglin...

Jenna felt clumsy and awkward, as if she were in her great aunt Myrtle’s china room as a bumbling eight year old. Everything around her glittered. Her gawkiness hadn’t gotten much better with age. She was on her best behavior, as if manners were limbs keeping her bobbing head above water. Waves of imperfection crashed over her but everyone else glided over the gleaming floor, chatting and nodding at each other with ease....

Hissing waves of sea foam fatigue Slip through my coiled spine, shattering the bones into anemic flesh I flail through the violent surface, spitting lungfuls of torture, my blind eyes open wide as slumber’s suffocation scrapes for my flesh Twisting from its grasp, I awaken to your warm breath strong fingers at my breasts satin lips on my neck and your soft murmur vibrating through my pores I turn press my face to yours, s...

When I held my mother’s corpse in my arms, I knew I was next. I hadn’t felt much emotion since. I didn’t need to. Just had to work. There was nothing, no point to my life but that. As I did every night, I thought of her when I stretched the obituaries out over the stained and shredding carpet. Newspapers had become smaller, the articles and photographs more compact since she’d been alive. But searching the paper was bette...

Decaying soil  Fertilizes the flesh at my knees The grave beneath me unmarked Ground unmolested But memories rave of what was here. Heart. Respect. Joy. Bleached by insidious surrender To a reticent poison. Fear won here. But I rise, Eyes of tears And spine popping erect Your dark eyes beckon My honey combed hope. Your arm rises To offer a mirage Fear screams from death Beneath me But my feet peel away Ground sucking at m...

In this most quiet of midnights A clock ticks, Pulling apart webs of dreams Each beat Penetrates my mind, Spreading awareness to my weary conscience  My eyes open, Yesterday’s filth Like sweat on my cold skin Staining my spirit and beckoning the darkness To fold me in The sheets sigh Tug and whisper to my flesh Your arms slip around my waist Fingers grasp my breasts Forearms against my stomach Heat Substance Sliding me ba...

A clatter smashed the quiet. Samantha exchanged a glance with her best friend and followed her to the kitchen. “Five!” Imani’s husband yelled. With his sneakers propped on the counter behind him, his rolling pin flattened the dough on the island countertop with each makeshift push up. Flour caked his muscled forearms. “Andre!” “What, baby?” He dropped to his feet, tossing an arm around Imani and rustling her wild curls. “...