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It's
Been a While
by Kara Astrouski |
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Denizens of Brilliance
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Lonely
Painting
by Monica Barrameda
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Holland Elder
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The
Price You Pay
by Clayton Beach
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The
Tale of the Queen of Endor
by Clayton Beach
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I
see a field of orange poppies, off a long country road.
Stretching as far as the eye can see over dale, and hill, and meadow.
I stand alone in this field of endless splendor, oh so bright.
Look up to the sky above and stretch my arms out wide.
I spin and turn and watch the line between earth and sky disappear.
I fall into an orange blanket soft as satin, light as air.
Flowers, clouds, and sun blur and swirl with the blue of the sky.
Poppies dance and sway, dip and bob on breezes airy and light.
I count the flowers above my head. They move, flit, and fly.
I pick one. Its’ brilliant orange radiance glows in my hands.
On the dash I place it. As I drive home it hums and throbs.
But the singing soon begins to fade.
Before my eyes the poppy slowly goes limp, the vision melts away.
Orange drips and runs, like raindrops on a windowpane.
Evaporates in heat waves, as if it were the hottest summer day.
Nothing left but a wilting stem and liquid sunshine rising in the air.
My mother would say, “but a flower’s life is short and sweet
my dear.”
I go back sometimes, and underneath the asphalt
of a strip mall parking lot,
I can almost see the denizens of brilliance dance and sway on the breeze.
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Wintersong
by Clayton Beach |
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Mad
Dogs Bite
by Janet Berend
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Desert
Firefly
by Taen Bounthapanya
Third Place Winner, Poetry
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Virtual
Reality
by Taen Bounthapanya
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Early
morning staring at an ugly fountain
by Breelyn Burns
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Ten
Year Old Militia
by Breelyn Burns
Editor's Choice Award, Poetry
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Arrogance
Unplugged
by Rachel Busnardo
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Goodbye
My Best Friend
by Rachel Busnardo
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At
a Small-Town Club
by Jessica Conaway
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Red
Stiletto Heels
by Jessica Conaway
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Naked
and Perfect
T.C. Cook
Second Place Winner, Poetry
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Too
Far
by T.C. Cook
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Someday
by Jermane Cooper
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The
Girl Who Wrote This Stands at
5’ 2” (on a Good Day)
by Shayna Coplan |
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Pontificating
Drunks
by Dennis Dorsey
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The
Symptom
by Dennis Dorsey
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Saturday
Night Pick-Up
by Tanya Duer
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Lost
in a Moment
by Jamie Dykstra
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Denizens
of Brilliance
by Holland Elder
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Between
His Futon and the Bedroom Wall
by Rachel Jones
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Getting
Lost in National City Trying to Find Acapulco
by Rachel Jones
Angelo Carli Poetry Prize
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Having
to Hide
by Rachel Jones
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I
Used To Take My Anger Out On Plants
by Rachel Jones |
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The
Piano
by Rachel Jones |
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Words
Like Clay
by Rachel Jones |
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Begetting
Tragedy
by Chris Joy
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My
First Last
by Chris Joy
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There's
No Problem Officer
by Brittney Krier
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No
More Rainbows
by Emit Levart
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Ernest
Hemingway (My Cat):
A Villanelle by Melanie
Maheu
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The
Small Beauties of Marriage
by Melanie Maheu
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Do
The Punks Still Raise Their High Pumping Fists in the Air?
by Brendan Mitchell
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Love
by Natalie Parker |
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Three
Sides of the Fence
by Natalie Parker
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Watching
TV While Having Sex
by Jessee Pugliese
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freedom
by Ruth Rice
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partner
by Ruth Rice
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six
weeks
by Ruth Rice
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Blood
by Rachelle Shull
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Fall
by Jacob Triffo
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Time
Served
by Matt Tweedie
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Romance
to Reality
by Aga-Marie Wehrly
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Solicitude
by Matt Whitney
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Why
We Write
by Karen Wooton
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