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[letmebethecure]

Can the shower wash it all away?

The way your eyes follow me in my dreams?

The way I wake up

And go back to sleep

Only to find you are still there waiting for me?

Warm

Intentional

Focused

Exactly how I remember you

And nothing like you are now

Where have you gone Darling?

I searched for months, and found only traces

[estranged-sky-deactivated202510]

I like you more when I'm asleep. Does that mean I love you unconsciously?

I want to pinpoint what I'm feeling

before it disappears

Into a void, the middle of nowhere,

before I can no longer grab it with bare hands

Before it no longer has any more meaning than it had

There's nothing swirling in my stomach;

no butterflies, moths, or bugs

But there's this feeling in my gut

that tells me you're the one

And I'm sure it's wrong,

but at the very least, say it's right

Because I've put all of my worth on this night

While the candle slowly dies,

I light it with an unconventional match

All I could get my hands on was a magnifying glass

I'm pacing the room

while wax melts onto my hands

I haven't put the candle down yet

If I do, it'll blow out, and you'll leave me again

I know somewhere out there a dream exists

where we kiss, it's happy, and for the first time I'll feel real bliss

But dreams and reality don't coexist

I can't give up my life to live in falsified ignorance

In this one, where I'm real- you're not here

But your words put my brain to sleep

I've grown tired and weak

But you have no idea what you do to me

Maybe that's better,

power kills

It feeds off of the weak and brings nothing but chills

I should trust you, but I don't

My faith is reserved for dreams

Places I don't have to take responsibility for being

[ashesinverses]

I wish someone could read my soul

better than I do.

Someone who would tell me

what I was created for,

who I am,

and what defines me.

Because I am a hollow.

As if even my soul had slowly fled,

leaving me behind.

[wordsandmorewords]

reflection/drowning

old black-and-white photos capture the the bay's black dunes as if they were a ruthless, hectic, rolling sea

a sense of stranding raising bumps upon our skin the roughly clouded sky remains contrasted and we are left to wonder about reality

[sedehaven]

Pollyanna

She believes that tanks will stop for children. Bloody-fingered men will lower their hot, smoking guns. The air will explode in fireworks, not bombs. The earth will enfold seeds, not babies. That the barbed wire will grow feathers and fly away. The fields of shrapnel will be picked like April tulips, and smelted into beams for new schools, new hospitals. Butterflies flutter on her closed eyelids. Just past her, schoolchildren dig at the soft soil, a grave to bury their dreams.

[jojomills]

Clockwerk

[wordgaucho-deactivated20260315]

your shadow

turns in my mind

your silhouette

undeniable

your caress

unmistakable

your scent

unforgettable

a rose by

any other name

would smell as

sweet

• Word Gaucho • Wm. Shakespeare •

[inkstay]

Inkstay

July prompt list

A devil like me

Designated Dale's

Purple lightning

Ginger

$10 and €10

Spit. Fire.

Simple syrup

Dank like rain

Relax

Nasty piece of work

Enjoy each prompt. Tag us #inkstayprompts

For any questions, use our inbox.

[sedehaven]

Malaise and Velleity

I've been feeling the iron in my blood. The grape tomatoes that I bought from the fruit stand are

rotting in the refrigerator. My hips loosen as I forget how to isolate glutes, how to pull my belly down to

my spine. I want the ice cold needles of water to drill into my skin, but the shower is too

many steps away. The fever rose up in me again, today. My to-do list is filmy. Wavy as

a heat mirage, pulling me deeper into this infected desert if I pursue. I lay beside

the cool puff of the air conditioner, drink my tea, and try to sweat out the malaise

and velleity.

[heartofmuse]

I am a cinnamon kiss upon your lips,

Sunshine, liquid, sliding down your skin,

A kaleidoscope of your favorite songs, background music that's always on,

No, you will never be rid of me,

I am the guilty pleasure you can't give up,

The spell that keeps you burning.

The sin that keeps you on your knees,

Baby, I didn't ask for any of this

It is just what it is,

Two suns colliding,

White blue heat and infinite darkness,

Supernova,

world-creating,

world-anhilating,

We will never survive this,

And yet it's the only way I want to die,

The only way I want to live.

e.v.e.

[sedehaven]

Selenolatry

Our Lady of the Tides, pale mirror floating on Your silken pillow. Wrapped in velvety

night, You draw back Your bow and I draw You in, my Lady, a choir of crickets to sing Your

hymns. A church of spreading cypress to worship You in. The altar, a gentle rise of

young sugar cane to hold You up as the humidity glows with Your light. I breathe You

in, my Lady of the Phases, Selene, Luna! Goddess. Breath of Tides. Mirror of the Night. Come down,

and glow in me, sweet Moon. I am Your trueborn daughter.

[sedehaven]

Little Good Things

Finding a quarter on a park bench when you're short on bus fare. A little child's weeping calling

his mother's best friend, unexpected, in a crowded mall. Sliding into the best burger joint you never

heard of to avoid the rain. Finding your best friend three days old and mewing helpless in an old banana

box behind a grocery store. The world doles out these little miracles. Serendipity. Little good things like sips

of nectar, reminding us to smile.

[matthew-pasquarello]

remember?

causing security to fail. that feeling. that worth. that struggle in magic markers squeaking across timelines and running out of energy

remember?

spent mere milliseconds constructing a reason to love and to yearn and to stand horny and concerned on balconies overlooking stardom

[ginadope]

spring stars

Flowers dream of answers Wait for someone to notice Wither, and then hope again It took me a lifetime  To notice myself

My white irises - they know better than to worry  If not this spring, then the next one  Petals will turn into eyelashes  I will count yours and you will count mine The meticulous has always been simple - simple, and right by my palm

[sedehaven]

The Blushing Fog

Dawn's fingers parting the mist, tinting it pink. Rosy, Ganzfeld light, gauzy and membranous, the float

and drift of landing clouds, ephemeral and diaphanous. Pink, wet, and cool as kitten noses, nudging my bare

ankles as I twirl through the dewy grass, the peony petal blush of a March morning.

[exhalereleased]

"The Bell Man & The Sweetling" by Acacia Selene

[unmondefou]

" Magic has shone its light on you, igniting a spark. You're now a star echoing across the galaxies. My friend, enjoy your time with kindness, and fame will never turn into a black hole."

He said

--- h.harouche