Why does it hurt so bad, Whenever a loved one dies? Is it because of the memories, Forged in those untold stories? Memories of the good bygone days, Visiting beaches and sharing kisses? Or times at the dining table, Munching food with smiles on faces? Why does it hurt so bad, When a loved one…

stand your ground be loud express yourself wear what makes you feel good be weird shine as brightly as you can be unapologetic about who you are you are one of a kind after all let people see that This was written by our contributing writer, Luna Baic.

There was magic once Magic beyond comprehension These words are witness In your arms I felt happy In your heart I was special But now I’m nothing but a nuisance If my heart had any light Would it still show? Underneath the moonlight I hoped to dance with you, Yet my wishes are just wishes…

I miss you quietly, So quietly that I can’t think clearly. I miss your infantile smiles; I miss your gentle touch. I miss your charming eyes, And your coffee complexion, That glints like a torch. Oh! Radiant starlight, I miss being your companion. I miss you when I’m eating. I miss you when I’m Facebooking.…

This illustration was done by Kristi Coghlan who is our writer, Karina Coghlan’s mother. She lived in splintered pallets piled high; Wooden crates, slowly rotting outside; An unstable shelter where she could hide When fearing the dark and moonless sky. A cloudburst floods the parking lot. Stray cats come to drink from puddles in the…

My words once poured like rivers, soft, honest, unafraid. I wrote you in verses, in whispers, in the spaces between what I said. You heard me, but you never listened, held me, but never stayed. Now you call, like I’m still waiting, like my heart still beats the same. But I have learned the weight…

I almost moved to the coast, shrouded in roaring ports. Where time traversed slower, trees pooling their early-vibrancy as memories come and passed. I almost moved the fireflies from their hometown in twilight-dew, a flicker of light caught by few. I almost moved mountains and rivers and storm-clouds and constellations, but that chance was taken…

When my hard gray heart breaks at the open wet bend, you venture twenty steps to my glen. With the plunk of a coin sunk deep in my depths where I’ve wept ten thousand tears, your lips whisper wishes in my skin. Your knees hit the earth, head heavy in your hands, as you plead…

If toxins taste this good I want to kiss you forever, My thoughts are swimming in you Just you and nothing else So why would I want another When everything I ever dreamed of Is all with you. If love was poison Then I’ll gladly die, I heard venom could kill But in this case…

she had struggled many times in life.  some struggles had been easy to handle, some had been a pure nightmare. but with each one, she had learned that there was always an end date, a day when things finally turned, the air feeling a bit lighter, a bit more hopeful and a bit more easier…