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Overripe.
i live the life of market-found fruit pretty and polished and ready for purchase skin soft and blushing not to be peeled but for teeth to sink right into stain the lips, drip down the chin “pick me! bake with me! eat me!” you stroll past with your bag shopping for the sweet and delicious…
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Sweetest.
Constance Sloane hates the summer. She works the farmer’s market, spending hours selling and transporting fruit under the South Carolina sun. The days end with Constance sticky, plum-scented, and dark. She could rinse the sticky, scrub the smell, but that dark is staying until the mid-winter. She hates it. The calendar by her mirror has…
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Starlight.
THE VALENTINE’S SERIES: TWO. I’ve had a dream about us, one that plays in my head over and over. In my subconscious, you exist among the galaxies. You hop from one star to the next, illuminating each one in your path. When you feel as though the sky is bright enough, you come down and…
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Condiment.
THE VALENTINE’S SERIES: ONE. At a time where our next moves are especially unpredictable, it’s reassuring to know that I can count on you. Your love is comforting, safe. You demonstrate finesse in the way you care for me, fluid movements as if you’ve performed this dance many times before. To experience you the way…
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Reflect.
I watch her walk by me every day. She’s beautiful. I wish I could tell her. I part my lips to speak, but I can never find the right words to say. I want to confess my love. I adore her. My heart beats for her, even when she doesn’t feel the same. Sometimes,…
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Wounds/Garden
I lay my body down to rest in the soil. It is moist against my skin, dark like me. I rest and I think. I can feel my body loosen; I peer down my chest as I begin to unravel. My wounds open and I hiss from the pain. A heart can’t beat when it’s…
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Super Hero.
26 years ago, you did something that many would turn and run away from. 7 years later, you did it again. Through uncertainty, judgement, and fear, you became a mother, something that I am forever grateful for. You’ve stood by me through tough times, accepted me for who I am, and raised me to know…
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Weather.
its funny how the weather changes the wind picks you up, changing you too sun beaming on your skin, reminiscent of the good times you think back to smiling till your cheeks hurt, popsicles dripping onto your hands your energy is high, the day is bright. there you go again, caught in the wind the…
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Nostalgic.
Empty. Brown skin against the cool glass of his car, green eyes staring into the dashboard, Micah felt. . . empty. A feeling of what if turned into what is, dwindling into what was. She was there until she wasn’t, a shooting star illuminating a black sky before returning the space to its dark hue once more. She…
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Introspective.
It’s frustrating. Heart pounding, blood boiling. The feeling of white-hot anger behind eyelids, searing the image into the mind. There are so many unanswered questions, loose ends left frayed and separated. What does one have that the other doesn’t? Why does one look at themselves differently, pondering the idea of flaws or insufficiency because they…
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Spine.
he pauses, taking it all in. the room had a distinct smell, one he found himself growing to love. he held her in his arms. his fingers traced her curves, and then wandered across the ink that enhanced her skin as opposed to staining it. he could feel his heart begin to race as his…
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Muse.
let me make you my muse. allow my brush to bring you to life upon the canvas, illustrating you as you bask in your own light. your edges will be sharp, your curves will be soft, and your beauty will cascade past the boundaries of my work. my words can please the mind’s eye, yielding…