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It never rainsin the Gingerbread Forestbecause that would be catastrophic—houses turned to mush,the occupants smotheredbeneath a slurry of crumbled walls,delicious but deadly. You’d thinkthat endless sunshinewould be a lovely thing,but it’s not.Even filteredthrough leaves and branches,the light is too constant,too bright,too much. As for those trees,deprived of rainthey are forcedtoContinue Reading

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PADUA, ITALY 1844 Curious young scholar from NaplesWandered into a fertile private gardenHe first saw through his guest bedroom window.By an unusual purple shrub with botanical gems, an exquisite bloom stood Slender, alluring, barely comingInto womanhood. Her scent,Cloying like lavender. Her touch,Lethal like aconite. The maiden Her famous scientist fatherCalledContinue Reading

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First of all, Gina was not my cat. She was Melba’s, my landlady. She waited a month after her other cat, Chester had died. He was 15.Melba was 85 at the time. I was her tenant. We met at a senior center. I once mentioned needing a new place toContinue Reading

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Chapter 1: Concrete Poems on the theft of Euterpe’s Elixir The gods whispered inspiration through gilded corridors,and the students drank deeply of creation’s endless well.But one among them—Professor Moros—grew restless.He saw not a gift but a shackle,not a blessing but a barrier. Why should creativity bow to unseen hands?Why mustContinue Reading

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I should have known there was acatch. I thought my new husbandwas the catch, but that was before hetook me home to his dark house ofshadowy secrets, of strange pluckingsof the sleeve of my soul, of sudden clammycoldness creeping across my face the momentI set foot in the house he’dContinue Reading

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I follow the trailthrough the angry treesas the wily wind whips leavesoff their skinny armsand throws them to the ground.The trail is littered with gold and brownobscuring the path.I am lost in a storm of coming autumnand do not knowwhere my footsteps should fall–enveloped in sunlight and cold–alone beneath theContinue Reading

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Susan L. Pollet is a visual artist whose works have appeared in multiple art shows and literary publications. She studied at the New York Art Students League, has been a member since 2018, and resides in NYC. She is also a published author in multiple genres, including three children’s books,Continue Reading

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When Grief moved in the only room The Dandies had available was the space under the roll top secretary that skipped generations just to live in the basement / An entire paycheck pushed the desk from one unfinished basement right into another & if it were up to Grief inContinue Reading

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Footsteps of the dead,silent in darkness and light,guide lost children home. Lynette G. Esposito, MA Rutgers, has been published in Poetry Quarterly, North of Oxford, Twin Decades, Remembered Arts, Reader’s Digest, US1, and others. She was married to Attilio Esposito and lives with eight rescued muses in Southern New Jersey.Continue Reading

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Susan L. Pollet is a visual artist whose works have appeared in multiple art shows and literary publications. She studied at the New York Art Students League, has been a member since 2018, and resides in NYC. She is also a published author in multiple genres, including three children’s books,Continue Reading