Categories
2025 – Spring

From Broken to Blooming

Author: Anonymous.

can i really love?

can i really love?

when the one who says he loves me

fades away,

when the one who is supposed to cherish me

barely touches me…

when my heart is full,

my life complete,

my happiness built,

why risk it?

how can i trust?

when the friend becomes the boyfriend

and then the enemy.

how can i love?

when no one fully deserves me.

when i don’t need anybody,

‘cause all my needs are filled

by me, my friends, and family.

God supports me,

but religion divided us.

i will not renounce my faith,

i’ll love Him my own way.

i’m on a new journey

hoping to go back to myself,

to explore my needs.

my real love is poetry,

‘cause it allows me to shout

how much i can feel,

how much i can love,

how much i must love this

_______broken

_____________hearted

____________________poet!

November’s Midnight Chill

The dark lake mirrors our embrace,

His slender fingers, mine enlace,

Our sweet encounter comes to an end –

A rose falls into my hand.

Can I let these six lines bloom?

My name gifted to the night,

That flower of delight,

Or should this acrostic fade to gloom?

Sweet is the hush of patient yearning,

In this quiet, final hour,

At last, his head is gently leaning

And I welcome his second flower.

November’s Midnight Chill,

I long to know December’s thrill,

To discover this dark-eyed boy,

To uncover his gentle joy;

‘Cause unlike my rhymed poetry,

I feel free!

Categories
2025 – Spring

Trees & War

Trees

Author: Lucrezia Ferraù

You let my head go

And trees of intrusive thoughts

Were building up inside

I felt alone,

I was alone

For the first time,

Since I met you

Since you chose me…

___These trees were tall

______And they were growing incredibly fast,

_________As fast as thoughts could go.

____________They were beautiful and green

_______________They were a creation of my dream

___________________They were helping through sensation,

________________________They were cause of my agitation.

___________________Anxiety was building up

_______________And I couldn’t wake up

____________But was I asleep ?

_________I think we’ll never know

_____I am just lost with my thoughts now

___But at least…I am not alone.

War

Author: Lucrezia Ferraù & Nadiia Kulish

I don’t like uncertainty
But,
After the war,
I come to terms with the idea
That things can change
And that,
We cannot control…
Everything,
Anything.                                                              

Things are falling on our heads,

In our hands,

Red and swollen

In our sky,

Gray and heavy

Full of particles,

Of what a time we called LIFE.


A brief explanation of the two poems:

Trees is a poem about the intrusive thoughts that invade the mind of overthinkers and neurodivergent people, that develop thoughts in a tree-like structure (= arboressence) and about how overwhelming it can be.

War is a poem centered on the topic of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Made with the collaboration of Nadiia, Ukrainian student and refugee.

Categories
2025 – Spring

To My Fallen Sister

Author:  C.Z.


Ô sing, Melpomen’,

The life of my dearest kin,

As I stand alone in this arena, bitter,

Reminiscing this fateful day that took my sister.

We were raised by the brightest of scholars,

And the most ferocious of warriors,

On the shores of this lake that is your mother’s spring,

While dreaming of flying on Nike’s wing.

Your eyes were sharp as an eagle’s,

Your step moved swiftly as a horse,

Your arrows always found their target,

And there wasn’t a single trick you forgot.

You inspired me by your feats and strength,

You taught me resilience and patience,

Perfecting my strategies, forging my courage,

And like you I wished to master the war’s adage.

As sisters we claimed each other,

Even without sharing a mother nor a father,

We rode as one into battle to tear the frontlines,

You, daughter of the waters, me, daughter of the skies.

My greatest asset is my mind, you told me,

When I doubted my place in this infinity,

Yet my brain cannot comprehend,

This cruel play cut by Atropos’ hand.

I should’ve been the voice of reason,

Able to reign the horse of passion,

Without letting a chance for pride to settle,

And send me against you to battle.

What started it was so trivial,

I cannot remember in my denial,

Instead, it is the anger, the frustration,

The treachery of vindication.

It is my judgement changed by the allure of greatness,

The sweet taste on my tongue of self-righteousness,

My heart refusing again to agree,

While my wisdom faulted me.

I want to remember the laughs, the memories,

The games and hopes while wishing for the centuries,

We could have spent growing and triumphing,

But all is tainted by this unacceptable ending.

We clashed on these forsaken grounds,

Spears shattering against clubs,

Swords performing a lethal dance,

As Eris’ seized her chance.

Should I blame my father for overstepping,

As he brandished against you the shield all are fearing,

Or only myself, my hubris, my shameful part

While my own blade pierced your heart?

Now my weapons feel too heavy on my side,

Forever stained by your blood,

And while you cross the river of oaths,

I rage, I mourn, I cannot not go forth.

This gift of a life without end,

Given by my golden blood,

Without you is now cursed,

Oh, how I wish things could be reversed,

No matter if I can craft the greatest of all statues,

No matter my lamentations of lost values,

No matter I make my punishment always more tough.

It’ll never be justice enough.

But they shall remember you as my dearest family,

I’ll carry on your name and memory,

Until this world reach its omega,

It’ll always be Pallas,

And,

Athena.

Categories
2025 – Spring

Apocalyptia

Author: MW

Four horsemen astride their mounts walk gently on
tarmac roads, that cage the noble old tenements
their crumbling faces and dirtied windows silent
long since, emptied tram lines, strange witnesses
to the funeral march.


Long dead trees line the avenues the horsemen thought
to triumph down, their work like Roman generals
bringing swathes of the wretched to heel.


Like those they were not to find, they must instead
wander empty cities, pick between barren fields
their vain search for souls, like so many
failed harvests, and blighted crops.


After the dismal party who came
not to inherit the earth, buried in the soil
and nesting in the tree-corpses lay in wait
mushrooms, bees and worms.


Long after the horsemen left, and put their folly down,
strange new flowers grew, with sunlight for their crown.

Categories
2025 – Spring

Grave acts

Author: MW

[Content Warning: gore, mild body horror]

Will you be my surgeon? The knife wielder,
He-who-will-cure-by-cutting.
I would excise me too.


If the scalpel goes deep enough,
Through layers of skin and fat and muscle
Will you find it? The heart-sickness
The Great Abscess, the wrong thing.


My mother promised me it would never be my soul
But I think she promised wrong,
for there are poisons in me deeper than you can conceive,
fast acting, life rending.


You cannot bring them out of me without killing your self,
For they move from the one to the other,
and to touch them is to become them.

Body open on the block, I’ve heard intestines writhe
the crawling, all sustaining worm
is in us before it is in the earth.
I writhe, I writhe, I writhe.


How will you tell, what is worms and what is guts?
hands slick between sinews,
One slip, one nick,
down goes baby, cradle and all.


Let us be what you made we,
But you must hold the scalpel.
Let us be what we made me
We’ll fall, we’ll fall, we’ll fall.

Categories
2025 – Spring

Enter Monster

Author: MW

Through mists and fen and moor
He, gloom shrouded, roams.
Low grasses breathing out
Water so dense you could
Nearly swim through it
Do not hinder his long-legged stride.


This is his place
And you are not welcome
Wanderer.


Drenched as you are,
Haunted by this moonless night,
Where shine only his strange eyes.


You have come, seeking his head.
Wanderer,
You have come to spill his blood,
Wanderer,
With your damascened blade
And your well-greased shoes.


The heath has no use
For your castle-bred wealth,
Nor your thief’s gold, nor your hallowed halls,
Wanderer.
You should not have come,
Wanderer.

But stay a while longer,
Where the marches meet the mists
Your fire-warmed halls
Will not miss you,
While he uses your knife as a toothpick
Worrying at threads of leather
Caught still on his many small sharp teeth.


And you will wander evermore
Upon the fog filled fen
A shade shot through with
An uncanny glow
Glinting blood-soaked red.

Categories
2024 – Winter

The Girl-Woman

Author: M.Z.

The silvery glass, framed in
what seems to be,
white, dotted plastic.
Reflected in it, a twin of his, creating,
showing, infinite times the same
room
            – or the same part of room
pink, girlish, a red bow
and again – a grey one
and dead flowers too
dead yellow mimosas
held together by a yellow,
old piece of yarn.
And a girl, or a woman
            – oh, it must be the owner
for her shirt matches, controls,
the pink
room behind her and the
dead mimosas.

But wait, you know that girl!
The shadow is familiar, though
her hair…
Her hair is different and her
eyes, there is a light within
them – a light that was
not there, when you knew her.
            Oh, she looks like she knows it,
she looks like she knows you!
The light in her eyes, that sparkles
in the blue irises,
it says that – she won’t listen
            – no, she won’t listen to you
nor to the other people
she knows, who do not know her
no more

No that can’t be right,
that girl
            – no, for she is not a girl
no more –
she is a woman
            – no, not quite
she is, in between
but firmly – yes, firmly! – convinced
she is fully grown.

That stubborn girl-woman (impossible
to know her height – why,
has it just changed?) with her
eyes, her blue eyes lit and
her hair, once black,
short, tidy, is now – wavy and messy.

She touches her hair, moves it away
from her face
            – but wait, you are doing the same!
So you were quite right! You are
that girl-woman.
And she looks proud – I mean – you do
and sure that
            Was ich weiß, kann jeder wissen.
            Mein Herz hab‘ ich allein
Or – do I?

Categories
2024 – Winter

Embracing the Abyss

Author: CT

Can you understand my sweet song? Are you even able to hear me? Do you know that, like you, I roam the vast seas? My best friends are clownfish, I talk to sharks, and I accompany green turtles as they lay their eggs. Ethereal jellyfishes and witty baby dolphins play with me. From the shallows to the tides, waves hold no secrets from me. This marine universe enchants me, and I sing its wonders.

But at the moment the ocean’s magic leaves me indifferent, another spell drives me. For several moons, I witness your fishing attempts, the sleep you cannot get, the words you scribble… I wish I could help you. I wish I could tell you that I am there, that I am watching over you. Not only that, but I can carry you away from your torment. Trust me, I can take you to the shore. You are slowly passing away, I watch you fade… I cannot force you to follow me. They forbid me to touch you. I think I remotely – love you.

Your strength inspires me. You are so pretty, so lonely… The waves carry around your orange raft. If only I could talk to you, you would know that you are loved by a fish woman. And suddenly, you throw a bottle in the sea:

Message in a Bottle

Rocked by the foam,

Moved by the mist,

In the endless sea I roam –

I cannot resist.

The emptiness of the abysses

Dresses me in its vices.

But my ship just sails,

Refuses to join the ocean’s entrails…

What a pitiful odyssey…

I am lost at sea.

Where is the shore?

The green grass I adore?

Far from any light,

I fight through the night.

I shine with my last glow,

And send the missive below:

You’ll find in my lines

A testimony of my last sunshines,

A desperate donation,

To Poseidon.

No matter if I cannot decipher your encapsulated words, I want to free you. Your distress hits, no matter the language. Your pain shatters me. Drawn by courage and pity, I reach your coral vessel and pull myself to the deck. You scream when I appear. Wide-eyed and breathless, you stare at me. I am shaking as much as you are but I timidly offer you my hand. Your emerald eyes roam over my anatomy: they observe my shiny chest, and they question my flamboyant feminine features. They meet my ruby pupils, then they follow the curves of my pearly hair. They, finally, gaze at my iridescent scales, that long azure fin that sets me apart from you. Emotions cross your fiery face; I recognise surprise, fear and hope… Perhaps even a glimmer of desire? Suddenly, you snap out of your contemplation, you gather your last strengths, and you run into my arms. Your legs around my tail, your heart against mine, I drag you down with me. We let the ocean host our tender embrace.

Too bad for Poseidon!

I received an unexpected aid – 

I was freed by a Mermaid,

Thanks to Cupid alone!

Comments by the jury:

“This is an original story in both format and in the narrative form. I love that the POV is from the point of the mermaid and enjoyed the twist.”

“I found the format very original and interesting, it piques curiosity, and the poem (message) included was so lovely. I also appreciated the originality of the p.o.v, I didn’t expect to read something like that at all, it’s such a great turn on the usual mythical takes!”

Categories
2024 – Winter

A Journey of Emotions

Author : N.R.

I.
There’s a thickness in the air,
It feels like life never was fair. 
Why did you abandon us?
Left to drown, hearts filled with pus.
Anger rushes through my veins,
Peace no longer reigns.
Where do I go from here?

II.
Tear tracks stain my face,
I’ve finally found my place.
We must stay strong,
The fight will be long.
We must never surrender,
To stop would end her.  

III.
It’s been a rough ride,
Victory finally by our side.
Gone are the feelings of pain,
Only strength to gain.
A long nap, I shall take,
Content, will I wake.

Categories
2024 – Winter

Winter

Author : Federica Mazzella

What it was in that

Winter Night

froze in time

and I keep —

cherishing it,

holding it tight to

my Chest

as the ice dissolves

and the only

thing left of it is

the memory

and cold blood

stinging.

Categories
2024 – Winter

Hopelessness or What’s the point

Author: Hopeful

I have always wanted children.

Ever since I can remember,

That has been my biggest dream.

Today. I feel utterly hopeless.

With World War III on our doorstep.

Climate change no one cares about.

A new form of dictator in the US.

I wanted to say he was an H***** 2.0

But my dad said I couldn’t compare the two.

And I think he’s right.

It is different.

But maybe also because it is less obvious today.

Deportation, and words, and walls are not like gas.

Though a wall was in Germany too.

I feel like so many people don’t care that much.

“It’s just four years,” they’ll say

Well, is it?

I was talking to my boyfriend earlier.

“What’s the point?” was our conclusion.

What’s the point of being careful and humane.

Why not take the plane and eat meat and take baths all the time

What’s the point about what we’re doing.

We want to give the world a better future.

We want to teach our children.

God, we just want to live.

But what’s the point?

When so many people vote for separation.

For climate oblivion

For women’s death.

What’s the point?

And honestly, I wanted to cheer my boyfriend up.

And I was struggling.

It all seems so bleak.

Do I really want to bring children to such a fucked-up world?

What is the point except making them suffer?

Kamala Harris wrote that only in the darkest of times

Can you see the stars in the sky.

And though I want to believe her.

I see the sky and I only see fog.

What is the point?

It is so much easier to be a careless human.

I don’t want to

I still have dreams.

I still want children.

But how selfish is that?

So, I ask you.

I ask the world.

The people out there who think like me.

What is the point?

Because I feel alone. I think the world feels alone too.

Left out.

We need now more than ever to find the point of all this.

And not to give up.

Categories
2024 – Winter

The Elevator

Author: Inkless

There’s the old sailor always at the port,
looking at the horizon, her only comfort.

That kid who recently found love in sewing,
his sister’s gift almost ready, he’s smiling.

The man who’s working as a gravedigger.
Seven years now, right? Yet still as eager.

Then there’s that woman. A banker,
deep in fraud, so she gets drunker.

And the toddler, just told a lie, his first.
He doesn’t realize he’s his happiest.

So there’s these five people in motion,
that can never meet, that’s the mission.

Or the world will end.

Do you understand?

Different lives, locations, that’s the key.
We’ve managed this far, sometimes barely.
You must always remember,
Your role is to be the intruder.

You’ve always done well,
but you often dwell,
on them and how they live.
You’re curious, and naive.

You watched the now old sailor,
once thriving in the seas, singing.
You watched the kid, now a brother,
frustrated with his family changing.
You watched the newlywed gravedigger
Look for someone that wasn’t just a fling.
You watched the crooked banker,
trying to be good, yet slowly losing.
You watched the three-year-old toddler,
crying over his mother’s parenting.

I know you’ve grown attached,
while I remain detached.
My role is to guide you, be the reminder.
Day and night I’ve told you: no blunder.

Or the world will vanish.

Everything, gone in a swish,
I know it isn’t your wish.
So these people you cherish,

Why are they in the same building?

It’s a joke right? You’re kidding!
How is it possible?
This is just terrible!!

The banker, the gravedigger and the brother,
waiting in front of the elevator,
which is coming, you traitor…
Inside, the old sailor, the toddler and his mother.

4

In only a few seconds the doors will open.
You can still save this! Please, please listen!

3

Make the elevator, stop, fall, destroy it!!
I don’t understand, you have no limit!!

2

So why aren’t you doing anything?!
I beg you! Why aren’t you LISTENING??

1

NO NO NO!!! STO-

0

Comments by the jury:

“In a good way, I was left wanting to know what would happen when, these people who could never meet, met at the ground floor.”

“It stays very mysterious and blurry, a bit unclear, but that’s part of what makes it great. Overall, a great piece that makes you think about serendipity, or the opposite?”

Categories
2024 – Winter

From his prison of a mountain

Author: CZ

From his prison of a mountain, he watches us.
He watches us as we march in the streets towards our future,
He watches us as we wreck the Mending Walls into a bridge,
He watches us as we crack the codes of propaganda’s game,
He watches us as we cry for our brothers and sisters around the world,
He watches us as we tear off the chains around our voices,
He watches us as we see past the glamour of fae
celebrity,
He watches us as we scream a NO! into the
cycle of hurt,
He watches us as we reveal the hoax
of the Dream,
He watches us as we set free
the conditional of love,
He watches us as we
get up from the bed of
conformity,
He watches us
as we carry his fire,
He
watches the
eagle recoil in
fear,
From
his prison of a
mountain,
Prometheus
descends.

Categories
2024 – Winter

Sonnet of the Huntress

Author: Amélie My-Linh Dauban

If another tells me, what a woman should be
Sure my mind I will lose – and I have no excuse,
As it would be no use – for that no one would choose
A savage soul like me, untamed and wild and free.


I the hunter he the prey, I’m a storm a fox,
I, who’d rather be loved, not just for my body
But my soul ; I, who’d rather be strong than pretty,
An anomaly, really, quite unorthodox.


Yet I have caught feelings for you, and that flame flashes
Before my eyes. Fearful anguish overwhelms me
This love is like a dagger in my heart, truly
I’ll let it consume me, shall I become ashes.


But first, take my heart and soul and trust, have it all
It’s all yours. Will you be the one to bring my fall?

Categories
2024 – Spring

Atchoom

Author: William Flores

Atchoom! With the start of Spring
My allergies start to ring
And yet I rejoice, for not before long
We shall embrace
Of that I am sure, it cannot go wrong
At our designated place

Atchoom! As Helios grows stronger
Zoom! Is our place no longer
Powered by electric spark
I’ll come home to continue our arc
Baby, your arms are my safe port
To be with you feels like a resort

Sunscreen we shall apply
And make love until we die