Wondering, Wishing, Waiting by Meagan Traldi

I sat on my windowsill one night, staring at the sky

When just my luck a shooting star happened to catch my eye

I quickly wished for something that would change my life

Something that would save me from my troubles and my strife

I waited for days and months and years for my wish to come true

It seems my waiting is finally up-I met you.

A Thought by Rachel Thomas

A thought occurred to me today
that I recognized once more.
I watched it pass through and go on its way
as all the times before.

Sometimes it’s a comforting thought
in all its familiarity
though as often as it came, I still could not
quite place what it meant to me.

One day it came, I hoped to stay,
and allow me to explore,
but instead it quietly floated away
and came my way no more.

Joe by Candice Snyder

today was going well-
no dreams of you
last night,
no thoughts of you
the morning after
you left a hand-
written note with
a half-hearted
apology for years
wasted,
just one
steaming hot cup
of coffee because
you liked tea.
today was going well-
until I see your face
in the used grounds
sitting next to me
like you used to do,
smiling as our fingers
perfectly interlaced.

Strains of Solitude by Candice Snyder

a ringing silence in my ears
makes me wonder
if night plays her music
for me alone,
a private concert
for the ill and disowned

Promise Ring by Candice Snyder

Without your strength
and love and care,
I don’t know what I’ll do.
When (if) you leave (please don’t),
I’ll be- not alone, no,
but made to face what
I think I’ve always known.
You were the one- my love,
my rock, my home,
and in your dear
departed absence,
I promise- I swear-
that I’ll keep living,
just as you’ve asked.
That I won’t let your leaving
keep me lost in the past.

John J. Magner Jr. by Lyddy O'Brien

You, so ready, so prepared.

You, so unprepared, so unready,

Hear “Cheese”, and you smile. It seems rather odd,

That the boy dressed as a man, is asked to say “Cheese” and put all faith in God.

As you adjust your cap and tighten your tie,

Your Mother reminds herself,

No, I won’t cry.

It’s off to the boys in blue, off to the war.

You’ll learn about crying and dying, and so much more.

When you look at the moon and find hope in a star,

Your mother is doing the same,

You’re not very far.

Sacred Silence by Serena McCracken

There is a certain moment in time. 

Maybe while peeling a lime. 

Or when applying curly eyelashes. 

Or when your heart stings from a million lightning flashes.

When you feel most certainly alone. 

That the world is playing you the dial tone.

That you are in complete solitude. 

From longitude to latitude.

As if you were on the tippy top of a mountain.

Tiny, small, insignificant, and frivolous.

Looking the Earth in the face, her eye sockets filled with wistfulness.

Billowing over into the sands of time.

And if you screamed until the next apocalypse.

 Sounding like a sonic boom.

Putting your ears in their tomb.

Not a being would blink. 

And you would be left in complete and utter silence.