elementia

What Do the Interrogators Expect

By Becky Peda

And how are we supposed to get out of this,

after our hope has been washed out and dried,

and the fevers stay burning our foreheads and skulls,

not even cooled by the tears that we’ve cried.


Pure Love Stricken Ballroom

By Becky Peda

through the blistering cold she falls to her feet

to land in the warmth of your touch

her glass slippers give way to the dancing

but the scent of your voice is too much

the chandeliers hang from the ceiling

the cocktails overflowing with pride


slate blue moment, excerpt

By Brooke Shippee

Winter is a soft,

cruel sea of acid,

swirling and churning

into a

slate

blue

moment.


Bitter is Perfect

By Brooke Shippee

Bitter is the sound of hearing rejection

two weeks before the Prom,

of hearing you’ll expire within months,

of hearing the sickening squeal of tires beneath the floorboards

in your car.


Browse by Tag