There came the harmonious click of polished heels descending the stairs.

Then a scent of sweetness and warmth that managed to send a shiver racing down my blanched skin.

“Would you like some cookies?” Betty exclaimed joyously, as if there was anything about the weathered, threadbare apartment complex we stayed in worth smiling over. My dog—Barley—was always uneasy when in her presence, barking an...

When the storm comes out, my compass always points to home.

It points to the sunny shoreline of Miami.

The speckles of pastel conches and seashells on a blanket of wet sand.

The plate of baby carrots my mother would set for me on the porch.

_Growing warm under the Florida heat. _

The discordant shouts of my parents, fighting over something insignificant to me because of the dull buzz of the te...

I am inhuman

A social defect amongst purities

I am the final option on a list of activities

The lingering shadow at the room’s corner

I am the insignificant speckle

Swimming in the peripherals of one’s vision

I am expendable to humans

A creation existing with errors

A fragment of broken illusions

A bystander

Watching those who are chosen first

With a vile grip of jealousy...

We exist in shells

Hard exteriors

Sometimes they are mesmerizing

Glittering and vibrant

Other times they’re ragged

Symbols of hardship and agony

Many have worn their shells for an eternity

Others are yet to get accustomed to them

For some, their shell is all they’ve ever known

It is their home

Their sanctuary

Without it they are bare

Unfamiliar with their own skin

But one can only wear...

“If only this world had shown me a little more mercy…”

The man trembled as he spoke the tearful string of words, struggling to hold himself upright as his executioners dragged him up the sodden wood pedestal towards the guillotine. The crowd encircling him started a restless chant of slurs and mockery directed at his expense, tossing rotting vegetables and whatever obscene or filthy objects they ...

**_The Sparrow_**

Leather and mahogany

A blissful dream of red wine and paint

She traverses the mind of her lover

The allure of her aroma

Drawing The Fox inward

She delivers pleasure and joys

And stands innocent

Quietly unaware

To The Fox’s true nature

**_The Raven_**

Dark-feathered and willowy

The first recipient of The Fox’s love

The bearer of the horrors he brought

With eyes of ink ...

The party was abuzz with commotion, just as I hoped it would be.

My loyal pack of socialite companions sit soundly amid the courtyard garden, coquettish giggles swimming through the balmy spring air. Their sweet, alluring perfumes and the aroma of wisteria flowers around create a heady haze of dreaminess.

All morning, I ordered the servants of Bloomsbury Hall to rapidly serve a delicious array of...

“Snap out of it,”

The clap of Sienna’s manicured hands calls me back to reality. Like miniature bells, the tips of her rings clink against one another, jagged-cut jade and silver chiming before me.

I blink, breaking out of my daze with a deft rub over my eyes. “Yeah. Right. Sorry.”

“Where is your head at?” Sienna laughs, taking a long sip from her Solo cup. She tosses a few of her jewel-woven br...

_gracie_

paramedics gathering in a halo around me

shouting

flash of red and blue

the Mercedes sedan is stained with my blood

my back against the asphalt

the sky is a new shade of blue above me

a figure looms over the clouds

it peeks at me behind the sun

death floats down towards me

gathers my bloodied body into its arms

_minho_

the bullet slices through my skull

outside my body, I watch ...

I crack a joke with the bartender

Kiss a woman

Shrug my shirt off

Clap my friend’s back

_Nothing matters_

Whiskey warm in my throat

My brain fuzzy

My smile permanent

My phone buzzing in my pocket

Perhaps my wife is texting me

_Nothing matters _

I kiss the woman’s throat

Push away the looming darkness

Take another gulp and hope

That the warmth will return

_Nothing matters _

I am indest...