CAMPFIRE

We spent that first summer together hiking and camping, pitching our tent on the smooth ground, gathering wood for our evening fire. We drank beer chilled in the stream, hiked ten miles each day. I knew you camped with her six months before, hiked deep into the woods, packs on Read more

Courtney LeBlanc

Courtney LeBlanc is the author of Beautiful & Full of Monsters (forthcoming from Vegetarian Alcoholic Press), chapbooks All in the Family (Bottlecap Press) and The Violence Within (Flutter Press), and a Pushcart Prize nominee. She has her MBA from University of Baltimore and her MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. She loves nail polish, wine, and tattoos. Read her publications on her blog: www.wordperv.com. Follow her on twitter: @wordperv, and IG: @wordperv79.

Sweet Spot

I explore my body amazed at the softness of my skin. I am in awe of my breasts, the ease in which they fall to the side as I lay on my back. I use my index and middle finger to trace my areolas and nipples. I clasp a nipple Read more

Arlene Antoinette

Arlene Antoinette is a novice poet/lyricist with dreams of one day writing a piece that breaks hearts. She holds an old outdated bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in psychology. You may find additional poems by Arlene Antoinette in SickLitMagazine and Girlsense and Nonsense.

Antipode

Wan cheeks stare at the window
palm trees sway and break
in the tornado of passion

Merima Trako

Merima was born and raised in Bosnia-Herzegovina (former Yugoslavia). Sudden nationalistic divide in the early nineties, leads to a bloody war where a three percent of Bosnian population (mainly Muslims) is killed. Merima and her family escape ethnic cleansing in Banja Luka (where she was born) and settle in Travnik. Her story continues with her move to the USA to study engineering and mathematics, her “other love”, where she lives now. She is a mother, a refugee, an engineer and a woman passionate about creating literary awareness about world issues, social injustices and her life experiences, consisting of complex topics, from religion to non-spiritual events. Her work is available for readers on her website www.worldaccordingtoblam.com. Most recently she published two short stories and two poems in the collection of prose and poetry of the No Name Writing Group from Washington Depot, CT in their anthology titled “This One Has No Name”.

Carnal Dream

Don’t say a word Let me feel you smell you know your secrets savour the aftermath Floating in and out flesh decadent fantasy warm breath strong hands hold me the weight of my being let me rest under your chin above your heart perfection caress me on fire your fingers Read more

Julie Anderson

Julie Anderson is the Creator and Publisher of Feminine Collective. Julie was inspired to create this safe place for women to share their secrets, desires, triumphs and pain as the antithesis of what mainstream media offers women today. In her column Pursuit of Perfection, she explores the importance of rectifying the balance of inner and outer beauty through essays, poems and articles on self-esteem, shame, family, and self- acceptance.

Young Lovers

He first saw her during coffee hour, in the Catholic church on Second and Thirteenth. She was filled with spirit, mass having been just finished. She wore her golden cross outside of her beige vest. She approached him and walked passed him, saying nothing. This was the moment he saw Read more

Anders Svenning

Anders M. Svenning lives in south Florida. His work has appeared in Forge Journal, Grey Sparrow Journal, and many more. His work is forthcoming in an anthology by Horrified Press and in Conceit Magazine. His motto: What seems evident rarely is the case.