“if I could sell my soul I would sell it sweetly,

and not for money, but for love-

half-mangled minds seared with empyrean joy”

-Pastiche by Anna Crumpecker

 

“ELISE: I’m sorry but this is my life. I can’t just let it go for a month and pretend that every couple I see doesn’t remind me of- [Sighs.] Besides, you owe me this and you know it.

JON [quietly]: Look at this life I lead. I could never…

ELISE: We’ve been over this. I wouldn’t expect you to be involved. I can take care of everything.”

-Camera Obscura by Meg Wilki

 

“In the dark, beneath deep soft blankets, we thought we were in love. It was a night like all of ours; we were the only two people in all the world who were awake, and the world crouched down and hushed for us, for our power and our youth.”

-Superhero by Lindsey Howald

 

“since you are in our target demographic,

you may have seen this poem

advertised on TV.

honestly, we know

this poem looks better with actors.

but since this poem lowers inhibitions

after a while

it’ll make you look good too.”

-Bud Light Poem by Matt Pearce

 

“…there are moments when your truth peeks through and I know that there is something that lies beneath, and I want to help you unearth it, to shake the soil off each thing and take it for what it is.”

-Shell and Yolk by Brittany Barr,

2008 winner of the Francis W. Kerr Writing Prize