Poetry Features | November 2024

Stillness

I woke up
out of a deep sleep
and thoughts of you
filled my racing mind wanting to feel
your arms around me
to feel protected
the way your hands
fall into the small of my back as you pull me close
a feeling safe and secure the smell of your skin lingers around me
my head rests gently
on your chest
for in this moment
time stands still
a glimpse into your eyes sparks ignite
as your lips touch mine
a key into your heart
as if you spoke to me
but no words came out
I felt it
it was all around me
my soul whispered back
I love you too

- Jen Potter

There she stood

she has always been here
but why I have not seen her
it’s as if
her light just turned on one day
when I caught her eyes
we connected
she sees me
staring deep into my soul
I didn’t want to blink
for what if this feeling went away
she spoke
this conversation was different
I could feel the fire in her belly
a passion so strong
it danced around her
for her beauty
wasn’t just a smile
I could stare at her for days
it was a heart so full
of love and laughter
all the words
that came out of her mouth
I could listen on repeat
the way she writes
speaks to my soul
as if every word
she took out of my mind
and put them on paper
since the day
she walked into my life
when she is not near me
I fear something is missing
but I always feel her around me
I long for a glimpse of her
a moment in her presence
is this feeling real?
so safe, feels like home
it’s okay to fall in love with her

- Jen Potter

---

It Did Be Like That

The Kid came from Abundanceland

Kid never really had to try

He never really felt secure inside

So He searched around to learn how to fly

Kid ran with cubs

He ran with wolves

He thought that they would know

He learned from favorite characters

In the stories with anti-heroes

Kid signed his name on the dotted line

Saying He would go to War

The message Kid heard from community

“Give us your life and we’ll give you back more.”

After Kid came back from War

Kid was LostandHurt

LostandHurt was so damn scared

He believed living was no worth

His Pride was very questioning

“Where is the you you were before”

“I left it behind somewhere out there

In the land of Forever War.”

He thought he was the one

That’s what War taught led him to believe

He went out to the land

And found that he’d been so deceived

He saw the path behind him

Saw the stones made of bone and blood

Saw the bodies of all the beings

Mixed into the mud.

So he sat alone in the wilderness

No distractions of abundanceland to be had

He finally found what he’d been looking for

And his heart healed and he was glad.

The tears poured out like Niagara Falls

And cleansed his soul within

When he saw his reflection in his lake of tears

He saw Wild Medicine

- Danny Medoff

---

The Everything That No One Sees

If love were a marketplace

then everything I found here in you would be for sale

Not front and center

or in the shop’s window items

What we have here is much deeper

and comes from years of searching

We lie on the road less traveled

we come from the hacking away at the overgrown

and we will die far off from the beaten path

I’ve been turning through these discarded hearts

and all these endless, winding roads

Searching for you this whole time

Only I didn’t know it

It’s the everything that no one sees that gave you away

Once that heart-glow of yours was pulled out

from its hiding place

every vagrant and thief for miles around stopped in their tracks

and are now en route to our position

I feel it’s best

that we end this poem

and softly rest the back cover of this book against these rambunctious words

A stern ending

but with the gentleness

of a kiss and a bed-time story

I will come for you

in my dreams tonight

and from here on out.

- Ian Morris