Seraphine Saintclair, Charles Gammon, Conny Borgelioen, Shannon Cates

MAGRITTE’S ‘EMPIRE OF LIGHT’
Charles Gammon
Be still and steady in your tucking away.
You are tucked away. Placed. And set.
You are the pale bulb
seeing and touching and all compulsions
contracted into one small
color of the gods.
The sun-sinked hour looms, but watch how this time
it lays its warm body down among you, how
it comes as an answer to your quiet prayer.
It brings a certainty, what you are is what
you long for in secret. A meal of purpose.
Look through this shade little dove,
and you might see the softer light above you,
you might do some finding
for yourself.
MONAD MAENAD
Conny Borgelioen
(CHRYSALISM)
The winter months arrived in a line, like a long train
pulling into the station. Thudding and hissing
announced their arrival, and so did the rain
coming down from towering clouds.
The raving wind and frenzied rain
binding this single individual,
winded by grief,
to the bed
a comma
in a pouch
of blankets
Heartbeats
like carriages
in the wild stillness
of the belly of the world.
THROUGH THE KITCHEN WINDOW, I SAW DUSK
Shannon Cates
I’d forgotten to watch the shadows
the sky blinked dark, shed its skin
I felt the cold breath of what we have now—here and now
I prayed in a voice like the back gate’s worn hinges:
Lord, let me be soft when the shadows come
I could almost see the husks we left behind, under the tree
Seraphine Saintclair is primarily a poet, singer/songwriter and photographer but she enjoys creating in other mediums as well. In her work she especially loves to explore the worlds of her emotions and the mystical. Her work has been published in The Winged Moon Magazine, Midsummer Dream House Magazine and Voices of Rebellion Magazine. She has also self-published six books of poetry and is working on new poetry collections, as well as an album of music, a novel, and multiple projects involving her photography. On Instagram she is @seraphinesaintclair
Charles Gammon lives in the Southeast US and enjoys writing about place, time, art, nature and small moments of daily life.
Conny Borgelioen is an odd seabird, living on the Belgian coast. She has a Sisyphean rock called chronic fatigue syndrome and works part-time in a social grocery. Her writing has appeared in Tint Journal, Kaleidoscope, Rogue Agent, Feral, Babyteeth, t’ ART, and the Emma Press Anthology of Illness.
Shannon Cates, a UX designer living in Annapolis, Maryland, finds comfort in rainy days and the written word. When not crafting digital experiences, she's immersed in poetry, often with her cat by her side. Her work has been published in Humana Obscura, Flora Fiction, and Bodega Magazine among other journals.