Poetry & Prose General Reader Showcase #2 (Nov. 15, 2017 -- Dec. 6, 2017)

(Season's) Greetings!

We're now coming to the end of the After Party... How sad!! Well, I mean, there's still the Reader Survey that's up and available for any eager feedback sharers, but that isn't very exciting (however, it is super, super helpful, so please, feel free to take it! 😉).

For the last three weeks, you all had the chance to send me your poetry and stories to be shown off in a special, dedicated post as part of my second Poetry & Prose General Reader Showcase (please note that the first had a different title). This event lasted from November 15th, 2017 until December 6th.

As this was a general showcase (no theme), you will find a variety of styles, themes, and voices below. Each has been penned by a different author, each with their own levels of skill and experience. Thank you to these wonderful participants for sending their writings in -- you've all done beautiful work.

The below items are listed in the order they were received. If you didn't get a chance to submit yours, have no fear! While I don't have a date set yet, there will be more opportunities like this in the future!

Poetry

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Little Dreamer Girl -- Giselle H.

she filled her lungs with dreams
felt their ethereal wings flutter through her
the nights were long, but she didn't mind
she had written a thousand stories in her heart

one day the dreams were taken away from her
the scintillating life source was quelled
nothing to breath, to love, to think upon on lonely nights
a once pulsating glow turned to cold ashes

she inhaled but did not live
thought, but did not ponder
believed, but in frigid reality
where did you go, little dreamer girl?

I miss the warm summer nights
when eyes glowed and breath came fast
magic floated on the air like a song
waiting to be sung by YOU
little dreamer girl

now you sit on the mantle
staring at nothing with painted eyes
do you feel any remembrance
can you taste the memories,
little dreamer girl?
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Marja, Beloved -- AARO

Marja, Marja, my young love Marja,
My sweetheart dear, now six-feet under,
Hear me weep these eternal tears
That fall upon your tender grasses
To sink deep, deep into the old earth.
I stand alone, and will never leave
You, for you are one, my only one,
I remain by your side.
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Occupational Dyspnea -- Kanra Khan

My first grey stethoscope
hangs
loosely around my neck
not unlike a heavy rope
flaunting it feels like
a gaudy announcement
of my inadequecy
( all grown up ! )
the medical instrument is
nothing more than a mere
toy
in a child's sticky palms
melted hard candy replaced
by hyperactive sympathetic
response-- fight! or flight!
( what are you doing ? )
let me go back and play with
dolls
instead of lives and pretend to
cook with glass beads
in pots of clay
instead of doling out capsules and
tablets in silvery sheaths
( paracetamol -- 500 mg ? )
I question myself in my dreams
My first grey stethoscope
tightens around my narrow
windpipe
-- and I do not know how to cope
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Open Sleigh -- Jesse K.

Wintry winds are blowing cold
above in that sky of grey.
Ho, let the season's spirit fly,
Let us ride this open sleigh.
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Prose

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Origins -- Decadence

Never again.

That is what I told myself upon seeing what was left of my world. Shattered glass had been strewn about the floor, and jagged edges were all that remained of my windows, glinting doors that once filtered in the shining sun, the hazy day, and the starry night. But such netting was no longer necessary.

Because there was nothing left to hinder it.

One portion of my home, now black and charred, had not long before been ablaze in hideous devastation, the hellish red light of the arsonist's flame.

And the other had simply been razed, looted for all its worth. The floors I walked upon now... they were once my walls, my protection. No longer.

But all of that... that was all material. It was hardly the worst of what I beheld. No. The worst was how silent it was. How lifeless. There was nothing, no one, left.

And I had known it was coming. When I ignored that screaming voice inside, that damnable day, I knew the fate I had condemned myself to.

I just never wanted to face it.

And I will not face it a second time. I will not. As I stand before the ruins of my everything, presented with a choice, one much the same, I refuse to tread the path that brought me here. I made that choice once, against my angel's every wish, and word of guidance.

Never again.

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There you have it! Did you have any favorites? Thank you again to these writers, and I hope you (yes, you!) consider sending in your own work next time 'round. I'd love to see you there!

Please also note that I've been playing around with my categories, labels, and design. Posts currently contain all of their old labels and category placements, despite the new addition you see underneath my header. Once I've settled on a look, I will likely be going through and fitting posts into their proper sections, and reformatting where necessary.