“July“ – Katie Taylor
The month of July almost makes me cry
From happiness, from saddness
Summer passes and life becomes cold again
But in that moment I am warm from being alive
“Detached” – Rayna Stallings
It’s getting harder to get out the bed each morning and go about her day
Dreading the tasks and work that never seems to go away
There is no motivation, no will to try
The thought of doing anything makes her want to cry
The heaviness that holds her down is too much
Her mind is empty, her bones turn to mush
Not aware of the need to eat or drink water, the world fades to gray
Her brain becomes empty, her thoughts float away
The world feels cloudy and nothing seems real
Away from herself, not knowing how to feel
It’s like looking through glass at the sights ahead
Time doesn’t exist as she lay there in bed
Curled up in a blanket, the fog takes over her head
A noise fills her brain, sounding like heels walking down a hall
The fog slightly rises and she realizes she did leave her bed after all
In class she sits hearing an ongoing lecture, not remembering how she got there
Looking at her calendar realizing four days have passed
She realizes it’s easier to function while extremely detached
“Ray of Light” – Anna Shoup
Ray, you’ve gone awry,
Won’t you just say that you’re sorry?
You’re off your wagon,
No longer such a stallion.
I hear the one you pine for
Is younger than your daughter.
You tried to lead her astray,
Gifted her an ash tray?
Strolled into her store,
Your brimmed cap longer than her so-far life.
Called her looking for your wife,
Still now her superior.
You brought in the left-behind lunch
So you could catch another glimpse.
Too bad your leg still limps,
And your back forms a hunch.
Any day now your posture
Will demise your former rockstar allure.
Try to impress her with knowledge of dirtbikes,
And fall short, as you have with the likes.
Ray of light they say you once were,
Of that I can no longer be sure.
You’ve traveled to heights and above,
There I should’ve given you a shove.
Ray, you’re now awry,
Won’t you just tell her that you’re sorry?
“For an abundance of embrace” – Mariyka Sich
Three years of touch starvation
Have stretched themselves too long.
They seep into a fourth year
Because people think it’s fine being without.
It is so not fine to pretend it is.
Normalizing the hesitant, shifting eyes
Should be considered a crime.
A crime to not embrace the ones we love.
We have made it “cool” to look disinterested,
To not care, not feel, not express our love.
Why not break it all apart, go crazy,
And push until people remember the good?
So join me, beloved, my loved ones
In the healing power of touch.
We may be afraid of the appropriate times,
Of the social expectations and possible mistakes…
But let’s grow through the fear and pain together
And come out better from “too much.”
Touch heals, restores, relaxes and emboldens
So let’s take the leap, take the risk and hold on.
Let couples bring back the public displays of affection
And go back to the truth that our love is expressed through our bodies.
God made our bodies good—to love and to be loved,
So why not accept what is sacred in our bodies, in our touch?
“Where am I” – Demya Gaskin
I feel the breeze against my face
The grass between my feet
I feel soft petals on my fingertips
The blanket underneath my body
Where am I
I see the sunset on a once blue sky
The yellow mass all around
I see it slowly fading to night
The stars began to make a show
Where am I
What is in nature where you can feel the breeze
The grass in your feet
You can touch with your fingers
Where you can lay to think
See the sunset a big mass of yellow
But also see a star show
Where am I
I am in a sunflower field
