Kaveh Akbar, From "An Apology," In Calling A Wolf A Wolf

Mary Oliver, from "Peonies"

Kaveh Akbar, from "Wild Pear Tree"

I twist like a sunflower at the sound of your voice.

— Kait Rokowski, from "The Civil Guillotine" in So Much For the Mercy Kill

the past is the past. leave it there. leave it there. LEAVE IT THERE.

Rebecca Solnit, Hope In The Dark

Instructions for the Lovers, Dawn Lundy Martin

bitch this is all you’re gonna get. this life, this face, this body. you better not ‘maybe in another universe’ your way out of everything. sit your ass down and face this. go make tea and have a picnic and read a goddamn book. kiss your loved ones, send that damn text, and hug your siblings. this is all you’re gonna get.

“For lonely people, rain is a chance to be touched.”

— Simon Van Booy 

“He looks through the wound of my life like it’s light. So I let him.”

— Omotara James, from “Pier 52”