The sky was grey and gold overlooking Crystal Spring Farms  

On the last day that I drove by  

We had a conversation over gelato  

Because you were tired and overworked 

I’ve had this happen to me many times and I’m sure that you have too. You are having a Socratic-style seminar and after biting your cheek for a while, you finally grow the courage to share your wisdom with the class. You have been sitting on your insight for the past 4 minutes before realizing that it’s actually worth sharing and you aren’t wasting anyone’s time by opening your mouth (which is something you worry about an awful lot even though you shouldn’t).

Disappointment and error strike at the worst of times,

Always creeping up within the dead of night; you feel as if you committed a crime.

Up above the iced-over pavement, crowning itself where the birds fly, an evergreen tree stands.

Triumphant, stable, and able to be climbed upon by way of both feet and hands.

Dear Reader,

This amendment is in reference to my work, “The Lumpy Body Society”. It’s about my body dysmorphia and the relationships that influenced it. If you have not read it (which is the case since it has never been released and never will), I encourage you to read on! If you want to read the original work, please don’t ask me!

Every step I take sings

Power

I plant my foot on the ground

So I will never fall in love

The simplicity

Of Cafe con Leche es mas rica

Café tiene melanina …

I planted a small tree today–

tomorrow it will die.

I can sense the decay I planted …

Late winter and spring have never been easy for me— long days worth of steel skies, cold winds sweeping flat fields of cracked, brittle cornstalks, late mornings and early, dark nights, brass puddles in the field behind my yard …

Nathan Moone’s Exhale, is a collection that came from a place where he needed to get something off his chest. Moone was insecure in writing these pieces which allowed him to throw himself down that tunnel and explore why he felt the way he did. This collection is an exhale, a release of inhibitions and allowing himself to say what he feels.

I see the sparks from a coil ignite

Catching fire becomes the light

We will be burning through this night-

To Worship …

The moon shines down over the soft, cool sea. The wind laps at my back and the snow on my bare feet gives them a soft chill. I love this time of year. …

I can picture the necklace almost everywhere I go. The thick gold chain, the two brown beads, and the golden cross front and center. The necklace felt cold upon touch. …

Stillwater is looking for editors for the 2022-2023 academic year, and we want you to be one of them!

I retire upon a bench

In a park across the street

From my childhood home …

Selecting Seeds:

You won’t meet him in April or while picking tomatoes. Instead, you’ll be picking clothes off the floor, working an after-school shift…

Tongue Tied written by Lyndsey Honor

Inspired by Carlos Murillo Zamora’s Dark Play or Stories for Boys

The cigarette burn-hole on the back left seat fit my 10-year-old pinky perfectly. I’d twist my finger deep into the foam––a fidget to distract from…

i’ve been trying to work on myself.

it’s just so hard…

On the tippity top of Mommy's dresser there's a blue vase. It has flowers painted on its side, big white ones with yellow middles…