SOME EXCHANGE
By Ryan Bonner

On the 10:08,
And your infantine eyes
Sweat like fat grapes
In the black night,
The shadows cut our
Heads
And
Thoraxes
Into the minced sections
Of the spiders we are of late.
I say "some exchange"
With my vile tongue
And hear
Only the stridulations
Of your silence
And of
the brakes
Stopping this train
Before it leaves the ground.
Our webs careen
With each lurch of the cart
And our legs
Tangle on the
Very Viscid Rope
We spun from our abdomens;
And I say again, "some exchange"
To your sucked, staling stiff.

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LIKE HALF A PERSON By Joanne Leva
I I be you're I why came. understand you want talk. look and gone. pull covers to face. how covers be. stuck purgatoid. like I'm a like half have speech I'll what's my with eyes they in dark. silhouette the of I you I've your I'm to you, God, know you	-	guess should humbled here. know you I why don't to I away you're I'll the close my My wonderful can I'm in I'm a like I'm a person. I no so say in heart my as adjust the Your sharpens lack light. see watching. exposed gaze. going remember my I who are.

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BLACK AND WHITE
By Lindsay Musoleno

Black and White
Black and White
Black and White
Hiding in the night
Looking here
Surrounded in fear
Please make sure the door is locked tight
Running trains
Jumping cars
It's been years since I have traveled this far
I'll never be safe
Never be safe
I'll pray that I'm not too late
Guns handy in pockets
My hands wrapped around my locket
Take it all
Take it all
I wonder what could break my fall
Searches continue through the rooms
I know that he'll find me soon
Opened window held with a broom
This is the last time that I will be doomed

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STRAINING FEAR
By Ruby Halpern

Darkness from between the cracks
Depth to each deceptive word
Secrets are barricaded
Concealed behind closed doors
Pounding on the door
Drumming of my heart
Nerves on edge
Tension running thick
Suspicion makes the blood cold
Determination faces its obstacles
Stale air, cracked by the trains whistle
Unable to hear
Urgent voices, muffled by thin walls
Corrupt men continue their vendetta
Fear and tension
Violent Empty threats
The plug is pulled
the lock slides home
anxiety seeps in

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JUMPING TRAINS
By Jason Keller

He's dead
And you're alive.
Some exchange that's been had.
My partner, my soldier behind,
Taken away for a woman like you,
And now it seems that I'm turning in screwed.
We're jumping trains
And locking doors,
These secret pacts that have us fooled.
With lights that flicker behind the steam-smoked blinds,
The mistress, invisible,
The message you cannot find,
Locked deep within the soul so tight.
Not even the shadowed corners who could scrape the surface that stood
under the mysteries in the grain of the wood.
Not even the men that come and go,
That carry guns and gold chains
to go with their thug ways
and paper packed cigarettes,
Have you melancholy and jaded upon
these sleepers that lie beneath our treks.
You're hiding in the closest,
Hiding away from the evil men,
Which is why you shouldn't be here,
But my partner in crime instead.
He's dead
And you're alive.
Some exchange that's been had.

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A MOVE TO PROTECT
By Desirae

Slick and plays tricks
Mrs. Neal wants his protection
He reveals no affection
His partner's gone
To keep Mrs. Neal seems wrong
A simple look for a briefcase
Make's your heart pump like you're in a race
The suspicion and those searching eyes
Make's you think the guy is a spy
But the lead guy doesn't break his cool
He makes the wandering guy look like a fool
Back to Mrs. Neal and he doesn't care
He knows a way to have her fate be fair
Let the guy choose
It's a win or lose
An answer will be revealed
Or perhaps, the guys lips may stay sealed

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HE HUFFED AND HE PUFFED
By M A Morris

"I'm looking for my pig skin case"
The wolf growls with distaste
"Not in here"
The farmer sneers
Guarding the door
Through which the pig hears
Wolf in a suit
Plays hide and seek
Can smell the perfume of the meek
Farmer's house of brick
Sways with the wolf's nifty trick
But keeps from tumbling like the house of stick
Pig shudders at the blow
Farmer offers no solace
Regretting his blasted promise
She trembles at the accusation
Burdened by his aggression
Concern for herself
Left the other to the axe
No pig truly has the others back
Prowling wolf
Goes without being discouraged
Nicotined smoke stains strong lungs
Of a gun welding farmer
Wolf's white fangs catch the light
Pig hardly hidden out of sight
Spiraled tail gains another notch
Looking for his pig skin case
Porky guts curdle as the
Duty bound farmer sits and waits
Defending his mighty house of brick

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WISHING STAR
By Amanda Wooden

Wishing star please grant me a wish
But not a pony or a fish
Somewhere out there he waits for me
The sacred one who holds the key
Although our paths have yet to cross
I know the risk won't be a loss
Inseparable from when we meet
Because he is the love I seek
Automatically intertwined
Much like our hearts that are combined
Meeting you is to be my fate
So hurry up and don't be late
But right now I am a sitting duck
Wishing and hoping for my luck

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HIDING
By Barbara Wagner

He hides her
from the dangers of the world
in locked rooms
and dark places
where air is stale
and light can't pierce.
He hides her
from the dangers of his fears
in his locked mind
and dark memories
where innocence ebbs
and truth can't seep.
He hides her from the dangers of herself
in locked lies
and dark fantasies
where hope decays
and love can't touch.
He hides her -
keeps her safe
keeps her close
keeps her barely breathing.

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THE NARROWEST OF MARGINS
By Scott Edward Anderson

Narrow, as in "narrow escape,"
As in "just in the nick of time,"
As in the long thin line
Between being caught and going free.
Rattle of train wheels on
Thin rails. Metal on metal.
Mettle or margin?
Margin, as in the edges prescribed,
As in the space between,
As in the blank stare of the innocent.
Trapped in a plot she can't escape.
Torn between being who she is
And who they want her to be.
"A fortune if they seal her lips,
A bullet if they fail…"

And the guy? He just wants to
Escape himself, but he can't --
The time-worn "get justice for my partner"
Play carries his day. He has to do
His job, his "rotten detail."
He must carry out the plan,
Which incidentally shifts with every
Twist, every jolt of the train --
Wheels on rails, metal on metal --
Testing his mettle
On this "night train heading west,
Loaded with Suspense."
Death riding the rails
And the long thin line disappearing
Into the narrowest of margins.

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BLACK AND WHITE AND NOIR ALL OVER
By George Filip

There was a time when black
and white were the
only two colors              Light
required.              and shadow
                    playing tag upon
the actors like make-up artists.

The good guy wore a fitted suit
and trench coat, white
shirt and a                       The
tie.               gangster sported
         patterned prints, a black
shirt, and the tie was optional.

A pencil-thin moustache upon
a firmly clenched jaw
and no line-up                  The
needed.                hard-nosed
                  cop, clean shaven,
keeps a gun and cigarette close.

Those were the days, my friend
when your enemies
looked you in                     But
the eye.                    no matter
               what lies were traded
you knew that he would be back.

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A WALK WITH DEATH
By Hannah Ehlers

stepping into the contaminated pool of the stagnant progress of the human race
you gave away every trace of freedom you had
the angels lost sight of your chocolate hair and they have better things to do
then come find the woman who forgot herself
as you drift, tied down by nothing,
into emptiness, into the growing darkness
you imagine death who stares into your eyes
and dares you to object
oh he'll come for you sooner or later
might as well play along
death's game has no rules
he owns you, he carries you on a leash
lingering at the end of every sentence
go ahead and take a walk with death
you are two steps in front- for now
good luck getting to know him
he'll laugh the whole time, slowly catching up
to bite your heels and take you with him

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