Unspliced: A Poem

Mind in pieces

Disjointed thoughts

Strips of film

Hanging from

An editor’s rack

35 mm images

Waiting splicing

From an ancient machine.

About Laurie: The author of the recently released Finding Joy as well as The Pharaoh’s Cry, Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky of the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, and Laurie Woodward co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

Single Breath: A Poem

My footsteps echo

In empty rooms

As feet shuffle over

Silent floors.

A single breath

Fills the air

Where once

Two voices shared.

I wander

Extant in

Another farewell.

(Cover Photo by David Stroup)

No Going Home: A Poem

I don’t want to go home.

And face the quiet echoes

Of rooms that once vibrated

With shuffling feet

And a coquette’s laughter

I don’t want to go home

To neatly stacked dishes

And pots as cold

As hoarfrost.

I don’t want to go home

And look at the bed we shared

Night after beautiful night.

Nor crawl between sheets

Become funereal shrouds.

I don’t want to go home

I sit by the sea.

Until the blinding mist forces me

Through shadow

In retreat.

About Laurie: The author of Forest Secrets and the soon to be released Finding Joy as well as The Pharaoh’s Cry, Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky of the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, Laurie Woodward co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

Gaslit: A Poem

Odorless gas wafting from room to room

A noxious message within a tonic

Of sweet embrace

Tangled limbs

And connected flesh

Eyes droop

Pupils dilate

And fear begins.

The poison takes hold

With malevolous mantras

She chants again and again

Until she is a quivering shade

Of her former self.

**About Laurie:** The author of *Forest Secrets* and the soon to be released *Finding Joy* as well as The Pharaoh’s Cry, Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky of the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, **Laurie Woodward** co-wrote *Dean and JoJo*: *The Dolphin Legacy.* Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD *Resolutions.* Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

Etched Invocation: A Poem

In the lonely quiet

Of empty sheets

That no longer rustle

I whisper his name

And reach out

To caress

A back that

Isn’t there.

Enduring the cold silence

Of phantom forms

With an invocation

Of a name

Etched on my skin

Love’s Rewrite: A Poem

Mind revisions

Of pain

And loss

Where dreams edit

Every goodbye

And failure.

A delete button

Of the mind

Where he never left

Cleaving me into two

And enveloping hearts intertwined.

I rewrite the past

In whispered fantasies

That lull me into

The stupor of sleep

A psyche typing REM

Day after day.

About Laurie: The author of The Pharaoh’s Cry, Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. Laurie Woodward co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

A Break-up Mantra for Healing

Thank you God for this day.

Thank you God for this life.

I am blessed beyond compare.

I have everything I need in this moment.

I have love, health, and family.

There is joy everywhere I look.

God bless my daughter, Jessica.

God bless my son, Nicholas.

God bless my friends and family.

I vow to care for this precious gift of life.

And let those around me know how grateful I am.

To share another day loving, living, and laughing.

Men’s Song: A Poem

I love men.

Their musky scents.

Car grease, salt,

And briefcase leather

Linger in my lungs.

I love how they move.

Purposeful fingers pounding keys

Or the deliberate way they

Place one sturdy foot in front of the other

As they swagger
Across floors.

I love men’s stalwart shapes

Muscled arms, broad shoulders

Carpeted chests

Inviting touch

And nuzzling faces.

Their small hips

And the way belts

Ride just so.
I love the sounds they make.

Dressing for the day.

Snapping buttons, razors buzzing

Water splashing.
And deep voices

Which resonate

Their mesmerizing tune.

***

I hate men

Their strong smells

Of sweat and musk

Shoulders so wide

As to make walls

While daring hands to

Touch.

I hate the way they

Peacock preen

Over the ground

Deliberate steps

Crushing insects

Flowers

And my dreams.

I hate their discordant

Voices

Crooning cacophony

Reminding me

Of glory days

Real and imagined.

As they say goodbye.

(photo by David Stroup)

The author of The Pharaoh’s Cry, Portal Shift, Kidnapped Smile, and Dragon Sky from the fantasy series The Artania Chronicles, as well as the middle-grade Forest Secrets. Laurie Woodward co-wrote Dean and JoJo: The Dolphin Legacy. Her poetry has been published in multiple journals and anthologies and she was a collaborator on the popular anti-bullying DVD Resolutions. Bullied as a child, Laurie is now an award-winning peace consultant, poet, and blogger who helps teach children how to avoid arguments, stop bullying, and maintain healthy friendships. She writes on the Central Coast of California. More about her work can be found at artania.net

Nowhere to Take Cover: A Poem

What I miss

Is the holding.

The knowing you were safe

In his arms.

The calm at end of day.

Telling you that every storm

Would pass

Because his arms

Were around you.

Now thunderclouds form

And I don’t know

Where to take cover.

Shards of Us: A Poem

Broken shards

Scattered over the floor

Remnants of a life

He tossed away.

I reach for one

Two, seven pieces

Trying to reassemble them

But the fragments are

So small

And fragile

They crumble to dust in my hands.