Love Poem II
I wish they would lay our bones out in the sunshine.
Bleached to dust, yours and mine-
dissolved by the days that would have been ours-
we could melt together,
fragments in the rain – dancing in the breeze,
drifting to the stars and comets,
melding with heat.
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Contrasting Cartwheels
We become adept at uncurling our tongues.
Smudging our bold,
Shadowing our spirits.
We tune ourselves to a public flat-key-
A dull persona that does not intimidate or swallow the world.
We fold ourselves into pocket squares-
Attempting to fit into spaces that were not created
for us.
We, the rainbow of fast talkers-
Interrupters-
Sponges, who feel moments “too much”- to be
stuffed in the idle state that cartwheels to death.
We, the spectrum seers – exploding with life –
absorbing the universe –
writing poetry in shorthand
Rachel Hoermann is a third-year student at the University of Cincinnati, dual-majoring in English-Creative Writing and English-Rhetoric and Professional Writing. She is also pursuing a minor in Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies and a certificate in Copyediting and Publishing. Rachel is a newly inducted Pi Epsilon Pi National Writing Society member and President of UC Clermont’s Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Rachel is a mother of two daughters and wife to a supportive husband; they share their home with three feline overlords. Rachel enjoys reading, writing poetry, FC Cincinnati games (Acosta is the best #10 in MLS,) baking, gardening, art museums, and traveling. Rachel has been an editor with the East Fork Journal of the Arts since 2021 and managing editor since the Fall of 2022.