Blue Mermaid

by Shannon Ross

What is all this talk of singing?
We know only the echo of song,
the clicks and ticks
of warning

My pinprick eyes allure no sun or man,
I make love to the blue-green only,
suspended in the continuum,
soft-grey and floating,
under the penlight moon
and the tiny, punctured sky

Shannon Ross is a marketing editor at Cognos Inc. in Ottawa, Canada. She has her Masters degree in English from the University of Ottawa.

How Do You Want Me, Honey?

by Linda K. Hill

How do you want me, honey?
My hair pulled back or maybe to the side?
The last time I did it, you didn't even notice-
and I sat right down and cried.

How do you want me, honey?
Shall I lose a few pounds?
Or maybe put on an extra five …
so you might know that I'm alive?

How do you want me, honey?
Like I am? Who I was before?
No? Well maybe I don't
want you to be my honey
anymore.

Linda K. Hill is an adult student at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan majoring in English. She is currently at work on a romance novel.

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