Under flowered boughs
teared up with rain
my heart now learns to
break again
No pain so great as
love betrayed
for true love always
forever remains

Now blanket of fog
to cover the stain
to dampen this night
that can't even rain
for numbness of loss
comes to cover the pain
and this heart goes silent
all afraid again

There's a longing for wind to
come stir through the trees
maybe storm and thunder could
set this heart free

A single road plowed through the village. This road carried news, letters, gossip, friends, family, and—at least that day—two wanderers. One was older than the other, and they kept to the side of the road as they passed through, neither going further in nor wholly leaving it.
The older man was a middling person: middling height and build, plain, middling sort of features, and probably middle-aged. He attracted no attention, but the younger stood out.

Everything feels fake today.  The sky couldn't be much bluer, but it looks like it was colored by a million of those sky-blue Crayola pencils.  There's no underlying sheen of sunshine in it.  Everything looks like it was drawn in carefully, and flawlessly colored within the lines, and then immaculately polished.  The sun blinds me almost completely, but it looks dull.
Chocolate still tastes like chocolate, but it's become too flat, too sweet.  Everything has lost the best part of its flavor.  Nothing sounds good.

            The school gym was buzzing with sounds of activity – shoes against the shiny floors; feet thumping on the bleachers; phones ringing; shrieks from a group of children playing tag in the corner. Kids of all ages sprawled across the fold-out bleachers along the walls with their friends and parents. A woman led her freshly scrubbed baby across the room to take her place at the end of a long line.

*Okay, sorry I've taken so long! Anna, I have been working on this all these months, I assure you, and now I have the first chapter up! I've been having horrible writer's block on this one. Finally, I long handed it in the middle of my kitchen and I think it worked! I hope everyone enjoys it! -Erin*

waking up you see
sitting on a snow-covered tree
a cardinal, red and warm

his beak is yellow
his eyes are bright
he ruffles his feathers and takes flight

father frost blows
on your window pane
with his pattern, leaves a stain

all the trees
look like glass
but there's an emptiness

snuggled up under covers
not wanting to leave you bed
you try to get out, but jumping back in
you huddle up and sigh

you try again; you shiver
you put on your slippers

   Jewel, as she entered the dim interior of the castle, peered around for her twin, for some reason randomly thinking about her past.

  In the forest, Renee Rushings had died from starvation, and the Jkara family had taken in Jewel and her siblings. At fourteen, they had been sent to this castle, whose ruler was seemingly-though not-kind. However that might be, the twins were nobles and lived a relatively good life. And now, there was news  that the castle was going to be attacked, and the pair was being sent to summon whatever allies they could.

I take the step
to answer yes
I give my all
I give myself
I offer
my prayer of hope
I place it all upon
your throne

and I am on my knees
I'm yearning and praying
with self sacrifice
tears of sorrow on my face
a smile of joy cannot erase
I die
proving life

a covering
across my chest
a servants garb
does not impress
mirroring humility
strings holding
my memory
forever

and I am on my knees
I'm breaking and praying