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    • Editor's Note 2022 >
      • The Floor Wallows Lower
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      • That One Morning
      • mom, im afraid
      • selenophilia
      • Roses and Rainbows
      • If a poisonous snake bites itself, will it die?
      • Rochester
      • Crown of Branches
      • Stairs to the Sea
      • A Poem Written Entirely From Advertisements
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      • silhouette of a bird against winter stars
      • thunderstorm in the bedroom
      • A Night in Recovery
      • sleeping gypsie
      • paper dolls&goodbyes
      • We Are Women
      • Village Air
      • Sunshine's Laughter
      • the male gaze
      • The Forensic Entomologist
      • Lacking
      • Drowning
      • Adelie
    • Create the Wonders We Dream (2021)
    • Editor's Note >
      • Zove
      • I'm Sorry
      • Fake Smile
      • My Friend the Balloon
      • Eyes Intertwined
      • Perfect
      • Only a Moment
      • A Dangerous Word
      • My Dreams
      • The Last 100 Meters
      • The Green Void (Villanelle)
      • The Whimsical Galaxy (Sestina)
      • The Silent Kindness
      • Pressure
      • Table on the Hill
      • The Yukon
      • The Shore
      • Repentance
      • Her and I
      • Infections of the Soul
      • Threads
      • Dream of a High Schooler
      • Empty
      • little flame
      • scars
      • black and white
      • The Cat
      • Joy
      • Sweet Honey Bee Stings
      • If There Were One Day
      • Delete
      • Our Hearts to Central Vietnam
      • him or Him?
      • Ocean
      • Es Llaner Beach
      • Sewn Together
      • Rain
      • Yes, I Like
      • The Legacy of the Moon
      • The Wind Whimpers
      • From Here I See
      • To Feel Clean
      • Red
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      • Midnight Tango
      • Ode to a Spleen
      • Modern Siren
      • The Night's Diamond Tears
      • Beats In Double Time
      • A Day in the Flight
      • Carved By Venus
      • Lifeline
      • Everest
      • Education
      • How Much of Reality Can Be Observed
      • What is a Spork
      • What is the difference between love and in love
      • What would you have wanted? me to say
      • Planet Caravan
      • The Journey of a Minute
      • The Circus of Scars
      • Mosaic
      • Color
      • Love and Acceptance
    • Colors I Never Knew Existed (2020)
    • Her Voice Remains (2017)
    • Watch Every Second (2018)
    • Words Become Reality (2019)
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Red
By: Bella Ronzio

Picture
I will never smell lemons
without smelling the sticky summer nights--
full of mosquitos and smoke from the grill--
I spent in your backyard,
that faced a sunset
as red as your ancient set of pots and pans
that were scratched and dented from years of cooking.

You wore the necklace I made for you out of cheap beads
and string, even though it was not the prettiest,
or as nice as the lady’s on your block.
They wore designer,
but you were a proud grandma.

So what changed?
Ten years later,
you’ve moved to Sarasota,
finally living the dream.
Talking on the phone with your son
once every couple weeks,
but never asking if his daughter was near
to come to the phone?

I want to come visit,
but you never ask.
So now instead of living in Mount Prospect
surrounded by family in a
boring old townhouse,
and the closest body of water to you being the pond
across the street,
you’re alone in your own thoughts,
looking out on the gulf
that seems to sparkle
like the seagulls are dropping glitter from above,
on the second floor of an apartment
too big for a single 67-year-old.

I suppose it’s not too bad
being far away from you though.
We still face the same sunsets,
but yours must be a more beautiful shade of red.



Writer's Statement: I wrote this after my Grandma called me after multiple months of not talking to her. I wanted to write something that would describe what I wish I could say to her, but probably never will.
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