Issue 5

By Linda M. Crate 

i will never give up on me

my voyage of self-discovery

is truly interesting and i 

enjoy uncovering all the pieces

of me i hid from the world


thinking i should out of shame

or guilt;


but i think my favorite

parts of myself

are the ones no one else

can replicate because

they're me—


i have been on many trips

on my life,


but i think it is meaningful

to become the person

you were always meant to be;


i embrace my magic

and all the chaos that comes

with it—


because i know there

are miracles and dreams

with my name on them,

and i will never give up on me.

surrounded by love and flowers

before you took your

final voyage into the

great beyond,

i remember despite the

dementia somehow

you could remember me;


and i saw that you were

holding a book called

forget-me-not


you're not someone anyone

forgets, grandpa;


you were the keeper of the bees,

and i hope the bees you lost

have found you in the

afterlife;

where you can enjoy the 

sweetest honey—


you were always so kind,

always made me smile;

i hope you're no longer in pain

and you can remember

everything which made your

heart and soul happy—


i hope you're petting blossom

and aj and surrounded by

love and flowers.



Linda M. Crate (she/her) is a Pennsylvanian writer whose poetry, short stories, articles, and reviews have been published in a myriad of magazines both online and in print. She has seventeen published chapbooks the latest being: only the future knows (Alien Buddha Press, November 2025).

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By Gianoula Burns (Issue 5)

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By Chawa Nandini Meghana (Issue 5)