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).

