ON REPEAT IN THE DARK
By Matty Bennett
Age: 23
Drew lodged a deer rifle down my throat.
It fires shots every time I try to speak,
which isn’t often, and will make me
a Midwestern man—the kind
no one questions. The kind
that sneaks out the door
while the family is gathered
around a newborn grandchild.
The kind that won’t hold a hand
unless it’s Thanksgiving grace.
In the darkness
of the deer stand before dawn, somewhere,
you are field dressing your prize, pushing
steaming guts into the frosted river.
Somewhere, I am six years old
hiding in Grandpa’s closet,
smelling his clothes,
hoping no one finds me.
Drew,
are you still awake? In the darkness
of the basement bedroom, no windows—
stories of ashtray women, I touch myself
to the sound of your voice.
Matty Bennett is a second-year MFA
candidate in creative writing at Virginia Tech.
Old Paradigms
By Timothy Wayne Moore
Age: 27
a dark hand had spread across the land
based in power and oppression
the collective actions of the minority,
is the obsession of a cohort with the majority of influence
directed at our advancement
or rather the lack there of
our chances are held up high from above
as we crumble from not having enough
those with ability sacrifice
the possibilities of the many
still rolling the dice
to gain profit but at what price
the very existence of our species
is threatened by ineffective policies
out dated mind frames and broken games,
our society we pretend, functions healthily
when so many are without
not covered, erased from doubt
the perfect image of the middle-class dream
is to pretend that poverty is the enemy
when in reality
millions are started unfairly
having to carry the bruises
of being broken and used as if not human
our history is of national abuse,
drunk with power a baby holds the noose
for so many who don’t fit from infancy
into some preordained society
are we to repeat history
still acting as if the current beliefs
are fair depictions of our individual stories
we are taught to hate early
have to unlearn what for some was natural
begin to unravel a different way to travel
through life, searching for truth and light
to evolve into a being of faith and might
can we move past superficial judgments
to more authentically deeper moments
honoring the freedom of life from the creator
searching for purpose to something greater
Searching for positivity
By Timothy Wayne Moore
Age: 27
The world is always falling
everyday despite the sun rising
we’re bombarded with a dark sway
such dangerous days
But what about the calm moments
when nothing’s happening,
when you are at peace
does that cease to add to
the happier side of things
the possibility each day brings
You can fall 1,000 nights
but you’re given that extra day
to create a new way
to change your thinking
Instead of harboring
on the doom of it all
why not search ever so far
for as much goodness
as you can witness
Timothy Wayne Moore is pursuing a master’s of leadership from Rosemont College.