On the Clock
Light oozes across the room—a slow, golden spill,meandering across the floorforming an inviting pool of warmth. Even the embroidered flowers on my quilt,want to unfurl their petalsas the rays catch on the curve of my shoulders,making them warm as tea and toast. I am not here. I am not there—I am lit from within,more powerful […]
Prose at Ink & Ember Studio
I’ve always found it easier to bleed through poems—quick sparks of feeling, shaped by rhythm and breath. But prose… prose is slower to light. It asks for a steadier flame, a deeper surrender. Here in this space, you’ll find stories both real and imagined: fragments of memory, glimmers of fiction, and reflections that hover in […]
Fresh-Baked Poems
by SteffaniWrites They will arrive.Believe. Artisan breads,They fermentAnd rise. Then punch,They deflateTo rise again. ElasticIn my hands. I knead,Then shape. Pop in the oven—Timer ticking.I peek in,Grinning:Another poem has risen.
The One
I saw you from across the roomExuding masculine energyFrom your granite jaw and gunmetal eyes.Every woman’s eyes were on youAs you strode through the room,Looking for the one you’d make happy tonight. Your steely eyes captured each gaze, one at a time,One bee seeking one specific flower.Onlytheone.You knew what you wantedand would not settle. My […]
Siren of the Night
She slips into the night.The air, hot as a lover’s breath.She clutches a towel close to her bare skin.She scans the dark for signs of life.No lights or voicesto disrupt her mission.Palm fronds rustle in the breeze—whispering, “We’re alone. Go ahead.” She pauses at the pool’s edge.Then…the towel puddles,a bridal veil on her wedding night. […]
Kindle
I strike a match—a flicker.Possibility crackles in the air;a sparkdances between usbefore the flame catches. Eyes meet.Heat rises—a silent pulse,a force older than the sunpulls us in. My breath catches.Inches feel like milesjust beforethe touch of fingertipsor the brush of lips,the space betweenheavy with the scentof desire— a breath held,on the edgeof touch.
Enframed
She stands before the painting of the sea,her eyes begin to closeas she drifts inside herself.The canvas mirrors that fateful morning—the day he sailedto make his fortune.Their fortune. She held him close,committing every detail to memory—as he wiped the tears from her facewith his kerchief. That was five years ago.And the one thing missingfrom the […]
A Literary Flirtation
He sits sprawled,in his usual overstuffed chair.Pretending to read,but watching her instead. She types him in quiet stanzas,eyes lowered.She peers through her lashesmemorizing every detail Every glance he stealsis a line borrowedfrom the poem in her heartand the margins of her longing. He reads herin sidelong silences,lips twitching at the cornersdecoding ellipses where words should […]
Without Words
The Lamplighter glowed — a fond memory,soft at the edges,easy to miss if you weren’t looking. Busy at noon,businessmen seizing burgers and brews.Bustling at four,friends cracking pressure valves and unwinding. But after dark the mood plunged,the crowd dwindled.An aging woman writing in her journal.Two solitary strangers.And Theo, the bartender,serving drinksand polishing glasses. The bar was […]
Midnight Sky
The colors of day are gone, Slipped beneath the horizon Leaving a mystery of blue As deep as the ocean. It drapes around me, A sensual blanket Radiant with shimmers of starlight, Lush comfort for my solitude. The whispers of leaves Tell tender secrets to the trees About summer loves remembered. The night is mine […]