next we have 'the hem of your poem' by @IsaacDaraWrites! short and simple, but so so touching. "God calling back the first couple to Eden" really got me, and i'm not even sure i can put into words why??? fav lines below <3

next up! 'beside bonfires' by fabiola madrigal. so many good LINES here. "trembling is my birthright" ok.. love this. "Raised is your temple, / Raised is my hands" also struck an unable chord with me. dark, gorgeous, flickering. but honestly? my fav lines are the last ones.

next! 'the mountain' by @gothqore. think i remember you tweeting that this was a result of you misunderstanding the prompt, but it's one helluva beautiful misunderstanding tbh.

next up is 'of my love's signature' by @ErnestOgunyemi and i cannot COPE with how much i love this poem oh my god. lulls you in with the domesticity of it all and then..! ouch. also the final two lines are BREATHTAKING. really. just beautiful. see for yourself:

next we have 'inspired by "from eden"' by @micafage! short, but poignant. really hit me behind the ribs, y'know? god the ACHE of it all. love & sin are eternal, splendid themes and mica cuts to the core of 'em here.

next up is another poem that made me gasp "oh" multiple times--'breath from bone' by @sweetfirefly2. some really lovely turns of phrase here. just a couple: "the day slits open", "our words are torn from us / by wind and breath from bone." and the final lines..!

next! 'and i call it love' by @bearsbeetspoet! MAN this didn't go where i expected it to given the song it is based on, but i love to be surprised. in love with how tender this is. with the softness and sweetness of it all. i can see myself in this.

next up is 'dear heavenly mother' by @hecasson and i love it! it's.. sad? and lonely? and i love every bit of it? "Alone and unreachable — but alone and unreached" maaaaan. just rip my heart out why donchu. fav lines below!

next is 'witching hour' by @LaurenBusser! a promising title and the poem doesn't disappoint! besides, witches are reliably fantastic. also! "the quiet stillness of the house after life ceases to quiet breaths" is a stunning turn of phrase. so peaceful and hushed. fav lines below!

next up is 'arsonist's nightmare' by @rydanmardsey! ooh i love the ENERGY in this! coiled tight and ready to snap--much like the situation itself! can't believe you've captured so much movement into so small and still a moment!! fav lines below!

next ! up ! 'inspired by "dinner & diatribes"', by @mildrangus: boy this fairy tale is a dark one and i LOVE that for it. "to love in the light of another" and "godliness becomes us" are such.... High Concepts. glad i read those lines today!

next we have ''into the womb of darkness' by @samofthevoice! and... wow. mm all of this just... got me. i have a rocky relationship with religion, and an equally rocky relationship with my conception of selfhood, and all of this.... spoke to me. thank you for writing this.

and now onto our final two! 'amen' and 'ode to hozier putting his emptiness into melody' by @adedayo_agarau! 'amen': oh... fitting that one of the lines is "[amen] to everyone's ache" because this made ME ache a LOT! in the best of ways. every verse is so beautiful & poignant.

'ode': "i've tasted this grief but never in my / own tongue" oh!!!!!!! oh, beautiful. lovely. "i have seen that loving a girl // is the cheapest way to becoming a god / a poet / a seer" i, a romantic, YELLED at these lines. astounding! fav lines below!

and there we go! so happy to be in such a beautiful issue alongside so many beautiful voices, and i really hope everyone reading this goes and finds their own fav lines to swoon over <3 now i'm gonna go write some more poetry of my own xx