Acknowledgments

A very special thank you to all our contributing writers. Without the courage to share your words and work with others, our little publication could not exist.

Please find our contributors and follow their pages on social media!

Follow @glassgatespublishing on Instagram for more announcements and future calls for submissions.

● Natalie Mariacher

● AMAYYA M

● Man “Manny” La

● Kelly Boulton

● Shamik Banerjee

● Carella Keil

● Tohm Bakelas

● Sabian Raine

● Adam Brooks

● Christopher Power

● Patricia Joan Jones

● Rebecca Agauas

● Tshering Namgyal

● Argos

● Arben Alovic

● Amanda Thuy

● R.S.

● LJ Rue

● Zeidan Naqeeb

● John Dennis David Keane

● Bellum Rex

● Tinamarie Cox

● Dave Kurley

● Robina Nguyen

Regret

Regret is my closest friend

The reminder of choices made

That door once opened too late to shut

I wander over to restoration

The claws drag me back to desperation

To kick my way out of this cycle

Is to forgive myself

And slam the door

On the unwelcome guest of despair

Natalie Mariacher

Bio:

Natalie is a wife and stay-at-home mother who recently revived her love of writing and poetry after battling a cancer diagnosis. She uses life experience, relationships, her children, her faith, and her struggles with anxiety as inspiration for her pieces. She also enjoys photography, painting with her kids, cooking plant-based meals, and being out in nature.

You can find more of Natalie’s work on her instagram page: @whollyembraced

Life

The whole world is a maze… And people running behind it Reminiscence & Aspiring

In the midst, I forget to live….

AMAYYA M

The Path

I woke up to my keys missing, And then the door unlocked, And my brother walked in. His steps slow as he climbed the stairs. I stood in the doorway, And witnessed the burnout. I went to him, Clouded in the trail of smoke. He did not look but he asked, “Can you forgive me?” My last words to him were, “I just want you to get better.”

Black Hole Heart

black hole of a heart give me all of your regrets and they’ll disappear

Unsung Songs

I don’t regret it but all of the unsung songs echo in my lungs

Kelly Boulton

Bio: Kelly Boulton writes haiku about holiness and heartache, and shares these on Instagram as Grey Sakura @grey.sakura

Road Trips

Enough tears to float your way to Wonderland

Not enough poppies to forget it all

Cut the thorns off every rose; still your fingers

Bleed

He only sees you

Through the broken Looking-Glass

It cuts his eyes

So now he won’t look at all.

You sew shadows to the tips of his toes

Follow him wherever he goes

Not enough fairy dust to make you fly

Fall asleep with a bloody nose

Water only makes you dirtier

Not enough kisses to wake you up

Her glass slipper on his windowsill

Stale breadcrumbs leading home

He gives you a key, but only to lock yourself Out.

Carella Keil

Dreams Are Just Dreams

another cold morning you wake to frosted windows and complete silence— it’s been a long time since silence happened. the heat of the house seems to hold— as if it had a choice. you dream of a world where it is forever autumn, where the leaves change colors and it never gets cold. you dream of the house you’d buy and turn into a home. one with a fence around the yard and a porch with a chair, where you’d sit every morning watching the sunrise, and every night watching the stars come alive. someday you’d die there, but not before filling it with love, warmth and memories.

but this is just a dream. a silly fantasy. and if you’ve learned one thing in thirty three years, it’s that dreams are just dreams. reality is cold. seasons always change. and you will die alone.

Tohm Bakelas

Bio: Tohm Bakelas is a social worker in a psychiatric hospital. He was born in New Jersey, resides there, and will die there. His poems have been printed widely in journals, zines, and online publications all over the world. He is the author of twenty-four chapbooks and several collections of poetry, including Cleaning The Gutters of Hell (Zeitgeist PressPress, 2023). He is the editor of Between Shadows Press.