What was once a shattered glass

I halt my step, tracing

the scattered fragments on my trail,

remnants of moments I once named

breakdown.

Darkness clouded my memories,

but now I see snippets glowing,

embraced by embers—a phoenix's light.

Their flickers illuminate my path

as I resume my journey

into the pitch-black ahead.

Each glimmer gently reminds me:

good recollections often sour with time,

while days I felt like

a suffocated puppet

become memories of endings,

heralding awakenings.

Jiji Lubis is a journalist, news editor, and columnist based in Jakarta, Indonesia. An occasional hermit with seven cats, she writes poetry as a therapy for her prolonged mental health battle. Her poems have been by *82 Review, Sage Cigarettes Magazine, Messy Misfits Club, and Raven Muse Magazine. Her Instagram is @ink.trospective.

I am just an outsider

I have no understanding of the turmoil

existing in the mind of those who

have been told there is something

unforgiving and indiscriminate in their

body wanting to kill them

Yes, we all face the possibility of death

every day but for most of us it is a

shadow far off in the distance

unseen and ignored

It is not for others

Death infiltrates their thoughts in

conversations, contemplation, sleep

I have shared their anger, screamed with them,

cursed with them, cried with them, prayed with them, but

I am just an outsider.

I am helpless at times when they feel hopeless

bombarded with foreign words and battered

by deadly chemicals and ray guns

Sometimes you see their eyes look into yours for

decisions but you cannot provide them with one

because you are an observer and they realize the decision

is theirs to make. All you can do is offer a hand of compassion.

Faith is a door

We walk through it willingly or not at all

If we walk through it,

We are not assured of a pain free existence

Just a life which has meaning

Even for an outsider.

John Doriot is an award-winning poet and author. He has won 6 Georgia Independent Author of the Year Awards from 2022-2024, of which two of those books were for collections of poetry. He has contributed short stories and poetry to Down in the Dirt, Dark Horses and WestWard Quarterly magazines.

The Waiting Room

They walked into the room

Worry, Fear, and Hope

Overhead it loomed

The ability to cope.

Worry had an older face

Fear was any age

Time gave worry an embrace

Fear danced on the stage.

They all just took a seat

Waited there as told

Not sure of who they’d meet

Shivered in the cold.

Worry talked real slow

Afraid she’d talk to Fear

Wondering when she’d go

Or if Hope would disappear.

Before they left the room

Worry and Fear, each one,

Saw Hope, flowing in the room

Through the eyes of loved ones.

As they walked away

Even though they cried

Worry and Fear would stay

With Hope there by their side.

John Doriot is an award-winning poet and author. He has won 6 Georgia Independent Author of the Year Awards from 2022-2024, of which two of those books were for collections of poetry. He has contributed short stories and poetry to Down in the Dirt, Dark Horses and WestWard Quarterly magazines.