Hydra
you love translucent amber
ambrosia
and drowning in the din
of last call you love
globes of ghastly light
you love gilt
on tasting glasses sticky
mahogany
you love to hate all
these sticky endeavors
you love nothing you hydra
you love nobody you love wind
how it carries our whispers
through fields at purple dusk
you love to lie
beneath a ligneous crown
in sap and needles and think
razors stars amphetamines
chasms cenotaphs green flames
owl eyes nepenthe
Sonnet for a Ladybug
You vanished when I was 5. You never saw me
munch hotdogs in Mickey Mouse sweatshirt.
You never saw me scream at Sega Genesis,
nor the mishap with the fishhook in the eyelid
of Mom’s boyfriend. You never saw me
in the crumbling 2-bedroom on Meigs Street.
You never saw me, fingernails digging at
nicotine-stained wallpaper. You never saw me
administered applesauce with crushed Ritalin.
You never saw me smushing my little face
against a cold windowpane—a nighttime deluge
of strobing blue & red. You never saw me
on mom’s bed cradling a sealed mason jar:
little did I know, my ladybug was suffocating.
Zach Spruce (he/him) is a neurodivergent writer from Rochester, New York. He is the author of the chapbook Vanishing Sun from Bottlecap Press (2024). Zach holds a bachelor’s degree in English and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in social work from SUNY Brockport. His poetry has been featured in publications such as Wild Roof Journal, Lucky Jefferson, and Lilac Mag. He has also served as a crisis telecounselor for 988 Lifeline.
Serotonin 