Tree Poem Joyce Kilmer

After my rebirth, I avoided my family and my boyfriend like the plague. When they tried to throw me a birthday party, I faked an urgent business trip to dodge it. When my parents pleaded with me to move back, I secretly bought my own house that very night. When my boyfriend popped the question, I spun on my heel and married someone else. In my previous life, my sister and I were swept away in a raging flood. By sheer luck, a jagged tree branch snagged my clothes, saving me from the depths, but my sister drowned in the merciless current. My parents, consumed by grief and rage, gripped my throat and screamed, "If it weren't for you, Andrea would still be alive!" My boyfriend acted like it was no big deal, offering half-hearted comfort before we tied the knot. But on our wedding anniversary, during a family cruise, they cornered me on the deck and shoved me overboard. "Time to taste drowning yourself!" they hissed. It turned out they had never gotten over Andrea's death. My boyfriend had never forgotten about her. When my eyes fluttered open again, I found myself back on that fateful day. This time, I vowed to live for myself, reclaiming the joy they'd stolen from me.

My girlfriend was a police officer. One day, I got kidnapped, and the explosives on my body were ten minutes away from detonating when the kidnappers ordered me to call her. Instead of worry, all I got was relentless scorn and a tongue-lashing. "Caleb, are you seriously doing this right now? How could you be so petty and jealous when a life is on the line?! Lucas' cat is in danger. It has been stuck on a tree for three days, and that cat is as important to him as his own life! "If I don't save them in time, you'll be the one at fault!" Over the line, I heard the voice of a young man that sounded, to my ears, anything but genuine. "Thank you Jamie, you're the best!" That man was my girlfriend's childhood friend, Lucas White. Before the bomb exploded, I sent her a final message. [I hope we never see each other again. Not in this life, and not in the next.]

"Why can’t you just leave me alone?" Valentina snarled, breath hitching as she shoved against the bark of the tree behind her. He stepped closer, eyes glowing with an untamed hunger. In one swift, possessive motion, he pinned her hands above her head, his lips grazing the pulse at her neck—dangerously close to the spot only a mate should touch. “Because, little wolf,” he whispered, his voice dark velvet against her skin, “you belong to me—and I’m done pretending otherwise.” _______ Stabbed by the man she once loved and betrayed by the friend she trusted most, Valentina was reborn in the ashes of heartbreak. No longer the obedient luna of the Shadow Crust pack, she rises from the shadows to reclaim her life—and her power. But home is no longer safe. Her pack is in ruins. Her father? Bewitched by a mysterious woman named Carmella. And fate? Cruel, as always. Because waiting for her in the heart of the storm is the man she should never desire—Andres Donovan, the cold and dangerously obsessive Lycan King… and her second-chance mate. He watches her with eyes full of secrets, speaks in riddles that echo of a past she can’t remember, and touches her like he’s been starving for centuries. But as enemies close in, alliances fracture, and war brews over the divine blood flowing in her veins, Valentina must decide: Will she fight fate again… Or surrender to the one man who could ruin her—or save her?

All Joyce Feather wanted was to leave her pack and become a teacher in the human world. She'd planned it for most of her life, preparing herself to have enough control over her nature to join the human world. But when a letter came through the mail asking for the hand of her older sister for marriage, everything went down the drain. The letter claimed that her older sister is the mate of the Alpha of the Winter Snow Pack, a dark and haunted place with too many ghost stories and terrors about the wolf that leads it. Joyce's life was turned upside down when her parents insisted on sending her to the other pack instead of her older sister, tying her with a duty she could not refuse. The Winter Snow Pack is led by the Blind Alpha Ollen Kingsmen, a broken man who ruled his people with an iron fist. A prophecy told by the witch of the pack led him to believe that he had to be mated right away even if he didn't want to, so he accepted his fate without knowing that his actual mate was not going to be the one who would show up for the ceremony. Instead, he ended up being bonded to Joyce, who didn't even want to be a part of the supernatural world anymore. What happens when Joyce is forced to live a false life in order to protect her older sister from the cruel Alpha who seemed to have no remorse in him? What happens when she is thrust into the dead land of the Winter Snow Pack and the blind Alpha who rules it? What happens when Ollen Kingsmen finds out that he was betrayed from the very beginning?

In the coastal quiet of Baler, a studio is born—not of architecture, but of intention.* Founded by Yam, a poet whose words cradle pain gently, and Franc, an artist who paints tenderness into walls, the studio becomes a refuge for those learning to stay—with grief, love, longing, and themselves. As visitors arrive, they leave behind more than footprints: a sigh recorded in bamboo, a poem tucked into the “Found Letters” shelf, a mural painted in crooked lines. Through zines, tea, silence, and sketchbooks, the studio teaches softness as revolution. Ren creates the *Window of Soft Returns*, an installation of anonymous voice recordings—each whisper forming a community of echoes. Drew builds the *Staircase With No Wrong Turns*, inviting people to walk through emotions without shame. Franc offers brushstrokes as brave work, and Yam curates writing circles that map healing in half sentences. Together, they host festivals that feel like hugs, and they begin traveling their archive, letting softness cross oceans. Even those who once left—like Miguel—return, discovering that some doors never truly close. Others, like Tala, capture the studio’s sound and turn it into a podcast of breath and becoming. Over seventy chapters, the studio transforms into something larger than itself: a mural of memory, a sanctuary for second chances, a place where return is sacred and voice is proof of survival. In the final bloom, the studio stands not as a monument—but as a reminder: > *“Staying isn’t easy. > But chosen together, > it becomes home.”*

A paranormal romance novel inspired by the children's poem In a Dark Dark Wood Leslie Sherman is a YouTube famous paranormal investigator who finds herself in the care and company of a captivating, attractive and mysterious man, Walker R. Blackwood, who lives alone in what she thought was an abandoned manor she stumbles on after becoming stranded and injured deep in the woods of Acadia National Park while out on a solo hike. As a single twenty three year old woman who’s still grappling with the turbulent breakup from her high school sweetheart, Randy Turner, nearly two years ago, Leslie struggles with the loss and regret of what they had together. Desperate for affection and love, Leslie becomes intimately drawn to the seductive yet brooding Walker Blackwood, who's formally prestigious reputation is tainted by the mysterious deaths of Mr. Blackwood's three female employees. Torn by her growing feelings towards Walker Blackwood, Leslie grows suspicious of him the more she learns about him and the more he refuses to disclose his past to her.

Gemma Stone is an assassin with a mission. She had run away from home when she found out that her mate— Alpha Brook of Willow Tree Pack— was cheating on her with her best friend. He rejected her and almost killed her for uncovering the secret that night. Gemma had nowhere else to go until she was recruited by a dangerous faction of rogues— the Akari League. Now the Akari League have their eyes on one thing alone: the Wolf throne of the Suro Kingdom. However, the lycan ascending the throne was rumored to be a god with extraordinary powers. It would be impossible to bring him down. But they know his weakness and plan to exploit it. To do this, Gemma is put on the mission. The plan was simple— gain the king's trust and slay him at his lowest. However, there was a slight issue: this Alpha king was Gemma's second chance mate.

As floodwaters rushed into the garage, I called my boyfriend. "Wade, help me... I'm trapped in here! The emergency exit's locked!" He sounded annoyed. "Tia, stop. Mandy's cat is stuck in a tree—we're handling it!" Then he hung up, taking the rescue team with him. My last hope was gone.

"Run, Eliana!" Her mother's voice, filled with pain, echoed in her mind. "Run, don't look back!" She screamed. The child scrambled off the oak tree with tears almost blinding her; she made a run for it. The white-haired woman with icy silver eyes wielding a flaming sword appeared in the ruin. Eliana Paw the long forgotten Alpha of Shadow Pack returns to exact revenge on those who had betrayed, Rejected and broken her. Will she succeed or would she be consumed by the flame of revenge? What would she do when the moon goddess gives her a chance to love again? Delve in to find out!!!

BLURB One night. One murder. One photo that changed everything. I was just a broke journalism student trying to survive college on caffeine, ramen, and late-night shifts, Until I saw him pull the trigger. Lucian Romano. Green eyes like a forest fire. A smile that promises sin. And a last name that owns half the city… and most of its corpses. He should’ve killed me. Instead, he gave me a choice: Delete the photo. Say nothing. Or become useful. Now, I’m his “eyes” inside the university, spying on dealers, dodging bullets, and trying not to fall for the killer who sees me as a pawn. But secrets don’t stay buried. And in this game of blood, betrayal, and stolen kisses… One wrong move, and I’m dead. Or worse, his…