The call for submissions is coming up soon…
I am working with Candice Louisa Dequin to co-edit this anthology, and it will be published by Prolific Pulse Press.
UNHOUSED – Yearning for Home shines a light on: Migration, asylum-seeking, illegal-and-legal-immigration, and other factors resulting in being without a home, national-identity, country, or security net. Whether you have immigrated and found yourself isolated and unable to fit into your adopted country’s identity, or lost status in a country you identify with, been out-of-status, living-below-the-radar, a Dreamer or undocumented, or forced to flee your homeland because of discrimination, war or other destabilizing forces, this is your opportunity to share your experiences on the hardships and often invisible struggles so many endure.
Prolific Pulse Press’s background in publishing social justice anthologies, continues with ‘Unhoused – Yearning for Home’ – an anthology of poetry and flash-writing on the current epidemic of unhoused, homeless, stateless, and country-less people and how this lack of safety affects generations. We seek to highlight the writer’s resilience and determination to survive and thrive whilst sharing their truth and experience(s).
‘Unhoused – Yearning for Home’ will be edited by Carrie Yang and Candice Louisa Daquin. Carrie Yang works in the Homelessness and Employment services in Australia and is herself an immigrant. Candice Daquin is also an immigrant, currently in America, and has worked in crisis centers in the US/Europe and Canada. Their combined professional experience, alongside having produced over twenty anthologies, is the pulse behind this project. The editors are fortunate enough to work with Lisa Tomey-Zonneveld, Manager of Prolific Pulse Press LLC. Given Prolific Pulse Press’s history of publishing exceptional anthologies, including Cadence (finalist in the American Writing Awards), Social Justice Inks, Dear Heart, and Heartbeats, our goal is to be a powerful platform for erased voices on this neglected and often inaccurately understood subject.
‘Unhoused – Yearning for Home,’ doesn’t seek to become mired in politics, but rather through the lens of human experience, help others comprehend the unique social and physical challenges surrounding this kind of limbo. Poetry and creative writing is an ideal vessel for this and we welcome all forms of poetry, flash-fiction and accompanying artwork. ‘Unhoused – Yearning for Home’ is scheduled to be published in early 2026.
Please don’t say
You love me
If you expect
To hear it back
So many times
I heard those
lovey dovey words
They meant nothing
in the end
I hope you could tell by the style of the writing that this is another collaboration between me and Little Charmer.
This is a collaboration with Michele Lee inspired by our shared love for the nature and friendship. I adore Michele’s work and recently read her novela Her Costal Cottage. If you haven’t already read Michele’s work, pay a visit to her blog My Inspired Life, I hope you’ll enjoy as much as I have been.
A playground first encounter
two shy girls found each other
A friendship bonded by quiet giggles and thousand smiles
Best Friends Forever sealed with a pinky swear
while painted toes pressed into the pearly sand
Promises made when forever was cloaked by the misty gray fog, carrying the secrets of unknown tomorrows
falling gently on their straw hats and small hands busy adding broken shells to their sandcastle kingdom
where two mermaids could live
when they weren’t underwater exploring
The crystal blue above and the deep turquoise below
blending, swallowing shadows and fragile castles
as two little girls left the beach,
side by side skipping, singing, and hand-holding
half buried, a red bucket and spade forgotten
Another poem to share written by me and Little Charmer. I hope you enjoy.
Do you really believe
Your own bullshit
Look yourself in the mirror
Tell me
Your face doesn’t tell
A different story
Hi readers and friends, I am calling for writing poems or prose in collaboration with you, if you are interested.
Please let me know in the comment space or email me at carrie.levine.syd@gmail.com
With respect and love,
Cassa
This is a collaboration with Benjamin Grossman. I asked Ben to write with me in the hope that it would help me to overcome some difficult emotions. I think this poem achieved just that. I love the last line with all capital letters. It is exactly how I feel about emptying negative emotions by putting up a good fight, even it means shouting.
This is a collaboration with Sana on Ted Bundy and Elizabeth Kloepfer. You may read more about Sana’s wonderful poetry via Instagram @Confessions_of_Sophia
Tiresome
is my around the clock
bloodshed fantasy
You give me relief
like I once was
a new babe
slept in peace
without a worry
in this monochromatic world
A viral contempt
simmers in the pit of my stomach
As I lay awake
and stare at the roof
empty eyes
died a few months ago
though your love resides still
In my chest as I take a pill
through lows and highs
till my pride denounced my cries
of endless love
of your name
Now I am amorphous
out of love
The heart is embers
I carry this emblem
on the vacant mausoleum
of corpse once called memories
Somthing is off
my solace, my love
You make me edgy
All of a sudden
You are out of my possession
You were once the crib
I returned to
after a blood thirsty hunt
my resting place for reprieve
Now
you are out of reach
You befriended the dandelion
and are madly in love with wine
It wasn’t you
It was obsession
that made me fall in love with
bloodthirsty vampire
Your good boy next door grace
yet you never left a trace
You gnawed, clawed at my soul
It was a total blackout
within and without
When you eerily kissed me
left blood from a killing spree
I was obssessed
I was maybe your next nominee
The back yard echoes your melodies
You were a prodigy
of your world
But I am left with nothing
falling in abyss
This is a collaboration piece with Spirited Soul based on a Poetic Duets Prompt – “Pick any of the 5 senses. Now, imagine your life without it, and describe it poetically.” This prompt came from Instagram @PoeticDuets
Beautiful green and orange chunks weaved through the spongy dough.
Aromatic toasted nuts gave that firm structure
like the solid brick work in an architecture piece.
When the baking oven timer went off like a diner bell,
my nose was overwhelmed by the healthy wholesomeness.
My mouth salivated in great anticipation.
As I slide the fork from in between my lustrous lips,
I feel the thick, coarse lump in my mouth.
Swirling around like dry sand when I chew.
Feeling like a handful of moving bugs as I try to swallow.
The kind that land inside your mouth after an enjoyable motorbike ride.
I have worked with Joey for another fun one: Jay – The Fragrance Writer
He likes me
He really likes me
He really really likes me!
All clouds in the sky is everything wonderful in paradise
His smile makes Zac Efron’s fake
His eyes are a candy store I am lost in
His humour is the centre of an amusement park
His kisses melt on my lips like pink fairy floss
He makes me feel like buttercups
And butterflies dance in my stomach
As I sip from his cup of cola.
I hope our saga never ends.
Three months bubblegum romance
Bursts forth a rich flavour
artificial sugar induced decay
Leaves exposed nerve toothache
buttercups lead to a stomach ache
Just like butterflies lead to indigestion.
Too much cola – I’m too wired to sleep.
And this tired saga needs a finale. . .
Our short lived romance is like popcorn
Never lasts to the end of the movie before they’ve gone stale
What I first craved is now just a headache.
And I’m ready to go home.
As I leave, I turn and give one last glance.
Hey, you never know when you’ll crave popcorn again.
Flicker of Thoughts 