Jasilynn

• June - July 2026

Sonnet #1

tattoos entwined around her arms embrace

the torso canvas where her heart’s encased;

the image ends when lines run out of space

so ink descends down fingers to her waist.

 

mosaic thighs, with symbols interlaced,

5

invoke the Fates in twisting figure eights

around her legs, with incantations placed

in spots where vital fluid circulates.

 

contagious magic cast by hand creates

allure no eyes perceive and then forget,

10

instead entranced by what she radiates,

the potion forming in the beads of sweat.

 

my fate was sealed before i had a chance,

the moment when i stole from her a glance.

Sonnet #2

this heart was made to pump my blood around,

to feel the sun on fingertips inside

the chambers where the currents run aground

and darkness leaves the warmth of it implied.

 

commotion sweeps away what parts collide,

5

as skin begins to stick to her again

and thoughts recede upon the breaking tide,

the tender sighs of glancing Jasilynn.

 

the ocean claims the lives of countless men,

so water graves become our source of blood;

10

the drying words of ink within my pen

are tributaries of an ancient flood.

 

her eyes awash in mine, we drift and sway

and let the waves convey our hearts away.

Sonnet #3

my ears are deaf to music in your mind,

though eyes betray the notes it softly plays,

in ways your stare invades with aims designed

to keep my own with yours in steady gaze.

 

mistakes are made because my fingers graze

5

the pipes that gently shape your tongue to speak,

and feel the sounds before they breach airways,

the tremors building up from cheek to cheek.

 

what words escape are afterthoughts that leak

despite restraint you place upon their choice;

10

what tears then follow after only seek

the force contained within your inner voice.

 

the things unsaid then linger there awhile

as lips that tremble try their best to smile.

Sonnet #4

oh Jasilynn, what rib divided us apart?

what force from when the universe began

decreed our ending from the very start?

what manner god conceives this kind of plan?

 

what hand has made within my chest a span

5

to compass round the empty realm it keeps?

what type of coward makes a broken man

who sits in silence as his lover weeps?

 

within the silence, longing never sleeps,

yet always lengths untrodden stretch ahead,

10

as though, from other worlds, a distance sweeps

and stops my feet approaching where you tread.

 

my heart was never made to hold the weight

of things in expectation you await.

Sonnet #5

my every thought is made to gaze on you,

though eyes imagine more than what remains,

despite your absence, as the days accrue,

of moments now distilled within my veins.

 

the line you traced upon my skin retains

5

electric residues of fingertips

whose glow for now provides, but ever wanes,

as current seeps discharged in leaking drips.

 

my heart begins its nightly new eclipse,

as dwarfed within the shadow of your own,

10

it sinks below horizon where it dips

in darkness, there to fester all alone.

 

a lack confirms my heart was shaped for you,

yet known too late this simple thing was true.

Sonnet #6

the sleepless night persists in lieu of dreams,

for dreams are made of vague forgotten things

and everywhere i look it always seems

the real of waking sorrow ever stings.

 

tomorrow morning with its coming brings

5

hallucinations of the prior day,

as though a puppet drawn on practiced strings,

repeating thoughts of you in loops replay.

 

as minutes pass, the counterfeits array

in light of day, your image fading fast

10

and though i grasp, the moments past decay

until the night returns my sleep at last.

 

and then the dreams descend to smother you,

to leave me nothing but the lies they spew.

Submission History

Date	Publication	Status
July 1st, 2026	Macrame Literary Journal (#3)	Rejected
July 1st, 2026	Merion West (#3)	Rejected
July 1st, 2026	St. Katherine Review (#3)	Pending
July 1st, 2026	Oxford Review (#3)	Pending
July 6th, 2026	Afterbodies Literary Magazine (#2 - 6)	Pending
July 6th, 2026	Artists from Maryland (#2 - 6)	Rejected
July 6th, 2026	Grand Little Things (#2 - 6)	Pending
July 6th, 2026	The Great Smokies Review (#2 - 6)	Pending
July 6th, 2026	The Wild Umbrella (#2 - 6)	Pending
July 6th, 2026	Rattle Poetry (#2 - 6)	Pending
July 16th, 2026	Mangrove Review (#1 - 6)	Pending
July 16th, 2026	Lunchbreak Review (#1 - 6)	Pending
July 16th, 2026	Raleigh Review (#1 - 6)	Pending
July 16th, 2026	January House Literary Journal (#1 - 6)	Rejected

Responses

Dear Grant,

Thank you for taking the time to submit to Artists from Maryland, but unfortunately, we’re going to pass on this submission.

However, we did enjoy this selection (especially the fourth sonnet!). This is not our standard rejection. We truly hope to see more of your work soon.

We’re grateful for being able to read your work, and we hope you keep us in mind for the future. Best of luck finding the perfect home for this selection!

—Aldrin Badiola, Editor-in-chief of Artists from Maryland

Dear Grant,

I do love sonnets. Yours includes meter and rhyme scheme. Impressive, Sir. I did not select this poem, Grant. You can send me Sonnets as you please. Merion West is a fan.

Continue to revel in the craft of writing. I am a poet as well. The process of publishing poems is subjective and challenging. Words do float off the page with consistent effort. Poets discover fresh use of diction and syntax.

Thank you for sharing your work with Merion West. We wish you the best in your writing.

—Austin Allen James, Arts Editor, Merion West