it’s okay to get out of bed early, you don’t have to worry anymore
about missing out on cuddles and special time together, he’s here,
and from what you can see (the photos, the driver’s license, the
clothes in the closet) you should probably believe he will stay.
don’t worry so much about being left alone, not any time soon, and
not any more than any other woman would worry about
the man she loves walking out the door in the morning and
not coming back through at night. don’t be scared,
just believe he is here to love you.… Read the rest
Posts Published by Cheney
pay attention
pay attention, they tell me, pay attention to the things you hear
like the birds singing, or coffee shop chatter, or crying
and if I pay attention, they tell me, I’ll contain multitudes
multitudes of words drown me like the rising tide and
I can’t keep my head above water so the words are swallowed
and then they lift me buoyantly back to life
there they go, floating along the waves, the words
are boats that steer themselves and I just have to
pay attention as they pass as if writing poetry were that easy
pay attention, they tell me… Read the rest
where i come from
Where I come from the earth was turned and tilled
by my grandfather for years while he grew
apple trees, blueberry bushes, big fat purple grapes
on vines over an arbor, but there were ugly things too –
the bees that attacked when I went for an apple, and
those fat green tomato slugs he’d burn off with a blow torch.
Even then, I thought that was crazy, and I was right. Some
things were not normal, like living with them, and mom, and nana,
four generations under one roof, which gram treated like
a miracle from her Catholic god … Read the rest
every morning
You sing a new song every morning.
In your thin teeshirts and loose shorts,
you’re a sleepy singer, but your eyes are bright.
Remember all those Saturdays and Sundays we
woke up and rolled into each other’s arms?
That was always my favorite place to be.
Wrapped up in you and blankets and love,
sun shining through the window, welcoming us to the day.
You sing a new song every morning.
From Audrey Gidman’s monthly poetry prompts: Write a soloem. The poet avery r. young created a form called the soloem (so-lo-em), a Chicago soul poem. It’s a 9-line … Read the rest
nothing to see here

you look so innocent with your soft blue eyes and kind smile, no one would believe you’d do the things you’ve done to me, but here we are anyway. me here, you somewhere else; we stopped sharing our locations and now i have lost you more. but something inside me still reaches for you, despite your trickery and trampling of my heart, some thin strand of hope for another chance reaches – and so i tamp it down again. and again and again and again.
© Copyright 2026 Cheney Meaghan Giordano
too late for us

i put you on a podium,
celebrated your investiture,
wore your crown of thorns
and bled down my face,
my tears red, soul dead,
i kept wanting this so
long after you didn’t
that i missed when you
started slipping away
and by the time i knew
i was losing you
it was too late and there’s
really nothing worse
than a missed
opportunity
© Copyright 2026 Cheney Meaghan Giordano
life raft

i used to hold on to you
like you were my life raft,
like you were the only thing
keeping me afloat when all
i wanted was to sink
but i couldn’t count on you being there
when things got rough,
i couldn’t trust that in you, i’d find safety
because i never felt safe with you
i thought it was sand that
slipped through the hourglass
but now i feel it’s more like water,
cold and powerful and sacred
until the moment
it pours from your hands
© Copyright 2026 Cheney Meaghan Giordano
Boundaries.
Describe one positive change you have made in your life.
Boundaries.
What are boundaries? I used to ask myself all the time, and then laugh hysterically because I knew I had none, and a lack of boundaries is what was making my life so hard.
My boyfriend and I, well, no. Let me rephrase that.
My ex-boyfriend decided he no longer wanted to be in a relationship with me.
He said “this is as far as it will go” and that’s not good enough for me.
We are going to have to live through the hell of sharing a space … Read the rest
eternally – 100/1000
“I’ll love you forever.”
“Well, I think forever is a bit too long,” she said, peeling a patch of his greenish skin off his shoulder as they talked.
“But I can be with you forever,” he said.
She touched his face and then grimaced when more skin fell away at her touch, he was rotting right before her eyes.
“I don’t think you’re going to be here much longer, babe,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter what I look like, does it?”
“Well, not so much, but you need to be all in one piece.”
“I think I lost a piece.”… Read the rest
hush – 99/1000
“We don’t have enough to form a coven,” the old witch snarled.
“We will, look, she’s right over there.”
“You mean to take some girl enjoying her day in the park and bring her over to us?”
“What choice do we have? We’ll grab her and drag her into the woods, it would take seconds.”
“But someone might see us!”
“We have a demon to conjure! Now, do as I say and go get that girl!”
The old witch dashed into the field and dragged back the girl.
“I put a hush spell on her.”
“Smartest thing you’ve done today.”… Read the rest