What inspires you to write?

She has given up on trying to read her book. Her wife won't let her turn the light on in the back of the car and she was fed up of catching the odd ends of sentences in the few moments it took to drive past a streetlight. Instead she just sat, staring out of the window and watching the flashes of light dance in and out of the car. When she squinted the raindrops stuck to the glass caught...

She stared out the window, the busy city spanning out beneath her, full of bright lights and movement. There were people everywhere, loitering in streets and hurrying around with huge shopping bags clutched in their hands. She was surrounded by people, but all she could feel was loneliness. 
Home could not be further away. Her eyes grew wet as she thought of her family, in a town thousands of kilometres away. 
'You couldn't stay there forever,' she told herself. 'You...

    "What if..." June began, and trailed off, shaking her head. "No, Olive wouldn't settle for that. She'd just ask questions and annoy me until I tell her the whole thing. What do you do when you get into fights with other birds?"
    She turned to face Laszlo.
    Laszlo stared blankly at her. Whenever birds got mad at each other, they either screamed until one of them got scared off, or fought. He supposed that neither option would...

When you're out of things to read,
Scream.
When you're out of things to write,
Scream. 
When you forget who you are, 
Scream.
    Because really, they're all the same thing.

He lied to me. He lied to her. When I found out there was another, the burning flame that was once between us, gone... but I brought it back. All it took was one match to set his whole world on fire.

Just a little broken, 
Is what I say
Just a little lost,
Is all I wanna believe

I don’t wanna look inside 
At all the shattered pieces
I don’t wanna know the truth 
That my heart has a crack

Just a little lonely,
Is what I hope for 
Just a little scared,
Is all I’ll admit to

I don’t wanna look inside
At my lack of love
I don’t wanna know the truth.

Hey, Grandpa.
How’s heaven?
The saddest day of mine life was
Probably the best of yours.
A lifetime of pain and suffering
Of helplessness
Of love and family
Of laughter…
Gone.
The irony is that the entire family
Rallied while you were in hospice.
Uncle Johnny came from Virginia
Aunt Ally from Ohio
There was no fighting
Some of the best family times we ever had
Were had while you were dying.
I was with you the most the last...

    The airport was deserted. Not a soul was to be seen, save for mine. I was waiting for someone to pick me up, but nobody seemed to be coming. 
 "Hello."
    I snapped my head to my side, where the voice seemed to come from. A small girl in a white pouf dress was sitting on the seat to the right of me. I blinked. I must be delirious, I thought. 
"Hello, Sir. It is nice to meet you." She said...

    My black leather dress sticks to my skin, but I like the feeling of the cold metal studs on the inside.  Around my neck is a beautiful black choker, lace with black gems and bits of black metal.  My red eyes are sparkling.  I can tell.  The light is, for the first time in decades, not white.  No, it's soft gold candlelight that makes my pallid skin glow and my short black hair shine.  They cut it short my...

"Cornelia, thank you," I told her while we finished up the last of the letters. It was midday and Mother wanted to take me to the Church where we would be married and point out the seating arrangements. But to me it seemed like overkill when I had letters to finish. "I'll go!" Angelica had volunteered instantly, Peggy's hopeful face appearing next to hers.
So off they had gone. Aunt Belinda was eating lunch as far as I knew and lecturing...

    Aaron put down his book and raced to find Elia, only to run straight into the other boy on the stairs. "Airy!" Elia said. "You're just who I was looking for. I have something to show you."
   He followed him cautiously, attempting to check his tail without making it look like he was checking his tail. They ended up outside, next to a makeshift fire pit tucked behind the History building. The portrait had been taken out...

little ripples dot the surface of the ocean; the epicenter of the earthquake they liked to call themselves. a sharp wind whistles by; softly entwining between their hair as it continues on its journey. 

faint beams from a distant lighthouse far, far away flood the sky. waves crash onto the shore violently; the foam dissipating into the sand, a tangy odor prevalent in the air.

the three of them sit by the shore, backs resting on the rocks framing the...

How do you put together a chapbook of poetry? How do you decide which poems are best and which way to organize it? 

The night comes 
and so do they

They come in waves 
clashing together

They thrash and hurl in  my brain
punching  and screaming

They don't care about me 

They just punch and scream 
until it's bloody

Can you see the rain?
It falls like natures gold
And burns a path 
And falls

Its colour, crystal clear
It sparkles in the sun
And marks it downward trail
And falls

Its rapid pace is set
By storms and cloud
And overcast predictions
And falls

It cools the flush of cheeks
It comes when cheeks are flush
And settles crisply there
And falls

It winds a trail
It tracks a sadness
And leaves a sadness in its wake 
And...

Silhouettes
And second hand blinkers
Lit the dash like streetlights,

Shadows preyed on the corners
That blurred the edges 
Of that memory like
Smokescreens do

And brick work bridges curved,
Like half made circles
Rippling from the land.

Inky blue dripped,
Cold and heavy like
Oil on a canvas of midnight

And signs, sharp and subtle
In their illumination 
Played tricks on weeping eyes.

Uneven and unkempt it was,
The road, whose friends were 
Silhouettes 

"...full recovery...strange..." My ears adjusted like a radio, catching words a few words here and there. That must mean it was working. As if on cue, I felt something tight lock onto my body, restraining any sort of movement. It felt thin, tight, yet soft against my ethereal body. Could I even see? Realizing that, indeed, I should have eyes, I attempted to open my eyelids and found them pulling apart with difficulty.
"She's opening her eyes!" My surroundings were...

In the valley of my cheek 
There runs a river,
I dont know why it flows

In the hollow of my eyes
There sits a lake,
I dont know why it forms

In the edges of my nose
There flows a waterfall,
I dont know why it drips

In the warmth of my palm 
There lies a pond,
I dont know why it's there

In the curve of my lips
There ebbs a sea,
I dont know why it sits
...

In the eye of a hurricane
Silence roars across the terrain
The mighty winds stop
Not a single raindrop
Can be heard in the eye of the storm

Soon the quiet is gone
The most dangerous earthly phenomenon
Danger does multiply
Buildings give their last goodbye
Trees bending around
Swaying like toothpicks, just stuck in the ground

Water pooling at my feet
Neighbors swimming down the street
People evacuating
I am just waiting

So think of your neighbors
Your family...

Is it in the moon glow
Or in the wind that blows?
Is it in the sun shine
Or along the horizon line?
Is it on a dove's light wings
Or in some of the other little things?
Just what is it I am looking for?
Just what's so curious to me about the waves that crash into the shore?
I know it's something exciting,
Because it seems so inviting.
The thought of it is always in my mind.
I...

Justice! what exactly WAS justice???
The angel with the scales,
that balances, both the good and the bad....
And how ironic it is,
blindfolded in the eyes,
telling no discrimination shall ever blind her.....

The angel that defends us all,
against all darkness and evil that prevails,
When she burns with the brilliance of Justice...
the noble.. shall burn even brighter
their radiance dimming even the sun...
even the brightest of stars....
And the en-darkened ones will burn away...
like...

        This is it.
        Bum Bum, Bum Bum
        You slowly make your way to your lane.
        The sunlight dances on the surface of the crystal clear water.
       "Boys 15-18 50-meter freestyle, heat one step up." 
        Bum Bum, Bum Bum
        You step up onto the block.
        Feeling the rough plastic under your feet you ready yourself to take the...

F inally, I decided to walk up to her
R eaching out was the best thing I ever did.
I n the best and worst times, we couldn't be separated. 
E ven though sometimes we didn't agree, we remained loyal to each other.
N ever were we able to stay mad at each other for longer than a minute.
D ancing and giggling in the balcony of the ballroom was a favorite memory.
Sometimes we'd simply hold hands and...

Surround around the campfire
Listen, only if you desire.
This is a tale unlike any other
Shows faith, bravery, and love for each other.
We start in a time you want
Past, Future, Now, Night, Day, two o;clock
Two friends, one boy, one girl
loved each other, more than the world.
They had been through a lot.
Mystery, adventure, thievery, taunt.
Drama, magic, haunt.
Well they knew that death could happen any time.
So they made the most of every...