The Bluestone Review 2025

The Bluestone Review

The Commitment Parker Waller

The smell of gasoline next to white penny loafers Squeezed to black skin,

Rubbed a blister. Small blood Exchanged for a bus ticket’s Price to freedom. The long slow walk to the back Refusing to give up her seat For what she believed, Everyone the same as another She Didn’t want to be separated For the color of her skin, For her commitment and many more We finally stand side to side Not looking down at each other We are finally equal.

Teddy Liliana Dunford

I still remember his beautiful mane, the way I would braid it wonderfully into 20 different braids, his trot, a smooth ripple, his kindness to stop my inexperience. His name was Teddy. He would always make it easy for me, so I wouldn’t fall off. I miss the way the saddle leathers smelled and the gloss of his coat. Age takes everything away from us at some point or another. Teddy was 15, missing teeth, and slowing down on the knees. One morning in the field, a mighty yellow mound lay and Teddy thundered in the sky overhead.

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