Ariana D. Den Bleyker

Hold On



It’s really something from the past
               when you and I split     up.

Let’s be honest, who doesn’t say too much.
in those odd hours through the fractured, spotted
syl-la-bles falling upward into their mouths.

In this splitting and reforming,
through these pretzel-like graceful movements
propelling us, we levitate
our wanting someone,
our wanting to change.

Swim down, swim into it. Hold onto
the decaying that keeps us alive.




Ariana D. Den Bleyker is a Pittsburgh native currently residing in a small town in New York where she is a wife and mother of two. She is passionate about poetry because it speaks to her, influences her daily life, and encourages her to write while she draws much of her energy from her own life experiences. Her most recent work was featured in The Homestead Review and will be included in the upcoming editions of Stone Highway Review, Burnt Bridge and scissors and spackle.