SEPTEMBER 18, 2026 POETRY Cartesian The Many Names I Am MONIQUE CALDWELL Groundcover contributor I entered this world as someone's daughter, a small hand reaching toward a future I could not yet imagine. Soon, I became a sister, learning that love could mean sharing space, sharing burdens, sharing pieces of myself. I was a student, collecting answers, a friend, collecting memories, a girlfriend, then a wife, building homes inside the hearts of others. Later, I became a mother, holding a universe in my arms, giving endlessly from a well I believed would never run dry. Life left its marks. Trauma taught me survival. Grief introduced me to empty chairs, silent phones, and names spoken only in memory. Still, I kept giving. I became the one who checked if everyone was okay before asking the same of herself. Piece by piece, I poured myself into the people I loved until the reflection looking back at me felt familiar yet unknown. So now I stand in the quiet aftermath, not searching for another title, not another role to fill. I am learning that beneath daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, survivor, there is still a woman waiting to be known. By realizing who I am meant to be begins not with becoming someone new, but finally coming home to myself. PEDRO CAMPOS Groundcover vendor No. 652 Earth is A Sphere. Some say. It is Flat. On one Line. And Point. Before the point There is void. Move forward — Beyond the three Dimensions — there is Time. By many, A fourth dimension. You have thought Around functions: What is in function Of what? Especially When it touches A matrix. From there, The concept Descends Into parallel Universes. This poem is simple, Unfinished, Yet polished. JOSEPH SCREIBER Groundcover vendor No. 705 A lone leaf was spinning on the wind Looking for a beautiful place to catch some sunshine The leaf spotted a gorgeous lake on its incredible journey to the ground The leaf found its new home … The Lakes And The Leaves The next day two leaves were flying on the wind When they spotted their friend floating on the lake The leaves found their new home The Lakes And The Leaves One day later 4 leaves floated onto the lake Then 8 the next day Then 16 after that Then 32 the day after that day The Lakes And The Leaves After 27 days only 3 percent of the lake was covered by leaves At day 28 a quarter of the lake is covered with leaves Day 29 half of the lake is completely covered in the leaves And day 30? The whole lake is covered in leaves The Lake And The Leaves GROUNDCOVER NEWS Exponentially Falling 15 anarchy loosed JAY COOPER Groundcover contributor Lotos tongues hold each other Maroon dreams on melancholy wake Cast into the sea, and wish for bounte Sink with serene acceptance, and haul heavy hopes aboard tension, slack, rhythm, harmony, Fool hearts on fendered hulls, spy for crisp, salt, camaraderie "Sails!" Be they friend or foe? Courage roll the hard six Will we not wander more?
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