This poetry zine is presented on this website as ten images. Each image is one page of the zine. Each page of the zine includes the text of one or more poems, and original decorative art drawn by the author. The verbatim text of the poems, and descriptions of the art, is included in the alt text for each image. You can download a PDF of this zine from the link at the bottom of this web page. The title of this zine is Oh, a Little Flower Rests. Subtitle: A Collection of Poems on Grief, PTSD, and the Path to Freedom. The author's name is Seraphim. Art description: A delicate purple lily with gold and yellow stamen sits on a white pillow. I have to be seen in order to give love. Poem title: PTSD. Poem text: A pin drops / In the well of my grief / I am pulled down / To infinity / Darkness encircles me / I am lost. I am cold. / Visions of my past / Play on the walls / Of my own sunken cave / Oh please don’t let it / Happen again. End of poem text. Art description: To the right of the poem lies a portal of circular stone in black. The stone surrounds a whirlpool of various shades of blue. A large sewing needle faces downward towards the pool and stone. Poem title: The Fire. Poem text: To be cleansed by the fire / illuminated by the light of god. / In her essence I am freed from this body / never to be seen again. / And in the description of end / I am without feeling; / and in that unfeeling I am struck / with the infinite reasons to keep going. End of poem text. Art description: One stanza of the poem sits towards the top of the page. Beneath the first stanza are drawn wooden logs in black. Falling from the logs are drawn orange flames that connect and emanate from the second stanza located at the bottom of the page. Poem title: Smoke Break. Poem text: Oh cigarette. / infinite possibilities / lie within your paper. / My body, free to roam the heavens / I put my trust in you / Of my 15 minute break / I am ten / plus five for me / Oh cigarette you grant me this / I give you my body / so that I may be free / for a moment / timeless in the realm / of your creation. / I’m lost in your end, / and I ask god for one more. End of poem text. Art description: A drawn, lit cigarette sits behind the fourth stanza of the poem. The cigarette is various shades of gray. The lit end of the cigarette is a mixture of yellow, orange, and red. Strands of yellow, orange and red fire rise from the lit end of the cigarette. Poem title: The Unnamed Fire Poem. Poem text: She’s singing / Together with the sea / to be worth / something of gold / Singing to me / the fire wanes in her embers. / Is she not embraced in the ether? / I am being. I am energy. / Formed in this body / together with the sun. / I radiate with the heavens / No need to sink / for the below is behind us / Love is with me eternal. End of poem text. Art description: Drawn fire of yellow, orange, and red rises from the bottom of the page in three large flames. Three drawn gold coins with a singular pentacle on their faces fall into the flames. Page title: New Moon in Emma. Poem title: Beginnings. First poem text: An invitation to others / to see my life / and to see my doings / You don’t have to be alone / forgotten wolf / because the trees are forever / and the humans can teach you / the ways of this world. End of poem text. Poem title: Emma. Poem text: In darkness comes through / We are all human / And in horror we gather / Just trying to make it. End of poem text. Art description: A maelstrom of soft drawn blues and grays swirl about the whole page. A large eye sits in the middle right of the page. The eye is horrific and drawn with intense spiking black marks for the lashes. These marks are similar to the ones used for the fire. The iris is composed of drawn soft blue and gray swirls that move throughout it. A black swirling line moves in and out of where the pupil is located on the eye, moving into the space of the blues and grays of the iris. The drawings take up the whole page and are situated behind the poems located center left. Poem title: You are not alone. Poem text: I was told to die / at an early age. / forget who you are / and be like your brother / It’s up to you to decide who you are / It’s not your fault you’re like this / No one loved you as a kid / It’s not your fault / Your special doings are not lost on this world / They twinkle in the eyes of others / that have not lost the sparkle in theirs. / You are powerful darling. / I love you. End of poem text. Art desciption: A light blue swirl falls from the top left of the page and exits on the top right under the corner. The swirl cuts behind the center of the title of the poem. A light blue butterfly sits at the bottom of the page. Each wing is a compilation of three tiny wings. The body of the fly is gray and embellished with black circles. To My Community: This zine was created to honor the path I have taken through grief into love. And honestly show to the girl I was a year ago that her poems are worth sharing because in order to share love she needed to be seen. Seen in her struggle, seen in her power, and seen in her love. This is something I learned and cultivated in myself last year shortly after I started HRT. I learned that vulnerability is a portal to connection. So I hope you may connect in some way to these poems. That they may fill a heart with self acceptance and love. Even in the darkest time, one may find a light to guide them home. Thank you This zine is free to anyone that wants to print it, cut it up, put it on a fence, what ever you feel inspired to do. If you feel inclined to pay for this work, I invite you to donate to @serababesmoney on venmo or cashapp. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

You can download a PDF of this zine here, and you can download a zine-format printable version of it here.