Soul Poetry, Prose & Arts Magazine

Soul Poetry, Prose & Arts Magazine Soul Poetry, Prose & Arts Magazine where writers and artists can leave their legacy

If you want to start off 2026 with a wonderful book, read The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife. You will laugh. You will ...
01/07/2026

If you want to start off 2026 with a wonderful book, read The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife. You will laugh. You will cry. You will fall in love with the characters and the story. 5/5 Stars! It's even more wonderful to listen to the audio version.

Frederick Fife is down on his luck and about to be homeless as he has no money left with which to pay his rent. A fortuitous walk along the river leads him to discover a man in a wheelchair who, oddly enough, is just sitting there recently deceased. Seeing that the dead man is part of the nursing home crew just up the bank, Fred tries to wheel the man back to the caretakers, but unfortunately, the wheelchair tips and the man falls into the river. Fred falls as well, bumping his head. So, when it comes time to load up the bus to head back to the nursing home, the caretaker assumes Fred is the dead man, Bernard - who has recently been diagnosed with dementia. No one will listen to Fred when he tells them he is not Bernard, and his one-night stay at the nursing home as "Bernard" turns into two then three--leading him down a path he never dreamed he would travel. As his pretend life intersects with the lives of the other residents, caretakers and doctor, and eventually with Bernard's estranged daughter, Fred must face one of the hardest decisions he's ever made in his life.

This story is heartwarming, lovely, and really speaks to the the importance of forgiveness and grace.

On this last day of 2025, I am so happy to have been able to continue to do what I love this year--write! Each year I ch...
12/31/2025

On this last day of 2025, I am so happy to have been able to continue to do what I love this year--write! Each year I challenge myself to explore more styles of poetry, to submit to new publishers, and to learn everything I can from my editors and fellow writers. 2025 was a BIG year:

Jan 2025 - Wipf and Stock published my third poetry book - Mosaic: A Million Little Pieces

I had 200 poems accepted and/or published (some will appear in Jan / Feb 2026)

Of the publishers who accepted my work, 33 of those were new publishers (to me)

Tipton Poetry Journal nominated my poem "Keeper of the Clock" for the Pushcart Prize

I had 16 short stories published (doubling my number from last year)

Across the Margin put my short story "Hierarchy of Needs" in their "Best Stories of the Year" article.

I made GAS: Poetry, Art & Music Magazine's "Featured Poet" twice.

I did a book signing at Barnes & Noble, a poetry workshop at Clark State and a poetry workshop at the Greene County Library

My fourth poetry book, The Stars Above Us, was accepted for publication by Kelsay Books and will come out end of April / first of May 2026.

I was a featured poetry reader in two community-wide poetry events.

My magazine, Soul Poetry, Prose & Arts, has been an incredible success with four Issues published & the Winter Issue on the way.

I'm so truly grateful for this wonderful gift God gave me--this ability to turn words into art.

Thanks to all who supported me, bought my books, read my poems online, submitted to my magazine, and encouraged me to keep writing.

Blessings to all! Happy New Year!

As you settle in with family and friends, I want to wish you all a blessed Christmas and holiday season. May you be fill...
12/24/2025

As you settle in with family and friends, I want to wish you all a blessed Christmas and holiday season. May you be filled with joy, peace, and love.

How does winter inspire you? Depress you? Relax you? Stress you out? Send me your very best winter-vibe poems and artwor...
12/18/2025

How does winter inspire you? Depress you? Relax you? Stress you out? Send me your very best winter-vibe poems and artwork. This Winter 2025 Issue is going to be amazing! Subs open until January 30. I can't wait to see your work.

Three Haikuby James Kowalczykraindrops of wisdomwater the revolutiongrowing underground *blinking gold di...
12/18/2025

Three Haiku
by James Kowalczyk

raindrops of wisdom
water the revolution
growing underground

*

blinking gold diamonds
undulate on tides beneath
Brooklyn Bridge sunset

*

autumn breeze through trees
the whispers of violence
turn leaves to darkness


James Kowalczyk was born and raised in Brooklyn but now lives in Northern California with his wife and two daughters. He teaches English at the high school and college levels. His poetry and fiction has been published both online and in print.

From the Fall 2025 IssueSinking Into Hot Waterby Beth KeeleyI stream sandalwood oil into the hot water, filling the chip...
12/18/2025

From the Fall 2025 Issue

Sinking Into Hot Water
by Beth Keeley

I stream sandalwood oil into the hot water, filling the chipped bathtub in my cheap apartment. Traces of rosewood and earth surround me. The water rises, reaching the tub’s edge. Steam fogs the mirror over the sink. I light the candle’s short, charred wick, a candle you gave me for some reason or for no reason; I can’t remember. Flicking off the lights with one hand and pushing the door closed with the other, I find refuge in the darkness, to succumb to thoughts of you, and step into the tub. Scalding water softly splashes, a slight shift in the stillness. When I was a little girl, my grandmother would ask me, “Sure you ain’t fixin’ to get yourself into no hot water?” I was. Escaping restraint to feel you, with me, I lean over to grip the sides of the tub and hold my breath as I kneel in the water and slide my body down the length of the tub. Water laps at the base of my neck, spilling over the edge. Golden rings of oil swirl around my breasts as I sigh and surrender to thoughts of you, wrapping around me.

Shortly, feelings became words. Chance encounters became long, lingering conversations. Fingers accidentally touched, and extended silences shared more than words. We kissed, made love, and shared life. Our future unfolded, disjointed. When what I wanted and what you didn’t shaped space between us, you drifted and I detached. We let go.

I knew the water was hot.

It still burns.


Beth Keeley is a writer and English professor based in North Carolina. Her work has appeared in Writing and Pedagogy and As You Were: The Military Review.

From Fall 2025 IssuePoetry’s Web Unfoldingby Audrey Howitt I like poems written by old men . . .breaking rules they once...
12/18/2025

From Fall 2025 Issue

Poetry’s Web Unfolding
by Audrey Howitt

I like poems written by old men . . .breaking rules they once held so tightly . . . their rhythm loosened by an afternoon nap and sleep seeds that make it difficult to see the screens as they click-clack away.

I like poems written by old women who no longer have to hold onto self-images so thin they slip through fence slats . . .blue hairs laughing, comparing free verse while they splash a nip into their afternoon tea.

I like poems written by 20-somethings . . .high school still so fresh. . .where they learned about the poetry of dead white men but fell in love with Maya Angelou. Piercings and ink leach color into a world as they fingerpaint it into vibrancy.

I like poems written by children who find that the monsters under the bed aren’t that scary. . .and who learn to be quiet inside themselves long enough to stretch their way toward the ants who inhabit the fig trees in their backyards.

I like poems written by women who patch themselves back together after divorce, and kids, and work, and all the noise. . .who find a friend when they look in the mirror.

I like poems written by men who hold their friends’ hands when they are sad and who buy their kids ice cream even during winter. I like their honesty when they have no answers and their knowing when none are needed.

I like poems that unfold themselves into every corner of me, to the area right under my skin,
making a tenderness of your lips and a heat that dries my sweat as your breath crosses my neck.

Audrey Howitt lives and writes poetry in the San Francisco Bay Area. When not writing, she sings opera and teaches voice. She is also a licensed attorney and licensed marriage and family therapist. Ms. Howitt has been published in: Academy of the Heart and Mind, Washington Square Review, Panoply, Hecate Magazine, Spillwords Press, Nymphs Poetry Journal, Muddy River Poetry Review, The Big Windows Review, The White Cresset Arts Journal, Total Eclipse Poetry and Prose, Chiaroscuro-Darkness and Light, dVerse Poets Anthology, With Painted Words, Algebra of Owls, and Lost Towers Publications.

12/09/2025

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