Issue 17

Ali Znaidi

lily’s aroma finds a way into the street Lily’s aroma

Alexandra Baker

this gaping hole didn’t have to be my lover to punch it through; the truth is you were never true.

Audrey Samuelson

Walking barefoot through the dense forest The ground a blanket of briers and thorns A ruddy path stretching out behind me

Aisha Bhoori

they told her "the world is a beautiful place," while pointing to the Sprite billboard, "so obey your thirst"; her soul shuddered

Laurie Kolp

On the corner of goodbye my mouth, a broken branch, hangs in the bitter wind.

Linda Hofke

Ripples of water The clouds’ reflections wiggle with the jellyfish

Janet Carnahan

Horizon, blue sky, ocean of endless motion, Open air and sea, inviting expansive joy, Broadening my heart, soul and mind!

Claudette Young

Paper airplanes soar Above lands haunted by beasts, Complex creased art forms.

Claudette Young

Storms march as wet drummers Across dusted lands sallow With rainless grief, until drum song.

Claudette Young

Whispers stitch quilt pieces Word after word feathered together With strands of secrets.

Erika Schnepp

I lost faith in romance Listening to hens Cackle about their cocks.

David Edwards

cities always seek gardens, never the reverse nature seems content

Ivo Drury

unschooled in physiology yet a finely tuned sense of the heart’s intrinsic rhythms

Nancy May

Storm-less morning starts White clouds practising new shapes – Elephant in sky

Phillip Ellis

between cars a kangaroo corpse a quick eagle

Audrey Samuelson

Nubile young girls Bathed in red light Meat for sale

Betty Houle

summer sun baking skin blistering, turning red field hands pick cotton

Dan Corjescu

Vast fields of sunflowers turn their programmed magnificence from the serendipitous dead

Colin Campbell

spark of creation shadow of the universe lit now in starlight

Todd Grant

a summer drought the crops need rain maybe I’ll learn the harmonica

Joyce Chong

This is how angels run, held afloat by the crystal strings that descend from starlight.

Alexis Hunter

Fat rain drops plummet A stranger offers half his umbrella Elbows brushing as they walk

A.J. Huffman

Perfectly balanced circles stand. One atop two. A palace of stone.

Joanna M. Weston

my muddled thoughts like mist on the mountain

Patricia Pella

first day of school children bouncing into line - a string of pearls

Vanessa Roske

droplets arc through air leaping over rocks, past ferns breaking still water

Debbi Antebi

time bends the past into origami-shaped memories

Rachelle Mathis

The dogwoods are now blooming I took out the trash in a Sex Pistols t-shirt.

Sarah Edwards

Cone up high touching the stars the broken echo that sucks me in as the absurd pendulum swings

Jungmin Joo

digital sin penetrates into glazen eyes ephemerally numbing every pain

Gulnar Tuli

Veins like tree roots They grow blue and bold Kissing your feet, kissing the earth

Joanne Koong

elementary school recess. the substitute teacher wonders if he is thinking of her.

Joanne Koong

paper airplanes folded into birds origami master, you make me want to be japanese

Michael Ratcliffe

Sunburnt and salt-scrubbed; wonderful days in the sun; memories left in the sand.

Michael Ratcliffe

The river flows past, as it does each day. Listen, though, as waves lap on shore-- each one is unique.

Tanya Bryan

In poetry gone by I watched you lean into the sun and grow away from me

Tanya Bryan

chasing the sunset racing to the edge where water kisses the sand

Joshua Brewer

ice halfway over the cove sun on the cold waves water lapping the edges

CL Larry

You kiss like the wind, Strong, leaving me breatheless, with Stunned lips, craving more.

Yuliya Nesterova

no water in this sea Endless waves of yellow corn pray for storm.

Rio Mac

Every woman Will make a man miserable And he will love her for it

Bill Melton

sometimes deep sadness is evident if you look just behind the smile

Caitlin Barnhart

It smells like paint Brushes scattered on the floor It smells like home

Ingrid David

loneliness beckons with a drawing heart sadness fills the lonely path happiness eludes the sacred desire

Matt Kolbet

Our ancestors want to know if we own a car. I shame them; no protection from insect swarms or hitchhiking past.

Emma Ambos

You sang me such a lovely song silence

Grady Manus

walking a dusty road my dog sneezes – gesundheit

Grady Manus

raindrop holds the world crystal orb – seer’s portal my lover’s eyes

Grady Manus

hickory – sword, rifle, scepter instrument of imaginings ... i wake and take up my cane

Martha Christina

long after the barn collapses, the scent of hay lingers