Poets in this issue — click a name to read
- Agnew, Zach
- Aldridge, Bobby
- Amato, Natalli
- Amonett, Morgan
- Beringer, Laurie
- Bjotvedt, Connor
- Bruck, Ingrid
- Cates, Anna
- Cockburn, Diane
- Cottrell, Suzanne
- Crupi, Brandon
- Davis, Patricia
- Davitt, Deborah
- Decker, Laurie
- Depaul, Maria
- Duncan, Steven
- Edmunds, Catherine
- Estabrook, Michael
- Flanagan, Michael
- Gravina, Kristyl
- Holmes, Ryn
- Johnson-saunders, Rhonda
- Jones, Larry
- Kamp, Lianne✦
- Kane, Rebecca
- Kolin, Philip
- Kozma, Joseph J.
- Lehane, Janine
- Levine, Bruce
- Malik, Vyomi
- Melton, Bill
- Miller, Banks
- Oakshadow, Banwynn
- Olaru, Marius
- Puels, Raina K.
- Rossi, Patricia
- Russell, Arthur
- Russell, Rusty
- Ruth-killgore, Chanacee
- Sargent, Angela
- Scott, Claire
- Simmons, Jon
- Simon, Terri
- Slonaker, Adrian
- Smith, Jennifer
- Tozer, Meghan Joyce
- Whitfield, Ayame
- Zempel, Rachel
- Zone, Michael
Arthur Russell
When people say they’re sorry,
I feel inadequate because I’m not,
and it was my mother.
Vyomi Malik
Blue ripples kiss
Sun admist sand
Oh bliss profound
Ingrid Bruck
willow gold hair whips
hellebore bells unfurl
under spring snow
Kristyl Gravina
Our love has blighted
Like a shadow overcast
a shining light ray
Lianne Kamp✦
your discarded dreams
woke me from my sleep last night
what a price we pay for love
Brandon Crupi
Unknown hour--
A smile behind a pacifier
replaces needed sleep.
Rhonda Johnson-Saunders
a barefoot step back to summer
the acrid smell of cigarette
smoke stales lemon drop memories
Maria DePaul
Sheet rain pounds petals
Streets become rivers of pink
Cherry blossoms fall
Ryn Holmes
A gathering of incandescent silver
meanders beneath the stars
numinous and illuminant.
Laurie Decker
Your words fill me up
as ink caresses my skin
I become your paper
BanWynn Oakshadow
In elegant silence
Inked brush revealing
Round stones in raked sand.
Joseph J. Kozma
much is going on
unplanned, undesired,
unforgiven
Meghan Joyce Tozer
An angry neighbor’s voice
scolding a dog, over and over
can ruin a sunset.
Diane Cockburn
This egg,
rolled from the thighs of a Phoenix,
burns blue fire.
Michael Flanagan
in the wee hours
Dogwood dons her bonnet
of green and white
Catherine Edmunds
Today I saw a weasel hurtling
through the undergrowth, needle-sharp
teeth and carnage—I thought of you.
Jennifer Smith
Tsunami struck us into silence
words, broken debris strewn
between us, recovery efforts begin
Anna Cates
Arctic grass seeds
a snow bunting samples
melting tundra
Deborah Davitt
Underwater love;
tentacles twining sweetly—
alien caress.
Chanacee Ruth-Killgore
Water bounds over rocks, laughing.
Wind rustles, turning the seasons.
Nature exhales and breathes new life.
Laurie Beringer
When I don’t kiss you at night
I fall to sleep bereft
Tomorrow looms too unknown
Michael Estabrook
Out back watching the sky with all
its blue tumbling down through
the branches and leaves to the ground.
Connor Bjotvedt
I collect foreign
currency. I don’t know why.
I never leave home.
Rebecca Kane
wind across water
unraveling thread of ducks
corduroy ripples
Rachel Zempel
hummingbirds flutter
sweet nectar discovery
iridescent blur
Banks Miller
westward fires fade
to hyacinth and violet
dusk’s perfect moment
Jon Simmons
Primal eyes can see but not understand
They close up tight against the world
Dreams like a kaleidoscope
Zach Agnew
Lines of grey
Streak across the scalp,
Marking a transition.
Rusty Russell
You lose your passport
in a dream, and crabapples
blossom in the yard.
Bobby Aldridge
crouched and growling
the low fire
lulled asleep
Bill Melton
water mirrors life
sometimes with a glassy calm
sometimes turbulent
Suzanne Cottrell
Water droplets streaking cracked windows
Squiggling, creating erratic paths
Like pinball, adolescent moments
Terri Simon
Rain on the windshield,
constellations
refracting what is to come.
Angela Sargent
Roaring hum of engines
We coast smoothly through the clouds
Buzzing conversations as we touch down
Adrian Slonaker
Sunday morning fog
Permeates skin and feelings,
Shielding me from view.
Marius Olaru
Nature, the oldest master writer alive,
keeps sending its works to us,
its spoilt readers.
Natalli Amato
Between sunset and sunrise
we picked off our innocence-
a blistering, itching scab.
Patricia Davis
forest sounds...
the trail
through his cedar flute
Larry Jones
heads pop up
from behind the fence
invisible trampoline
Philip Kolin
Three nuns praying
on cushioned kneelers
God's palace
Ayame Whitfield
your trembling hands
are robins in flight,
returning to their nest.
Steven Duncan
pop me open
like a Russian doll
if you want more
Janine Lehane
peach blossoms falling
like delicate balladeers
exhausted by song
Morgan Amonett
Why listen to mortal clamor
and the ringing of the bell
when you can hear the Trees whisper
Patricia Rossi
hopscotch etched sidewalk
childhood memories of summer
chalked in shades of simplicity
Bruce Levine
When unto touch
Impenetrable towers
Open your heart before your eyes
Michael Zone
alluring maiden
of waves, siren's song washing
upon the rocks of human folly
Raina K. Puels
confident drifters
independent twirls
intertwined as one
Claire Scott
absence is not empty at all
not a void or a vacuum
but filled with voices of those we loved