ANTEBI, DEBBI
BEECH, AJA
BROWN, REBECCA
CORJESCU, DAN
DA VINCI, GIA
DAVIDSON, TRACY
DRURY, IVO
EDWARDS, DAVID
FARIES, JOANNE
FERDON, JOEL
GRANT, TODD
HARTWELL, RICHARD
HAYES, THOMAS
HIGGINS, ED
JONES, RASTER
JOY, BERNARD
LARKE, MAUDE
LESLIE, STEPHEN
MARSHALL, RICKEY
MEEKS, KEVIN
MURDOCK, FRANKLIN
NELSON, ERIC
OESTREICH, DAVID
RIGGIN, GARRIN
ROBBINS, DOUG
RYAN, LINDY
SAGAR, ARUN
SCOTT, NANCY
SPRAGUE, ADAM
ST. PIERRE, PAT
STEELE, CRAIG
STEINER, SHERRY
WARD, ANTHONY
Stephen Leslie
After the car bomb
Her metal shins
Balance her body
Sherry Steiner
Yes.
It is noon that the heat is the strongest...
Do you know me by name?
Raster Jones
When we pass them in heaven
we will smile
at angels suspicious of our vestigial will.
Sherry Steiner
Open mouthed
yes, upstairs, downstairs in France...
there are no roses without thorns!
Pat St. Pierre
Disease destroyed her.
Lost and sad I cry for her,
me, and for lost days.
Pat St. Pierre
Passionate spirit.
But alone and so frightened.
Strength etched on her face.
Ivo Drury
deep winter visit to summer haunt
foreshadows
the desolation of grief
Ivo Drury
emptying his gym locker after the funeral
the remains of an athletic life
in a narrow rectangle
David Oestreich
Sunlight tumbled by tree limbs
onto the forest floor—
my loss foretold.
David Oestreich
Breezes lap the moisture
from another’s cup;
the turtle’s ornate shell, empty.
Aja Beech
alone boiling water for the tea
we did not have
when we were together
Aja Beech
these last moments
will be like the eternity
we once promised each other
Richard Hartwell
in a crowded room
alone with my memories
single once again
Doug Robbins
Dad holds his baby boy for the first time.
Dad becomes a grandfather.
I wish dad was still alive.
Craig Steele
Mom’s last surgery --
a white-crowned sparrow lies silent
in her linen nest
Craig Steele
lightning flashes
beyond my darkened windows --
fireflies take their turn at courting
Doug Robbins
Mother’s womb was so warm.
Now it grows cold
like the tomb it is.
Thomas Hayes
Words meant to bite hard
Leave no mark or outer bruise
Punctured soul festers.
Thomas Hayes
The sweet dialogue
That became the monologue
Is now just crickets.
Joanne Faries
bare oak branches
expose sparse nest –
empty cradle
Garrin Riggin
We must lay wreaths upon our shame;
laurels upon the heads of the vicious;
scepters at the feet of snarling imps.
Tracy Davidson
battered teddy bear
one chewed ear hanging by a thread
on top of the tiny coffin
Anthony Ward
full of memories
left derelict and empty
rain runs down pane
Lindy Ryan
I’ll dig the cut
until it bleeds,
a wound anchored and betraying
Rebecca Brown
She had the most beautiful smile
Until the tears which made her eyes glisten
Began to moisten her lips.
Ed Higgins
We honed each other
knife & poem
until both bled.
Debbi Antebi
rows of identical tombstones
each one whispers
a different story
Ed Higgins
Icarus, ass-over backwards dripping
hot wax and scattered feathers
through gray drifting clouds
Ed Higgins
Listening to her gone one heart beat,
one sigh, at a time. Enough despair
mute stone itself sends a message.
Debbi Antebi
her pursed lips
locking sobs
in her chest
Bernard Joy
among muskmelon vines
where the stronger cords grow; it’s there
that winter was harshest
Bernard Joy
after teaching Wordsworth;
in swathes outside the school gates
the first daffodils
Nancy Scott
Some were wielding grappling hooks, others
clinging to the rail peering down
as the last horse disappeared into the sea.
Nancy Scott
Sevastopol, jewel of the Black Sea,
doomed city, where tens of thousands
died in a futile attempt to save her.
Todd Grant
tea leaves soak
in November’s despair
a chair for one
Todd Grant
fingerprints on the vase
the only keepsake
I have of her
Gia Da Vinci
i wonder if the sky knows
that it is missing
two small circles from its ceiling
Adam Sprague
Moon in the water
Ripples fade—
Parallel worlds
Franklin Murdock
There has always been the promise
of life after life, but
to know is to never come back.
Eric Nelson
After she died he continued
buying bananas for her, leaving them
in the bowl until they rotted.
Eric Nelson
When he looked into her eyes
he saw the sky.
That blue. That far away.
Kevin Meeks
A single leaf slips down.
Spiraling in winter death.
Will it be reborn?
Maude Larke
Sunset colors
creep around the steeple
to bathe the empty crib.
Dan Corjescu
A Buddhist monk bows
before a determined train of ants
A Vega rocket takes off
Dan Corjescu
I let words drop like two warm slippers
I’ll pick them up again
but only when my feet turn cold
Dan Corjescu
Your pear shaped breasts
are the walls of my gigantic prison
A pomegranate cut in two
Rickey Marshall
Irony in our
Wish to live forever more
Happily after . . .
Joel Ferdon
Young lovers kiss on a bench,
Make love on soft pillows--
They die not knowing their names.
Arun Sagar
While Ella sings of moonlight and of blue,
her voice is amber: a streetlamp at night,
the kindling of my glass against the light.
David Edwards
Poets feel-- and fill
-- awkward
silences with sound