Poets in this issue — click a name to read
- Alderman, Sarah E.
- Antebi, Debbi
- Beattie, Stephen
- Bishop, Douglas
- Boehm, Rose Mary
- Booth, Lea
- Campbell, Colin
- Corjescu, Dan
- Crunkilton, Adam
- Davies, William
- Denenberg, Risa
- Drury, Ivo
- Edwards, David
- Erickson, J Divina
- Everett, Ian
- Ferdon, Joel
- Frazier, David
- Friedenberg, Jay
- Huffman, A.j.
- Koleva, Mariya
- Kolp, Laurie
- Larke, Maude
- Leavitt, Erin
- Lundh, Lennart
- Marshall, Rickey
- May, Nancy
- Mcgavock, Ie
- Murphy, Mickey
- Nenadov, Mark
- Plovnick, Ross
- Ramser, Emily
- Robbins, Clay
- Rycroft, Thomas
- Samuelson, Audrey
- Steele, Craig
Craig Steele
childhood playhouse --
flowers pierce gaps between boards,
chasing the sun
Mickey Murphy
Freewheeling secret
Inhabits my lifeblood
Release, transfuse, breathe.
Dan Corjescu
A circle of young friends
sleeping in the shade
fear and jealousy turning
Ian Everett
Indifferent to your plight
Night will come
As if you never were
Nancy May
A sky without clouds
Is an ocean without fish -
The storm rushes down
David Edwards
These streets are filled with
carrion and rusted nails
city in decline
Ivo Drury
influence persists
years of light
from a now-ghost star
Ivo Drury
the children blossoming
and the kitchen’s wooden floor
shoe-scraped to grey
Ross Plovnick
now the barber’s pole turns
out to be a memory
but you can book a haircut online
Sarah E. Alderman
Like the sugary costumed candy, you suck
Only when you reach the center
Do you realize, he was sour
Stephen Beattie
Discarded black dress
forms a full stop on bedroom floor:
tears run freely.
J Divina Erickson
Rejection: when metal moves away
from skin-- leaving scars or holes
where it has been.
J Divina Erickson
The room which was once
robin’s egg blue is now
Vicodin white.
William Davies
Sheets on the line,
Bill Withers on the radio
Lightening bugs on the dusk.
David Frazier
Thunder claps,
Lighting flashes,
Hail stings and crashes.
Mariya Koleva
Alive comes nature
All despite the human race
Not ours to ruin
Mariya Koleva
Exasperation –
Insanity’s middle name
A bird in a bush
Erin Leavitt
I lose myself
as I text you
at the wheel
Maude Larke
OK, no more imposing
15th-century battlements and ramparts.
But a post office???
Emily Ramser
she drops the marbles,
they clink, rolling boulders of color
more treasure for hoarding
Emily Ramser
red smudges, cracks
from the identity
of her lips
Adam Crunkilton
the mid-summer breathes
a still moment
a view
Clay Robbins
Bodies may wither,
Minds may wane,
But spirit is everlasting.
Douglas Bishop
Clarity of mountain morning blue
Etched between pale sky and valley fog --
One thought let loose unaimed.
Colin Campbell
though now long withered
flower power lives on to
sow the seeds of change
Colin Campbell
tablets of stone lie
quiet in the dust - now the truth
might be somewhere online
Jay Friedenberg
those three words
she makes me say them
again
Lea Booth
sweltering night lit
by that bright cotton ball moon
velcroed to the sky
Lea Booth
Bare gray branches etched
into the blue winter sky -
wind carries crows’ calls.
Ie Mcgavock
towers of grey-black cloud
waves wind-larruped to froth
ecstatic boy on the shore
Ie Mcgavock
flowers bow to the approaching bees
and ask that their burden
be lightened
Risa Denenberg
Daybreak slants these hills,
carves sharp-angled pyramids
of umber and ice.
Lennart Lundh
Sun coming up:
Now to the pages
yet unread.
Lennart Lundh
The vibrations of your body
hold me, touch me:
Still, amaze me.
Thomas Rycroft
a black cloud looming
just outside my window
the black dog has reared his head
Thomas Rycroft
a foggy sense of this old delirium
with nothing left in the pill box
I play a tune on a comb
Joel Ferdon
Shaved head, black, thick tattoos, and gay;
A young, vibrant woman competes with man:
Black leather biker boots, soft lips, dark eyes.
Rose Mary Boehm
old eyes -
veil of failed vision
blurs wrinkles
Rickey Marshall
Birth
Busy
Burial
Colin Campbell
remember with thanks
when the beatles were young and
we trusted the banks
Audrey Samuelson
While she was distracted
He approached on velvet footsteps
Flashing a silver blade in the pale lamplight
A.J. Huffman
Dandelions blow.
Wind inside themselves. Dispelling
all rumors of false wilt.
A.J. Huffman
Leaning back, the sky
breaks. Twirls, swirls inward. Dancing
is the wind’s true fantasy.
A.J. Huffman
Amazing moments
of clarity fill my mind.
Too bad my hand is mute.
Debbi Antebi
his untold story
begins to leak through
cracks of silence
Debbi Antebi
my childhood bedroom—
a kaleidoscope of memories
unfold on the cracked wallpaper
Debbi Antebi
forever chasing apologies
from the locked lips
of unrepentant men
Thomas Rycroft
freshly blown soap bubbles-
a rare sight
full moons at midday
Laurie Kolp
Atop the wintry tree
two songbirds sway in the wind-
wayward minstrels on stilts.
Mark Nenadov
Three lazily lingering lines
unfinished drafts dragged behind
swift shifting galloping years.