Issue 31

Beth Howard

linked like a freight train one cold day to another cannot see the end

Calvin Olsen

Slices of moonlight Cover the covers, silent Somewhere, a dog howls

Meredith MacLean

days aren’t bright, nights are dark the sun is burning, the moon is stark twenty-four hours of lonely

Debbi Antebi

once fulfilled they deflate one by one her sky-high ambitions

Sandra Bounds

Sun-kissed maples burn vibrant red tongues of Infinite fire

Janet Eaton

Life is more than just breath Life is everything you do From your first breath till death

Evan Cutts

And then, our time was dust. I cherished everything: The Sun and your breath.

Jesus Chameleon

a hearty bridge over "the river" effaces hegemony

Michelle Chen

Every night it rains I hide in Pandora’s scarves the voice of a small dog

David Rich

Glossy polaroids Glued to your abstract collage A year’s memories

Cody Schweickert

cherry raindrops drizzle velvet smooches hover euphoric radiance

Bill Melton

February moon Behind the white gauze of clouds Night bathed in softness

Barbara Tate

morning glories alive and well at 1 news at 5

Richard Heby

non stop ringing the humdrum dryer life is fluff

Matt Stefon

Aching beauty like stone cold carving gloveless fingers

Tyson West

snow and ale unleash the bravest lines--war stories of winter soldiers

Patty Tancyus

down a country lane riding bikes with my brother peaches scent the air

Newton Smith

The temple bell calls— time to find our proper seat? Bluebells ring. Moss seats.

Zach Agnew

Idle thoughts grow in a timeless void. Emptiness replaced by creation. An idea given form.

Ian Everett

dust in my throat this flower will not mourn.

Grace Black

teenaged daughter drives my youth has passed she swerves between the lines

Bobby Aldridge

crouched and growling the low fire lulled asleep

Bobby Aldridge

pin flowers to her dress a spring evening my heart on my sleeve

Sarah Lunsford

Travel every day Roam the earth in sweet romance Surrender to love

Mandy Brown

Sink into my depths Life sleeps within my haven Where you bury death

Mandy Brown

Shells, like tree rings, hold The history of the Ancients, Collected by small hands.

Heikki Huotari

the sheet slow to settle summer night

Allison COwzer

Bounteous beauty The sleeper stretches awake Brigid smiles once more

Pat Tompkins

heaps of gray clouds outlined at sunset thoughts of silver

Sarah Russell

dead spider sways in silk threads with mummied gnats and flies food for eternity

Michelle Miller

Like the sun past noon, I’ve been failing too in quiet places by degrees.

Sarah Orr

Lilies sway, dancing In the wind, unseen, unheard. Love is in the air.

Robert Petras

the ice recedes moon glow still grows across the lake

Alexis Avila

Chameleon hands turning as white as fresh snow, January first

Alice Folkart

Banyan, old-man tree balanced on canes.

Alice Folkart

Rainy night. Cafes full, sanctuaries of loneliness.

Ophelia Leong

buds unfurl on trees stretching like a newborn babe kissing the sweet air

Ilhem Issaoui

mundane blunt night amarulence drunk in cups counting orbs

Joanna M. Weston

cloud wraps the cliff-top - her frail hand

Katherine Sukeforth

leaves of red and gold mingle in the dense forest waiting for the dawn.

Jackie Maugh Robinson

morning sun on a seesaw with the moon

Dennis Lowe

two white doves leave the Grand Mosque to become pigeons

Elizabeth Mitchell

Pebbles of rain stream down my windows. The sky’s mood darkens, and I put pen to paper.

Patricia Campion

Sawing morning air Cicadas out-thunder Traffic’s rising roar

Larry Schug

apple blossoms pink evanescent tapestry woven threads of light

Vidya Panicker

A sheet of white paper three short words— never written

Julie Ann Otis

trusting, not asleep kindness, not salvation rinse, no repeat

Rick Richardson

Lovers whisper-laughing stumbling home in the rain. Oh, to be so drunk again.

Martha Christina

Daffodil bright goldfinches, harbingers

Theresa Cancro

summer haze -- two crows’ repartee along a telephone wire